Reader’s Links for October 13, 2020

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

101 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 13, 2020”

  1. Russia urges halt to Karabakh clashes | Russian Foreign Minister | Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

  2. The Marxist Roots of Abortion

    When ‘Pro-Choice’ really means ‘Pro-Revolution’.
    Tue Oct 13, 2020 Joseph Hippolito
    25

    From Robert Bork to Clarence Thomas to Brett Kavanaugh, the Left delights in eviscerating any conservative Supreme Court nominee it deems a threat to Roe v. Wade. As Amy Coney Barrett waits her turn, the rest of the nation might wonder why legalized abortion plays such a massive role in the confirmation process.

    The answer is simple. Abortion not only represents a massive block in modern feminism’s foundation. It also acts as a fundamental tactic in the Left’s strategy to reorganize American society along Marxist lines — especially now, with Marxism being rebranded as “critical theory” and “democratic socialism.”

    Abortion connects modern feminism with Marxism. Consider Dr. Antoinette Konikow’s comments in her 1923 pamphlet, “Voluntary Motherhood.” Konikow — who supported Leon Trotsky and helped found the Communist Party USA in 1919 — performed illegal abortions in Boston during the early 20th century as part of her activism:

    “Women can never obtain real independence unless her functions of procreation are under her own control. The woman married to a worker finds in Voluntary Parenthood the same source of leisure and economic relief that her husband received through his labor union. To her, Voluntary Parenthood means the eight- or six-hour day, instead of the 12 or 16-hour day, which the mother of many children is bound to endure.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/10/marxist-roots-abortion-joseph-hippolito/

  3. Taiwan bashes China for forced TV confession of businessman; Air pollution in Beijing escalates

  4. Turkey-Greece tensions escalate amid renewed exploration in disputed waters-TV7 Israel News 13.10.20

  5. Boko Haram Jihadists Kill 14 Farmers in Northeast Nigeria
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/10/13/boko-haram-kills-14-farmers-nigeria/

    “Fighters from the Boko Haram jihadist group killed 14 farmers in restive northeast Nigeria, members of a government-backed militia said Tuesday.

    The sources told AFP that insurgents on Monday seized 15 farmers working on their irrigation fields in Ngwom village, 14 kilometers (nine miles) north of the region’s main city Maiduguri, and cut their throats.

    “They slaughtered the farmers, killing 14 while one survived with a deep slash. They left him for dead,” Babakura Kilo, a leader of the anti-jihadist group, said.

    The insurgents captured the farmers as they tended to their crops during the early afternoon, giving them no room to escape, said another member Ibrahim Liman who gave the same death toll.

    The survivor was taken to a hospital in a “life-threatening condition,” Liman said.

    Boko Haram and rival group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have increasingly targeted loggers, herders, and fishermen in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them.

    At least 36,000 people have been killed in the jihadist conflict which displaced around two million from their homes since 2009.

    The violence spread into neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militants.”

  6. PROJECT VERITAS – Our Revolution Chair and Colorado Dem Party Exec “It’s truly killing random Nazis in the street”

  7. Our Revolution Chair and Colorado Dem Party Exec “It’s truly killing random Nazis in the street”

  8. World Food Program Says Needs $6.8 Bln over Next 6 Months to Avert Famine
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2562826/world-food-program-says-needs-68-bln-over-next-6-months-avert-famine

    “The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise $6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday.

    The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, said it had so far raised $1.6 billion.

    “We’ve got a lot more money to raise to make certain we avert famine,” David Beasley, executive director of the WFP, said at a conference organized by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

    Beaseley noted that 7 million people had died from hunger this year as the COVID-19 pandemic, which could double hunger worldwide, claimed a further 1 million lives.

    “If we don’t sort out COVID, (the) hunger death rate could be 3, 4, 5 times that,” said Beaseley.

    The Rome-based WFP says it helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year, and that one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.

    After declining for several decades, world hunger has been on the rise again since 2016, driven by the twin scourges of conflict and climate change.

