Reader’s Links for November 11, 2020

(Sorry it is late today)

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

88 Replies to “Reader’s Links for November 11, 2020”

  1. CBC – Muslim MP out of caucus after employing sister for years using public funds

    CBC – Muslim MP out of caucus after employing sister for years using public funds

    Yasmin Ratansi to sit as Independent, will ‘await guidance’ from ethics commissioner

    A Toronto MP is leaving the Liberal caucus after CBC News found she had employed her sister in her constituency office for years using public funds— a violation of parliamentary rules.

    Yasmin Ratansi announced her departure late Monday on Facebook.

    “I made an error in judgment by employing my sister in my constituency office, and I have remedied the situation, but this does not excuse the error I made,” she wrote.

    Ratansi said she will continue sitting as an Independent, representing her constituents in Don Valley East, and will “await guidance” from the ethics commissioner.

    The statement comes more than 30 hours after CBC News asked her office for comment on the issue.

    Several former staffers told CBC News Ratansi tried to cover up the relationship by having her sister use a fake first name and telling some staff to keep their family connection quiet.

    “I think it’s horrific that a member of Parliament that’s entrusted to behave honourable and ethically can get away with impunity,” said a former employee. “It really questions the integrity of the institutions.”

    Ratansi, a backbencher, is a trained accountant and became the first Muslim woman elected to the House of Commons in 2004. She lost the seat in 2011 and won it back in 2015. Ratansi is the chair of the standing committee on environment and used to be the vice-chair of the committee overseeing federal government departments’ expenses.

    Her sister Zeenat Khatri has worked as her constituency assistant for much of her time in office, according to six former staffers.

    During her early years as an MP, it was against the rules to hire “immediate family” including parents, spouses and children, but not siblings. That changed in 2012 when the House’s Board of Internal Economy updated its bylaws, said House director of communications Heather Bradley.

    MPs have their own operating budget and are allowed to pay constituency assistants a maximum salary of $89,700 a year, according to the House of Commons. That means Ratansi could have paid her sister up to $269,100 for three years of salary.

    ‘Blatant disregard’

    Multiple sources said Ratansi employed her sister from at least 2005 to 2011, then hired her again in 2017. But that time, said the sources, Ratansi and Khatri told staff to call her “Jenny” rather than Zeenat — a name she hadn’t used in the office before. CBC News has seen one business card bearing the name “Jenny Khatri.”

    “Yasmin told us explicitly — my sister will be coming to work in our office,” said that same former employee. “She was going to assume a different name, so she was going to be referred to as Jenny.

    “The idea was we bring her in but try to conceal her identity, keep her hidden, keep her tucked away so that people don’t find out that her sister is employed in the office.”

    CBC News spoke to five former employees who worked for Ratansi’s office between 2015 and present and a sixth person who worked for her more than a decade ago. They spoke on condition of confidentiality, citing fear of retaliation from Ratansi herself and of potential harm to their careers.

    Two former employees said Ratansi and Khatri went to great lengths to cover up their family connection from constituents.

    “The fact that she hired her sister and it’s against the rules … it just feels wrong, it is unethical and blatant disregard of the rules,” said another former staff member.

    Multiple former employees said they saw Khatri hide in a spare office when members of the public came in. They said Khatri was worried that a volunteer or constituent might recognize her as Ratansi’s sister.

    Sources also said Khatri instructed some employees to make sure she wasn’t photographed at public events — unless she was attending as a family member rather than as Ratansi’s constituency assistant.

    “You might not like it, but you’re bound to sort of keep that secret, or else,” said one former staffer. “We were forced to, as staff members, to basically be complicit in unethical behaviour … it hurts to basically choke that down and not say anything.”

    Other staffers claim they were kept in the dark. One former employee said they believed the pair were not related and, when told that Ratansi and Khatri are siblings, said “the wool was pulled over my eyes.”

    As of Monday, Khatri was still listed as Ratansi’s constituency assistant on the government’s online directory. More than 24 hours after CBC News asked Ratansi for comment, her Liberal website had been taken down.

    ‘It’s a hard day’ says government whip
    Chief government whip Mark Holland said he was not aware of the issue until contacted by CBC News on Monday. He said the House rules are clear and it’s “essential they be respected.”

    “We try to have rigorous systems and processes but clearly this was not caught and now it has to go to the ethics commissioner to figure out what the appropriate restitution is,” he told CBC News.

    “It’s a hard day. I was elected in 2004 with Yasmin, so it’s a very difficult day. But I think taking responsibility for her lapse in judgment, stepping away from caucus … these are the right steps.”

    Chris MacDonald, a professor who teaches business ethics at the Ted Rogers School of Management in Toronto, says there are good reasons why the public frowns on nepotism and expects public figures to hire on merit.

    He said the claim that Ratansi covered up her sister’s hiring is more troubling than the hiring itself. He said it suggests a guilty mind and an attempt to keep information from constituents and voters.

    “Once there is an attempt to cover it up, then it makes it pretty clear that even the person doing the hiring realizes there’s something fishy here,” he said.

    “If these allegations are true, it’s a disturbing picture of abuse of power, of a misuse of a position that involves trust and public resources.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/yasmin-ratansi-liberal-mp-quits-hired-sister-1.5795407 to sit as Independent, will ‘await guidance’ from ethics commissioner

    A Toronto MP is leaving the Liberal caucus after CBC News found she had employed her sister in her constituency office for years using public funds— a violation of parliamentary rules.

    Yasmin Ratansi announced her departure late Monday on Facebook.

    “I made an error in judgment by employing my sister in my constituency office, and I have remedied the situation, but this does not excuse the error I made,” she wrote.

    Ratansi said she will continue sitting as an Independent, representing her constituents in Don Valley East, and will “await guidance” from the ethics commissioner.

    The statement comes more than 30 hours after CBC News asked her office for comment on the issue.

    Several former staffers told CBC News Ratansi tried to cover up the relationship by having her sister use a fake first name and telling some staff to keep their family connection quiet.

    “I think it’s horrific that a member of Parliament that’s entrusted to behave honourable and ethically can get away with impunity,” said a former employee. “It really questions the integrity of the institutions.”

    Ratansi, a backbencher, is a trained accountant and became the first Muslim woman elected to the House of Commons in 2004. She lost the seat in 2011 and won it back in 2015. Ratansi is the chair of the standing committee on environment and used to be the vice-chair of the committee overseeing federal government departments’ expenses.

    Her sister Zeenat Khatri has worked as her constituency assistant for much of her time in office, according to six former staffers.

    During her early years as an MP, it was against the rules to hire “immediate family” including parents, spouses and children, but not siblings. That changed in 2012 when the House’s Board of Internal Economy updated its bylaws, said House director of communications Heather Bradley.

    MPs have their own operating budget and are allowed to pay constituency assistants a maximum salary of $89,700 a year, according to the House of Commons. That means Ratansi could have paid her sister up to $269,100 for three years of salary.

    ‘Blatant disregard’

    Multiple sources said Ratansi employed her sister from at least 2005 to 2011, then hired her again in 2017. But that time, said the sources, Ratansi and Khatri told staff to call her “Jenny” rather than Zeenat — a name she hadn’t used in the office before. CBC News has seen one business card bearing the name “Jenny Khatri.”

    “Yasmin told us explicitly — my sister will be coming to work in our office,” said that same former employee. “She was going to assume a different name, so she was going to be referred to as Jenny.

    “The idea was we bring her in but try to conceal her identity, keep her hidden, keep her tucked away so that people don’t find out that her sister is employed in the office.”

    CBC News spoke to five former employees who worked for Ratansi’s office between 2015 and present and a sixth person who worked for her more than a decade ago. They spoke on condition of confidentiality, citing fear of retaliation from Ratansi herself and of potential harm to their careers.

    Two former employees said Ratansi and Khatri went to great lengths to cover up their family connection from constituents.

    “The fact that she hired her sister and it’s against the rules … it just feels wrong, it is unethical and blatant disregard of the rules,” said another former staff member.

    Multiple former employees said they saw Khatri hide in a spare office when members of the public came in. They said Khatri was worried that a volunteer or constituent might recognize her as Ratansi’s sister.