    “If you think about the wealth on Earth today, we shouldn’t see one single child (go) hungry or die from starvation,” said Beaseley.

    The WFP has dispatched medical cargoes to over 120 countries during the pandemic, and provided passenger services to ferry humanitarian workers where commercial flights were unavailable.

    The agency, the world’s largest humanitarian organization, is funded entirely by donations. It provides school meals to 17.3 million children globally and delivered 4.2 million tons of food to regions or countries in need in 2019.”

  9. Mines expert: 3bn square metres littered with mines in Iraq
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201013-mines-expert-3bn-square-metres-littered-with-mines-in-iraq/

    “A United Nations mines expert said nearly 3 billion square metres in Iraq are contaminated with mines and remnants of war.

    The head of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq, Pehr Lodhammar told the local Al-Sabah newspaper that according to figures provided by the Iraqi government, the area contaminated with mines and remnants of the two wars in Iraq amounts to 2.9 billion square metres, of which 257.37 million square metres is in the northern Kurdistan region.

    According to the UN official, the number of war remnants and other forms of explosive materials, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs), increased after Daesh took control of several Iraqi provinces…”

  10. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/09/23/commentary/world-commentary/climate-change-lockdown/

    As COVID-19 spread earlier this year, governments introduced lockdowns in order to prevent a public-health emergency from spinning out of control. In the near future, the world may need to resort to lockdowns again — this time to tackle a climate emergency.

    Under a so-called “climate lockdown,” governments would limit private vehicle use, ban consumption of red meat, and impose extreme energy-saving measures, while fossil-fuel companies would have to stop drilling. To avoid such a scenario, the world must overhaul its economic structures and do capitalism differently.

    Many think of the climate crisis as distinct from the health and economic crises caused by the pandemic. But the three crises — and their solutions — are interconnected.
    …………..
    Finally, we need to re-orient our energy system around renewables — the antidote to climate change and the key to making our economies energy-secure. We must therefore evict fossil-fuel interests and “short-termism” from business, finance, and politics. Financially powerful institutions such as banks and universities must divest from fossil-fuel companies. Until they do, a carbon-based economy will prevail.

    The window for launching a climate revolution — and achieving an inclusive recovery from COVID-19 in the process — is rapidly closing. We need to move quickly if we want to transform the future of work, transit, and energy use, and make the concept of a “green good life” a reality for generations to come. One way or the other, radical change is inevitable: Our task is to ensure that we achieve the change we want — while we still have the choice.

    (I apologize if I have already posted this in the past, I cant remember)

  11. Iran militias replace ancient Syria street names with Shia figures
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201013-iran-militias-replace-ancient-syria-street-names-with-shia-figures/

    “Iranian militias in Syria have been changing the names of ancient streets within the country with names of Iranian Shia leaders, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR).

    Citing sources from the city of Al-Mayadeen in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ez-Zor, SOHR reported that the Iranian militias present in the country have been replacing the old names of streets with new names in both Arabic and Persian.

    Some examples of the name changes include ‘Anas Bin Malik’ Street being turned into ‘Imam Al-Khamini’ Street, and ‘Al-Jaish’ Street becoming ‘Imam Al-Abbas’ Street, referring to the ‘Al-Abbas Brigade’ militia operating in the city…”

  12. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/is-a-climate-lockdown-next/

    You knew they would try to pivot off the draconian COVID policies and use climate change as the pretext to deploy the same rigid controls over our lives. Now, perhaps a trial balloon is being floated for a “climate lockdown.”

    The noxious idea is that we are at (yet another) tipping point, and that unless government radically seizes centralized control of the economy, it will be shutdown time. From, “Avoiding a Climate Lockdown,” by Mariana Mazzucato, Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose:

    Under a “climate lockdown,” governments would limit private-vehicle use, ban consumption of red meat, and impose extreme energy-saving measures, while fossil-fuel companies would have to stop drilling. To avoid such a scenario, we must overhaul our economic structures and do capitalism differently.