    Sources also said Khatri instructed some employees to make sure she wasn’t photographed at public events — unless she was attending as a family member rather than as Ratansi’s constituency assistant.

    “You might not like it, but you’re bound to sort of keep that secret, or else,” said one former staffer. “We were forced to, as staff members, to basically be complicit in unethical behaviour … it hurts to basically choke that down and not say anything.”

    Other staffers claim they were kept in the dark. One former employee said they believed the pair were not related and, when told that Ratansi and Khatri are siblings, said “the wool was pulled over my eyes.”

    As of Monday, Khatri was still listed as Ratansi’s constituency assistant on the government’s online directory. More than 24 hours after CBC News asked Ratansi for comment, her Liberal website had been taken down.

    ‘It’s a hard day’ says government whip
    Chief government whip Mark Holland said he was not aware of the issue until contacted by CBC News on Monday. He said the House rules are clear and it’s “essential they be respected.”

    “We try to have rigorous systems and processes but clearly this was not caught and now it has to go to the ethics commissioner to figure out what the appropriate restitution is,” he told CBC News.

    “It’s a hard day. I was elected in 2004 with Yasmin, so it’s a very difficult day. But I think taking responsibility for her lapse in judgment, stepping away from caucus … these are the right steps.”

    Chris MacDonald, a professor who teaches business ethics at the Ted Rogers School of Management in Toronto, says there are good reasons why the public frowns on nepotism and expects public figures to hire on merit.

    He said the claim that Ratansi covered up her sister’s hiring is more troubling than the hiring itself. He said it suggests a guilty mind and an attempt to keep information from constituents and voters.

    “Once there is an attempt to cover it up, then it makes it pretty clear that even the person doing the hiring realizes there’s something fishy here,” he said.

    “If these allegations are true, it’s a disturbing picture of abuse of power, of a misuse of a position that involves trust and public resources.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/yasmin-ratansi-liberal-mp-quits-hired-sister-1.5795407

    CBC – Ex-employees say Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi mistreated them

    • CBC -Muslim MP who left Liberal caucus made offensive remarks and mistreated staff, former employees allege

      Yasmin Ratansi announced departure from caucus after being contacted by CBC News about hiring her sister

      Four former employees of Toronto MP Yasmin Ratansi — who left the Liberal caucus this week after admitting she employed her sister for years on the public dime — allege she repeatedly made offensive comments and created a “toxic and verbally abusive” environment at her office.

      The former staffers say Ratansi mistreated employees by yelling at them, insulting their appearances and publicly ridiculing their work.

      “It was like walking on eggshells every single day,” said a former employee. “You’d come into work knowing that she was going to yell … She was going to cut someone down and you just hope it wasn’t you.”

      CBC News agreed to protect the identities of the sources, who say they fear harm to their careers and retaliation by Ratansi herself after speaking out.

      Multiple sources said that, when constituents from South Asian communities called about family reunification and immigration cases, Ratansi on some occasions told staff to stop working on some of their files because she felt the individuals involved were “untrustworthy” or suggested they “lied” because of their ethnicity.

      After CBC News contacted Ratansi for comment, and to ask why she was employing her sister at the office, the MP announced on Facebook late last night she told the Prime Minister’s Office she is leaving the Liberal party. Ratansi acknowledged that she had hired her sister as her constituency assistant — a violation of parliamentary rules — but did not address the claims about her behaviour in the workplace.

      “To the constituents of Don Valley East and to anyone I may have disappointed by my error of judgment, I take full responsibility, and to all I do apologize,” Ratansi wrote on her Facebook page at 9:38 pm.

      Ratansi has not responded to CBC’s request for comment submitted on Sunday, despite repeated requests for a response. On Monday night, she said she referred the matter to the Ethics Commissioner last week — after CBC News’ investigation began.

      MPs have their own operating budgets and are allowed to pay constituency assistants a maximum salary of $89,700 a year, according to the House of Commons. That means Ratansi could have paid her sister up to $269,100 over three years.