    You can just imagine the authoritarianism Mazzucato proposes — meaning, it wouldn’t be capitalism at all. For example:

    We need to reorient our energy system around renewable energy – the antidote to climate change and the key to making our economies energy-secure. We must therefore evict fossil-fuel interests and short-termism from business, finance, and politics. Financially powerful institutions such as banks and universities must divest from fossil-fuel companies. Until they do, a carbon-based economy will prevail.

    Never mind that the U.S. has led the world in reducing emissions because of the fossil fuel known as natural gas!

    The good news about all of this is that in the United States at least, it will never happen. I mean, if people rebel against lockdowns and controls in the midst of a pandemic, they are not about to let these radical technocrats thwart their living the good life based on global-warming hysteria.

  13. Horror crime rocks Jordan: Teenager’s hands chopped off, eyes gouged out
    https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/horror-crime-rocks-jordan-teenagers-hands-chopped-off-eyes-gouged-out-1.1602618400864

    “A state of widespread outrage has engulfed Jordanian society after a 16-year-old boy was brutally assaulted by a group of men who chopped off both his hands and gouged out his eyes.

    The hideous crime, which happened in Zarqa city on Tuesday, has sparked anger among social media users and influencers who demanded the most severe punishment for the culprits of a crime not seen before in the Kingdom.

    The suspects filmed their crime and posted a video on social media. The video went viral on social media before Jordanian authorities issued an urgent decision banning the circulation of the footage, due to the brutal scenes.

    Amer Al Sartawi, spokesperson for the Public Security Directorate, said: “The boy was immediately rushed to Zarqa Hospital after being brutally assaulted by a number of men who cut off his hands and popped out his eyes in retaliation for a previous murder.” He is in a critical condition, Al Sartawi added.

    “We have launched an investigation to identify the suspects involved in the crime. They will be arrested and referred for Public Prosecution for legal action,” he said.

    The hideous crime prompted social media users and human rights activists to raise questions about the punishment stipulated in the Jordanian Penal Code.

    Lawyer Rawan Bani Hani said: “Penal Code’s article 335 stipulates that if an act results in the severance or amputation of a limb or the loss of such a limb or the loss of one of the senses or caused bodily disfigurement which is permanent or has a permanent appearance, the perpetrator shall be punished by temporary imprisonment with hard labour for a period that does not exceed 10 years.”

    Activists believe this punishment is not severe enough for such a brutal crime against a teenager and demanded it be toughened.”

  14. Qatari constitution devoid of basic rights, freedoms: SIS study
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/388242/Egypt/Politics-/Qatari-constitution-devoid-of-basic-rights,-freedo.aspx

    “Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) stressed on Tuesday that the so-called “permanent constitution of Qatar” is devoid of the most basic guarantees of basic rights and freedoms.

    “Through its media trumpets, the Qatari regime assumes the role of the defender of democracy and directs criticisms and advice to all the peoples of earth except the miserable people of Qatar. The Qatari people are ruled by one of the worst despotic regimes, a regime that was designed to govern a ‘fiefdom’ or a ‘private estate’,” the SIS said in a study.

    The study accused the Qatari regime of controlling all aspects of life in Qatar and possessing all the wealth and resources.

    “The Emir along with his hypocritical, rapacious cronies enslaves the Qatari people. The Qatari regime practically denies the existence of their own people and devote their time to lecturing other nations on democracy and human rights; notions that their own people are completely deprived from,” the study read.

    According to the study, Qatar “knew no constitutions for over 30 years between its independence in 1970 and the year 2004 when the State’s first constitution was issued. The 2004 constitution was in fact nothing but a document that codified and legitimised the same mechanisms of control and oppression that are widely practiced by Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and his son and successor Tamim.”

    The so called “permanent constitution of Qatar” also cements the absolute powers of the Emir and places severe restrictions on the basic rights of Qatari citizens, the study said.

    “This constitution basically stripped all institutions of any effective powers and concentrates it all in the hands of Emir.”

    “By reading through the 150 articles of the Qatari constitution, we find that the methods by which Qatar is governed are truly unprecedented in this century and even the previous one. The Emir of Qatar in 2004 issued the constitution and termed it as the permanent constitution of Qatar which is in a way problematic,” the study said.

    The SIS said that the real motive behind calling the constitution “permanent” is to spread despair in the hearts of the Qatari people and deter them from challenging the absolute powers of the Emir, which are protected by constitutional articles that may not be amended according to the constitution itself.

    Full text: ….”

  15. https://andina.pe/ingles/noticia-perus-pm-supervises-compliance-with-nationwide-curfew-on-sundays-810112.aspx

    Peruvian Prime Minister Walter Martos flies over various parts of the capital city, Lima, to verify the compliance with the mandatory social immobilization measure decreed by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

    During the overflight, the President of the Council of Ministers is accompanied by Defense Minister Jorge Chavez.

    This is the first Sunday under the curfew after the quarantine was lifted in most regions across the country last July.

    It must be noted that —during the mandatory social immobilization— strictly necessary personnel, who participate in the provision of food supply, health, financial and restaurant services for home delivery, will be exempted from the restriction to transit freely.

    The measure will be in force all day long until 4:00 am on Monday.

    Last Wednesday, President Martin Vizcarra announced the return of the mandatory social immobilization (curfew) on Sundays due to a rebound in COVID-19 infections in Peru.

    (END) RMCH/RMB

    Published: 8/16/2020

    * I wonder why it always seems to be Sunday that these curfews/ lockdowns are on. 1st I saw it in india, now peru. What world power has a link to Sunday rest?

  16. Egypt police kill two terrorists in North Sinai shootout: Ministry
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/388259/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-police-kill-two-terrorists-in-North-Sinai-sh.aspx

    “Two terrorists have been killed in a shootout with police in North Sinai, Egypt’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Tuesday.

    The National Security Agency had received information about a group of terrorists located in a mountainous area in North Sinai where they had been planning to launch a series of attacks against police and Armed Forces checkpoints in the area.

    The police located the two terrorists in a white pick-up truck while they were observing a security checkpoint in preparation for launching an attack. After realising they had been surrounded by security forces, the terrorists opened fire on police.

    The statement added that two automatic weapons, two explosives belts, a pistol, ammunition and a walkie-talkie were found in the terrorists’ possession.”

  17. Pakistan sets five preconditions for resumption of talks with India
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2268204/pakistan-sets-five-preconditions-for-resumption-of-talks-with-india

    “Pakistan on Tuesday set five pre-conditions for the resumption of “meaningful dialogue” with India to resolve all outstanding issues including the longstanding Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) dispute.

    In an interview to Indian journalist Karan Thapar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Dr Moeed Yousaf said that Pakistan desired peaceful ties with India and wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue.

    However, he asserted that for any meaningful dialogue to take place between the two neighbours, India has to release all political prisoners in Kashmir, end inhuman blockade and restrictions, rescind domicile law that allows non-Kashmiris to settle in the disputed territory, stop human rights abuses and end state terrorism in Pakistan.

    On August 5, 2019, New Delhi had revoked Article 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution that gave Kashmir a special status. Pakistan condemned the move and termed it a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements that sought to maintain status quo till the final settlement.

    The PM special assistant also spoke about Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW’s), involvement in terrorism in Pakistan.

    “Pakistan had evidence that the mastermind of December 2014 APS terrorist attack in Peshawar was in contact with RAW,” he said.

    The SAPM added that India used its missions in one of the neighbouring countries of Pakistan to facilitate and sponsor terrorist attack at a five-star Hotel in Gwadar, Chinese Consulate in Karachi and the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

    “India spent $1 million to ensure the merger of different TTP factions in Afghanistan,” he added.