      The government’s chief whip Mark Holland said his “understanding is Ms. Rantasi is disputing” the allegations about her statements and treatment of staff. Now that Ratansi is an Independent MP, he said, it’s up to the House of Commons’ Chief Human Resources Officer to “adjudicate” the matter and Holland encouraged employees to report their complaints formally.

      “We are absolutely committed to ensuring that all workplaces of all members in our caucus are safe workplaces that are positive, supportive and free of any form of harassment,” said Holland, adding that no formal complaints have been filed against Rantasi.

      The Conservatives are calling on Ratansi to resign immediately.

      “One thing is clear — Trudeau MPs continue to believe that they are entitled to a different set of rules than average Canadians,” said Conservative ethics critic MP Michael Barrett. “That employing their sister with taxpayer dollars is OK, as long as they don’t get caught.”

      Asked about Ratansi hiring her sister, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the case “unacceptable” and lamented the fact that such acts can tarnish the reputation of all MPs.

      “I am deeply disappointed by the news I learned yesterday from Ms. Ratansi and how she handled the office,” he told a press conference. “It is unacceptable and I expect there to be a thorough followup by the House administration on this.”

      Allegations of racist comments

      Ratansi, a backbencher and a trained accountant, became the first Muslim woman elected to the House of Commons in 2004. She lost the seat in 2011 and won it back in 2015. She is currently the chair of the Commons standing committee on the environment.

      Several former staff members claim they heard Ratansi casually make comments they considered “racist” by applying stereotypes to Chinese, South Asian and Caribbean constituents and communities.

      “She said that there are too many Chinese in [the] riding and [she did not want] any more Chinese,” said a former employee. “She also said that constituents shouldn’t sell their houses to the Chinese because they don’t vote.”

      “There was definitely a lot of explicit as well as casual racism that I observed and heard during my time in that office,” said another former employee. “A lot of vitriol directed to certain ethnic groups, religious groups.”

      Multiple sources said they heard Ratansi discourage staff from working on some South Asian communities’ immigration files because she felt some came to Canada illegally and couldn’t be trusted.

      “Yasmin maintained a certain scepticism toward certain groups of people,” said a former staff member. “Stereotypes, really, and [she] used those stereotypes to basically dictate action on certain immigration files.”

      It’s not the first time Ratansi has come under fire for her remarks. She was accused of “victim blaming” in 2017 in response to comments she made about sexual violence during a panel discussion, VICE reported.

      A member of the audience told VICE that Ratansi said “‘sexual violence happens because women sexualize themselves’ and that when it comes to dealing with sexual harassment, women should have thicker skin and treat the encounters ‘like a water off a duck’s back.'”

      Ratansi originally denied making the comments, then apologized.

      ‘It was an abusive and toxic environment’
      The former employees CBC News spoke to also claim Ratansi created a “toxic environment” at the office. Two former employees said they felt Ratansi was frustrated by her lack of career advancement and took it out on staff.

      “It was always scary, because you never know what will happen when she comes into the office,” said a former staffer. “Whether she’s in a good mood or bad mood … It was an abusive and toxic environment.”

      The sources claim Ratansi publicly yelled at staff about their work and called people “stupid” for simple mistakes, such as leaving paperwork in the printer or taking photos she didn’t like.

      In some cases, the comments were aimed at employees’ appearances, said the sources. One former staffer said Ratansi called some staff members “fat.” 🙂 🙂 🙂 Another said said Ratansi told some staff members on more than one occasion that she was selecting other staffers to attend public events because they looked “like shit.”

      CBC News spoke to a fifth former employee who said that while Ratansi is opinionated, they never felt they were being mistreated or heard any troubling comments.

      ‘This is not good leadership,’ said ethics expert

      Two other former employees of Ratansi’s office defended her and said the claims made against her contradicted their experiences of working with her. Both said they did not hear the MP make inappropriate comments and did not witness staff being treated badly.

      Chris MacDonald is a professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management who teaches business ethics. He said the claims, if true, raise serious questions about Ratansi’s leadership style.

      “This is not good leadership, this is not good management and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” he said.

      “I think the overall pattern here, if substantiated, is one that should worry Canadians. This is not what we expect from our elected officials and it’s not the kind of example they should be setting.”

      https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-employees-claim-mistreatment-by-mp-yasmin-ratansi-1.5796587

      Milad Un Nabi 2020

      I wish all Muslims Milad un-Nabi Mubarak.