    Moeed added Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted a peaceful neighbourhood but India’s expansionist and Hindutva policies were the main hurdles in the way of peace.

    According to a statement issued by the foreign office, he reiterated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s stance that if India took one step forward, Pakistan would take two steps forward.

    Dr Yusuf also emphasised that Kashmiris remain the principal party in the dispute according to Pakistan and their wishes and aspirations should be addressed in any dialogue.

    Drawing a contrast between Pakistan and India, the PM’s aide said that the Pakistani government was dedicated to pursuing economic security and connectivity for the prosperity of Pakistan and the region, but policy makers in New Delhi remained blind sighted by Hindutva ideology. He said India had lost the neighbourhood because of the expansionist policies of the BJP government, while Pakistan was pursuing peace in its neighbourhood.

    Responding to Indian allegations about terrorism, Dr Yusuf said that Pakistan had facilitated investigations in all cases pending in courts but India was delaying the investigations by not providing evidence in the case. He said not finding a resolution to terror cases helped India in its false narrative of terrorism. Dr Yusuf called out India for being unable to bring the perpetrators of the Samjhuta and Babri Masjid cases , Malegaon blast case and others to justice while it accused Pakistan of delays which spoke to double standards.

    Indian support for terrorism

    Taking an aggressive approach towards Indian sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, the SAPM revealed new details about millions of dollars in payments made to TTP leadership by RAW officer through Indian Embassy funds. He said Pakistan knew the names and ranks of officers in touch with terror leadership and would soon reveal Indian activities to the world through a detailed dossier based on lengthy investigations. He also revealed that India had financed anti-Pakistan terrorist groups and supported their merger with the TTP earlier this year.

    ‘Kashmiris principal party’

    Debunking latest propaganda by India on Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir issue, Dr Yusuf said Pakistan stood by UNSC resolutions as the way forward for resolving the dispute and fulfilling the aspirations of over eight million Kashmiris. He said Indian propaganda would not shake the principled stance of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

    The SAPM said that Prime Minister Imran had directed his office to open space for the government in the region and find solutions to lingering problems, but his counterpart in India was pursuing an opposite direction.

    He highlighted that Pakistan stands for peace and would welcome any dialogue with India if the lives of Kashmiris in IIOJK were normalised, Kashmiris were recognised as the rightful principal party in any dialogue, and India stopped sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan. He also pointed to Pakistan’s response on February 27, 2019 and warned that any misadventure from India would result in an equally swift response from Pakistan.”

  18. Armenia is rogue state: Turkish ruling party spokesman
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/armenia-is-rogue-state-turkish-ruling-party-spokesman/2005442

    “Turkey’s ruling party spokesman called on countries Tuesday not to apply a double standard in favor of Armenia regarding its recent clashes with Azerbaijan and a cease-fire agreement.

    “The ceasefire calls of those who do not raise their voices against Armenia, which is a rogue state, is to put the cruel and the suffering in the same equation, to view the occupying and the occupied [state] equally,” Omer Celik, spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, said during a meeting of the Central Decision and Executive Board at party headquarters in the capital Ankara.

    “This is also a clear violation of the law,” he added, underlining that this attitude shows a double standard.

    He stressed that the Minsk Group tries to manage the process by considering Armenia and Azerbaijan on equal levels, but there are no two equals in this issue.

    “The party that clearly violates international law, including the 1949 Geneva Convention, is the Armenian side,” he said.

    “Armenia attacked the Azerbaijani army and civilians like a rogue state,” he said, reiterating that Turkey stands with Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people in every step they take to defend their territories against Armenia’s aggression.

    Reminding that Azerbaijan wants Turkey to be at the negotiation table, he said those who really want the conflict to be resolved must also want Turkey to be involved in talks to find a solution and Turkey is ready for this…”

    • ‘Armenia committed crime against humanity in Karabakh’
      https://www.aa.com.tr/en/azerbaijan-front-line/armenia-committed-crime-against-humanity-in-karabakh/2004859

      “Armenia committed terrorism and crimes against humanity in the occupied Upper Karabakh region, Turkey’s main opposition leader said Tuesday.