      This day commemorates the birthday of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

      As we celebrate the day, we should reflect on the ethos of Islam of pluralism, peace, compassion and tolerance taught by the Holy Prophet (PBUH), irrespective of faith, colour or creed.

      During this pandemic, let us reach out to the vulnerable, poor, weak, the seniors and extend a hand of friendship and fraternity.

  2. UN Accuses Turkey of Allowing Iranian Intelligence to Commit Killings In Its Territory
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2619411/un-accuses-turkey-allowing-iranian-intelligence-commit-killings-its-territory

    “UN rapporteurs implicitly accused Turkey of allowing Iranian intelligence to perpetrate or orchestrate extrajudicial killings on Turkish soil and of allowing an Iranian who reportedly played a key role in the assassination of Masoud Molavi Vardanjani in Istanbul to escape to Iran, a joint UN letter revealed…”

  3. Iran Finishes Moving First Batch of Advanced Centrifuges Underground
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2619896/iran-finishes-moving-first-batch-advanced-centrifuges-underground

    “Iran has finished moving a first cascade of advanced centrifuges from an above-ground plant at its main uranium enrichment site to an underground one in a fresh breach of its nuclear deal with big powers, a UN atomic watchdog report showed on Wednesday.

    The transfer to the underground plant apparently built to withstand aerial bombardment was done in response to the burning down of an above-ground centrifuge-building workshop at Natanz in July, which Tehran has called an act of sabotage. It also slowed Iran’s output of enriched uranium, the report showed.

    The move was the latest of many deliberate breaches by Iran of its 2015 deal with major powers in response to Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from the landmark accord and its reimposition of sanctions against Tehran. The deal says the underground plant at Natanz can only be used for first-generation IR-1 machines.

    “They finished installing one of the three cascades and they have started installing a second cascade,” a senior diplomat said, adding that while they were being moved, these more efficient and productive machines were not operating as yet.

    A cascade is an interlinked cluster of centrifuge machines.

    Iran’s stock of low-enriched uranium is now far above the deal’s 202.8 kg limit at 2.4 tons, but it produced 337.5 kg in the quarter, less than the more than 500 kg recorded in the previous two quarters by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    Iran had previously informed the IAEA that it would transfer three cascades of advanced centrifuges at Natanz underground. The first, of IR-2m machines, is installed and connected but has not been fed with uranium hexafluoride gas, the feedstock for centrifuges, according to the report, obtained by Reuters.

    Iran has started installing a cascade of IR-4 machines in the underground plant but not the third cascade of IR-6 ones, the report said.

    The 2015 deal was designed to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb if it chose to do so to at least a year from 2-3 months.

    Iran has told the agency that it aims eventually to “concentrate” all its enrichment research and development – a term usually reserved for advanced centrifuges – in the area of the underground enrichment plant, the report said.”

  4. Germany approves $155m naval arms package to Egypt
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201111-germany-approves-155m-naval-arms-package-to-egypt/

    “Germany has approved the sale of naval equipment to Egypt worth €130 million ($155 million), according to a letter by the German Economy Minister to the Economic Committee of the Bundestag.

    The equipment includes nine patrol boats and a coastal defence ship, reports Al-Monitor.

    The ships were part of a 2013 deal originally intended to go to Saudi Arabia but the sale was cancelled after Germany banned arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

    In November 2018 Germany banned arms exports to Saudi following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The ban was later extended until 31 December.

    Angela Merkel’s coalition government promised to stop arms exports to countries intervening in the war on Yemen, one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

    On these grounds, the German opposition contested the deal in light of Egypt’s participation in the war on Yemen, including its recent dispatching of warships to aid Saudi’s naval blockade on the country.

    Human rights advocates have for years called on world leaders to stop selling arms to Egypt given the severe human rights abuses carried out daily.

    Omid Nouripour of the German Green Party said the deal is “a declaration of moral bankruptcy.”