      “Armenia is supposed to withdraw from Azerbaijani territories to prevent further bloodshed,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the Republican People’s Party (CHP), told his party’s parliamentary group.

      Kilicdaroglu said Armenia attacked civilians in Azerbaijan, violating a temporary cease-fire that had been declared for both sides to exchange prisoners and retrieve bodies.

      “This is a crime against humanity, this is terrorism,” he stressed…”

  19. Turkey ‘neutralizes’ 2 more PKK terrorists in N. Iraq
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-neutralizes-2-more-pkk-terrorists-in-n-iraq-/2005045

    “Two PKK terrorists were neutralized in northern Iraq, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

    The terrorists, who were preparing for an attack, were found in northern Iraq’s Metina region through reconnaissance and neutralized by an airstrike, said the ministry.

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

    PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq as a base to plan attacks in Turkey, across the nearby border.

    Anti-terror operations against the YPG/PKK will continue resolutely, added the statement.

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

  20. Cyprus to suspend ‘EU golden passports’ system
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2020/10/13/cyprus-to-suspend-eu-golden-passports-system_60d593b2-faf8-4d18-b879-f5e91c5ac966.html

    “Cyprus is suspending a scheme that grants citizenship, enabling visa-free travel throughout the EU, for those who invest a minimum of two million euros.

    The move comes into force next month.

    The decision came after Al Jazeera reporters filmed Cypriot officials using the scheme to assist a fictional Chinese businessman with a criminal record.

    One of those filmed was Cyprus’s parliamentary speaker, Demetris Syllouris, who said he would step down until an investigation was completed.

    Last year, the EU Commission told EU states to tighten checks on non-EU nationals who acquired citizenship through investments. Malta and Bulgaria operate similar schemes to that of Cyprus.

    The commission said the programme could be abused and used for tax evasion and money-laundering.

    It added that applicants could acquire citizenship of Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria – and hence EU citizenship – “without ever having resided in practice in the member state”.”

  21. Lack of ‘political will’ to curb global hunger, German development minister says
    https://www.dw.com/en/lack-of-political-will-to-curb-global-hunger-german-development-minister-says/a-55269493

    “Gerd Müller told DW that a world without hunger would be possible if nations cooperated to pool an annual €14 billion. The comments follow UN calls to raise more funds to avoid pandemic-induced famine.

    The political will to provide the annual sum of €14 billion ($16.5 billion) to curb global hunger is lacking worldwide, according to German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller.

    “A world without hunger is possible,” Müller told DW’s Melinda Crane. If industrialized countries cooperated to gather the necessary funds every year until 2030, they “could help 500 million people, perhaps even more, out of absolute poverty and save them from hunger.”

    “So why don’t we do this? There is a lack of political will worldwide, because €14 billion is not an impossible global sum,” he said.

    Müller’s comments followed calls made on the part of the UN World Food Program (WFP), to raise more money to avoid coronavirus-related famine. The WFP said on Tuesday that it will need to raise $6.8 billion (€5.8 billion) over the next six months to avert famine triggered by the pandemic.

    The organization said it has so far raised $1.6 billion. David Beasley, the UN agency’s executive director, said that 7 million people had died from hunger this year, as the pandemic claimed over a million lives across the globe. That number, he said, could rise even further due to the effects of the pandemic.

    “If we don’t sort out COVID, the hunger death rate could be 3, 4, 5 times that,” said Beasley.

    Müller criticized the lack of financial support for curbing hunger, comparing the €14-billion figure to other global investments. “In this year alone, arms spending has increased by an additional €70 billion,” he said.

    Germany boosts food security investment
    Germany is also investing more than a third of the Development Ministry’s “total expenditure in food security,” he said.

    He added that the ministry is also investing further in decentralized energy supply, which he said will be used to support small farmers.

    “What we’re also doing is securing property rights and creating land registries. And we’re also demanding equal access for women to land and property — and to loans too.”

    Global hunger was declining for several decades, but is now on the rise against since 2016, driven primarily by both conflict and climate change.

    According to the Global Hunger Index, a tool that measures and tracks hunger globally, 37 countries will fail to even reach a low level of hunger by 2030.

    That figure does not include countries for which data were insufficient to calculate the 2030 projections, and does not account for the impacts of COVID-19, “which may worsen hunger and undernutrition in the near term and affect countries’ trajectories into the future.””

  22. Danish PM vows to stop ‘Non-Western’ young men who harass Danish women and participate in crime
    https://rmx.news/article/article/danish-pm-non-western-young-men-who-harass-danish-women-and-participate-in-crime-will-face-harsher-consequences

    “In a speech at the opening of the new year in the Danish Parliament, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took a firm stance against young men of a non-Western origin who create insecurity in the country.

    Girls and women are increasingly harassed just because they are Danish, she stated in her speech to the country.

    “You are not allowed to take our freedom,” Frederiksen said when addressing the growing insecurity in society caused by migrants.

    “How we manage our lives is our responsibility,” she continued, adding that the Danes have to face the facts.

    “Every fifth young man with a non-Western background born in 1997 had broken the law before turning 21. It’s not everyone. But there are too many young men who take the freedom of others, steal children’s futures, intimidate prison guards – and leave behind a long trail of insecurity,” said the Danish prime minister.

    Frederiksen pointed out that this is not something new, and that is the problem.

    “It has been going on for too many years. Girls who are called derogatory names because they are Danish. Or girls who are subjected to social control because they have become too Danish. A sausage cart in Brønshøj that is attacked with firecrackers because it sells pork,” she gave a couple of examples.

    Harsher penalties for offenders
    Frederiksen said that such behavior is not acceptable and that it must have consequences.

    “In far too many places, insecurity has been allowed to take root. Should we accept that there are places in Denmark where quite ordinary people should be afraid to be? Where residents are insecure about coming home late from work? Or worried about sending their kids outside to play?” she said, adding that the police need to crack down “troubled areas” of Denmark.

    Currently, the police can ban individuals from staying in certain places, but Frederiksen believes that this is not enough and that in the future, police will be able to ban people from certain areas at certain times.

    “It can be a parking lot in a residential area or at a train station, where these boys and young men gather and create insecurity. By doing this, we would send a message, saying, ‘You cannot be here. No one should be afraid to walk the streets of Denmark. You are not allowed to take our freedom’,” said Frederiksen.

    At first, anyone who violates the ban should be fined SEK 10,000 (€966). If it happens again, the person could go to prison for up to 30 days.

    The police must also be able to seize expensive jackets, watches, and mobile phones from those who break the law and have debts to the public sector, for example, for a previous crime.

    “This way, we would give the police more power. At the same time, we would send the troublemakers and their parents a message that cannot be misunderstood,” said the Danish prime minister.

    Frederiksen also suggested that those convicted of violent crimes committed in bars, clubs and other forms of nightlife should also be banned from Danish nightlife for up to two years.

    Frederiksen said that Denmark will maintain its own strict immigration policy, but said that Europe’s has failed.

    “The government will continue the strict immigration policy, but we must do more than that. We have a European asylum system that has really collapsed,” she said. She proposed processing asylum requests in countries outside of Europe.

    Harsher stance against non-Western migration in Denmark
    Frederiksen’s strong words echo former Immigration Minister Inger Støjberg, who recently wrote in a column for Danish media outlet BT that non-Western immigration has incredibly harmed Denmark.

    “One might as well be honest and put it bluntly: Non-Western, and thus primarily Muslim immigration, has harmed Denmark far more than it has benefited,” she wrote in BT.

    “There is a strong over-representation of criminals from non-Western countries, as the crime statistics clearly indicate,” Støjberg writes. “Immigrants and descendants from non-western countries are overall overrepresented by 255 percent in relation to their actual share of the population in Denmark.”