    During the first quarter of 2020 Egypt was the largest arms buyer from Germany. Germany’s arms exports rose during the first half of 2019 along with sales to the UAE, which also has a highly questionable human rights record.

    The UAE is a member of the Saudi-backed coalition against Yemen.

    Arms sales have also been criticised in the context of the coronavirus pandemic with experts calling for the defence industry to make medical equipment rather than weapons.”

  5. ‘Countdown to catastrophe’ in Yemen as U.N. warns of famine – again
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-un/countdown-to-catastrophe-in-yemen-as-u-n-warns-of-famine-again-idUSKBN27R2VO

    “Millions of men, women and children in war-torn Yemen are facing famine – again, top United Nations officials warned on Wednesday as they appealed for more money to prevent it – again.

    “We are on a countdown right now to a catastrophe,” U.N. food chief David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council. “We have been here before … We did almost the same dog-and-pony show. We sounded the alarm then.”

    The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the people in need of help.

    “If we choose to look away, there’s no doubt in my mind Yemen will be plunged into a devastating famine within a few short months,” Beasley told the 15-member council…”

  6. Police Arrest 4 Moroccans in Spain for Kidnapping 2 Compatriots
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/11/325520/police-arrest-4-moroccans-in-spain-for-kidnapping-2-compatriots/

    “Police in Spain’s Malaga province arrested four Moroccan nationals on suspicion of kidnapping two other Moroccans for ransom, according to Spanish outlet SIGLO XXI.

    The suspects, aged between 25 and 35, threatened to kill the victims if their families refused to pay.

    Authorities will charge the four Moroccan suspects with kidnapping and belonging to a criminal organization, Spain’s Civil Guard said on Wednesday.

    The case dates back to September 30, when the suspects put the 25-year-old captives in a vehicle on the A7 highway between Alicante and Murcia. The suspects used another vehicle to avoid any problems with police controls and headed to the Malaga province, according to the same source.

    After the suspects contacted the victims’ families, one of the captives’ sister and mother reported the case to the Spanish Civil Guard in the province of Alicante. The suspects had warned the families not to go to the police if they wanted to reunite with their relatives.

    The provinces of Alicante, Madrid, and Malaga mobilized police units to rapidly address the case.

    Through an investigation, they located the Moroccan kidnapping suspects in a single-family home in the city of Fuengirola, southern Spain. Under police pressure, the alleged perpetrators released the victims, SIGLO XXI reported.

    One of the families chose to pay the ransom and not tell the police, the source added.

    Police searched the house after freeing the hostages. Security services seized the phones the suspects used to call the families and demand a ransom. They also seized, among other items, two vehicles used in the crime and cash.”

  7. Iran vows to develop ‘comprehensive’ ties with Pakistan
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2271932/iran-vows-to-develop-comprehensive-ties-with-pakistan

    “Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr Muhammad Javad Zarif said his country was ready to develop “comprehensive” relationship with Pakistan, as he held talks with senior civil and military authorities on Wednesday amidst new alignments in the region.

    Zarif, who was heading a high-powered delegation that also included Iran’s special envoy on Afghanistan, met Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and also visited the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi to hold a meeting with army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    This was Zarif’s second visit to Islamabad in six months and came against the backdrop of new alignments in the region…”

  8. Turkey rescues more than 20 asylum seekers
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-rescues-more-than-20-asylum-seekers/2040575

    “The Turkish Coast Guard rescued at least 21 asylum seekers who were pushed back by Greek authorities into Turkish waters off the Aegean coast, officials said Wednesday.

    Acting on an intelligence tip that a life-boat was stranded off the coast of Kusadasi in the Aydin province, the Turkish Coast Guard launched a search operation to rescue the asylum seekers.

    After routine checks, the asylum seekers were transferred to the provincial migration authority.

    Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers wanting to cross to Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.”

  9. At least 5 migrants drown in shipwreck says NGO
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/regions/sicily/2020/11/11/at-least-5-migrants-drown-in-shipwreck-says-ngo_3ca2952a-e2dd-4bb4-a481-917f0870506f.html

    “The NGO run migrant rescue ship Open Arms said at least five people had drowned among some 100 migrants it rescued from the waters of the central Mediterranean.