    Statistics from previous years also appear to support claims that non-Western people are driving crime in Denmark. For example, in 2012, the Danish national police reported that conviction rates per 1,000 residents in Denmark amounted to 12.9 for Danish citizens, 114.4 for Somali citizens and 54.3 for citizens coming from other countries.

    Denmark is not the only Scandinavian country facing the consequences of mass migration. In Sweden, the country has decided to not accept refugees from the burned out Moria Camp in Greece due to the problems the country is facing in terms of rising crime and integration failures.

    Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Löfven, known for his pro-refugee stance in the past, has since acknowledged there are real problems in Sweden.”

  23. ‘They are thieves, murderers and rapists’ — Zemmour in hot water again over comments on so-called unaccompanied minors
    https://rmx.news/article/article/they-are-thieves-murderers-and-rapists-zemmour-in-hot-water-again-over-comments-on-so-called-unaccompanied-minors

    “Éric Zemmour, the French philosopher and essayist, has once again found himself the target of the ethics committee of Canal + Group, which is the network owner of CNews, for comments he recently made about so-called ‘unaccompanied minors’ during one of his frequent appearances on the channel.

    Five members of the ethics committee will speak with Christine Kelly, a French journalist who’s often featured on the same programs as Zemmour as well as CNews chief Serge Nedjar and several magistrates to determine whether additional airtime will be granted to the writer and polemicist.

    The review of Zemmour’s place on the CNews program as well as an investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office for “incitement of racial hatred” and “racist public insults” come just days after the right-wing thinker was fined $10,000 euros for allegedly ‘inciting religious hatred’ during a speech he gave last September on Islam and migration.

    This time, Zemmour, as he so often does, ignited public opinion when he made less than flattering remarks about ‘unaccompanied minors’ in France on the program Face à l’Info late last month, Le Parisien reports.

    When referring to the ‘unaccompanied minors’ living in France, Zemmour argued that “Each foreign minor costs us €50,000… They are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists, and that’s all they do.”

    The NGO SOS Racisme, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, and the Loire-Atlantique Department have also filed parallel complaints against Zemmour – a Jew of Algerian origin himself – for his comments.

    Earlier this month, Zemmour again made waves when he asserted that not only do unaccompanied migrant minors in France cost the state vast sums of money, but they’re also a major source of crime and delinquency, Remix News reported.

    “Among the these minors, some 40,000 to 50,000 a year cost us [in France] billions [of euros], and feature an enormous delinquency. I never said they are all delinquents, all I said was that a great many of them are,” Zemmour said while speaking on the French news channel CNews.

    The French government has grown increasingly alarmed over Zemmour and his growing popularity in France. His shows break ratings records. For example, his appearance on CNews drew a record of 600,000 viewers on Oct. 5, up from the 80,000 viewers the show was receiving a year before. The Élysée is reportedly worried that Zemmour may be a threat to President Emmanuel Macron’s reelection bid, with polls showing that his main contender, Marine Le Pen, will likely fare better in the next election in 2022.

    Zemmour, perhaps France’s most eminent public right-wing intellectual, has been a vocal critic against mass migration from the third-world into Europe for years. Late last month, Zemmour, while speaking on CNews, asserted that mass migration into Europe should be regarded as nothing less than population replacement, a crime against the European peoples, and warned that it would end in bloodshed, Remix News reported.

    “Immigration changes the makeup of a people. It is a crime against the European peoples, it will end in bloodshed,” Zemmour said.

    The French intellectual’s polemic speech, without a doubt, has made him a prime target, not just of the pro-mass migration French government, but of aggressive migrants as well. Last spring, video surfaced on social media which showed a man who appeared to be Middle Eastern or North African threatening Zemmour with violence as he walked alone on the streets of Paris. The young man, who filmed himself accosting Zemmour, also claimed to have spat on journalist, Remix News reported.”