    It said it had managed to save all the children.

    Open Arms said the dinghy they were travelling on had collapsed and tipped them into the sea.

    The migrants are expected to be taken to the island of Lampedusa once they have been recovered.

    “We are completing the rescue, there are five people dead for the moment, the children are on board,” said Open Arms on Twitter.

    It said its medical team was treating all the rescued migrants.”

  10. 17-year-old Halid S. sentenced to prison for beating a 49-year-old firefighter to death in front of his wife
    https://rmx.news/article/article/17-year-old-halid-s-sentenced-to-prison-for-beating-a-49-year-old-firefighter-to-death-in-front-of-his-wife

    “The Augsburg Regional Court sentenced 17-year-old Halid S. to 4.5 years in prison for killing 49-year-old firefighter Roland S. on St. Nicholas Day of 2019, Bild reported.

    Judge Lenart Hoesch attested that the main offender from Königsplatz, Halid S., had harmful tendencies. The court granted his two accused accomplices, Gökalp A. and Kevin C., suspended sentences for injuring the companion of the victim Roland S.

    On St. Nicholas Day 2019, after a visit to the Christmas market in Augsburg, a dispute between a group of young people and the fire inspector of the local professional fire department, Roland S., escalated. The young men attacked the fireman who then fell to the ground and died shortly afterward in front of his wife. Halid S. was arrested two days after the incident.

    The now-convicted teenage offender has German, Turkish, and Lebanese citizenship. He was already known to the police before the brutal act in Augsburg. ..”

  11. DAILY MAIL – Britons who test negative for Covid should wear paper wristbands to show they don’t have the virus, Number 10’s nudge unit says

    Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) was sent to watch mass testing in Slovakia
    Paper wristbands could be used to allow Covid-free people to get back to normal
    They added incentives for getting swabs needed to be provided to the public
    And the royal family could be used to promote a mass testing scheme
    WHAT WERE THE RECOMMENDATIONS?
    After viewing Slovakia’s mass testing programme, the team made several recommendations to the UK Government for motivating people to get tested for Covid-19.

    These included:

    Provide paper wristbands to those that have tested negative
    Use powerful messaging such as ‘save Christmas’
    Recruit the royal family to promote the testing programme
    Give volunteers additional benefits such as free public transport
    Provide lotteries as part of testing
    Support positive cases with a ‘care package’, providing them with temporary housing in which to isolate and priority delivery slots in supermarkets

    more :

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8938567/Britons-test-negative-Covid-wear-paper-wristbands-Number-10s-nudge-unit-says.html

  12. “Allah has promised us heaven and hell for you”

    “Allah has promised us paradise and he has promised you hell.” This is one of the threats made by the terrorists who attacked in Catalonia in August 2017 while they were preparing explosives, in a video broadcast this Tuesday during the first session of the trial before the National High Court.

    The images were shown on the occasion of the statement of Mohamed Houli, who survived the explosion at Alcanar’s chalet on the eve of the attacks and is said to have recorded the images.

    The videos feature Younes Abouyaaqoub, who was driving the van during the massive crash on Las Ramblas; Mohamed Hichamy, who participated in the Cambrils bombing, and Youssef Aalla, who died in the Alcanar explosion.

    “This is addressed to the enemies of Allah, wait, wait, here we will wait for you,” said Hichamy, who said at another point: “You want life. Allah has chosen us from among millions of men to make you cry. some blood.”

    “Come on, come on… you’ll regret being born, especially you, Mossos d’Esquadra,” he said at another point in the video.

    “Look how they are going to suffer,” he hears himself say at another point in the recording. Aalla, meanwhile, speaks while looking at the camera: “This is so that you know that the Muslim has dignity and strength with the power of Allah,” he said.

    In another video released in the room today, they laughingly explain how they made the explosives and how much they cost them. “Every gram of this iron will get into your heads, those of your children or your wives,” said one of them, holding a homemade grenade.

    Abouyaaqoub, for his part, appears in another video trying on and posing with an explosive vest while laughing. “It’s going ‘bang’,” he continues.

    https://bcfocus.com/allah-has-promised-us-heaven-and-hell-for-you/