Reader’s Links for December 1, 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

72 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 1, 2020”

  1. British military, Dystopia military–what’s going on? Why bring in the military to execute public health pandemic plans that countries have had in place for many years? Is asking this simple question soon to be met with a soldier at the door? Why is this happening in different countries at once? Is it coordinated? Is this question illegal? Is this question paranoid? Is it not now clear that regulations have replaced the laws of the lands while laws are enforced only at the discretion of the government that loathes its own democratic process?

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/army-spies-to-take-on-antivax-militants-mfzsj66w2

  2. Pope Francis Calls for ‘New Social Justice’ to Challenge Utopia (breitbart, Dec 1, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/social-justice/2020/12/01/pope-francis-calls-for-new-social-justice-to-challenge-utopia/

    “Pope Francis called for a “new social justice” Sunday in which all well-intentioned people will challenge the reigning utopia.

    Addressing “social justice judges” from the African and American continents via streaming, the pope congratulated them for their commitment to “social rights,” asserting that the very fact that men and women “come together to think about their work and to build the new social justice is, without a doubt, excellent news.”

    The pontiff, who has been a vocal proponent of a “great reset” after the coronavirus pandemic, urged his hearers to “not lose sight of the distressing picture in which a small part of humanity lives in opulence, while an increasingly large number lives without dignity with their most elementary rights ignored or violated.”

    “We cannot think disconnected from reality,” he said. “And this is a reality that you must bear in mind.”

    The pope insisted that social justice is “a collective work” in which all people of good will challenge the reigning utopia. “Justice is a task that has to be conquered every day, because the imbalance is a temptation of every minute,” he said.

    Justice also involves overcoming the temptation to ignore others, “especially the weakest,” Francis said, lamenting that “we have become used to sidestepping or ignoring situations until they impact us directly.”

    “Unconditional commitment means taking charge of the pain of the other and not slipping into a culture of indifference,” he added.

    In their task of bringing about a “new social justice for the planet,” the pope urged his hearers to pay attention to history, to draw inspiration from “the struggles, the triumphs, and the defeats” of those who gave their lives for “a full and integrated humanity.”

    This effort will only succeed if it takes place as a grassroots initiative involving all people, “without pretending to be an enlightened elite,” Francis said, because “what God asks of us believers is to be God’s people, not God’s elite.”

    In the battle for social justice solidarity is necessary to overcome “the structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of work, land and housing,” he said.

    We must fight, he said, “against those who deny social and labor rights” and “against a culture that leads people to use others, to enslave others, and ends up taking away the dignity of others.”

    When we give essential things to the poor, he said, “we do not give them our things, or that of third parties, but we give them back what is theirs.”

    The Christian tradition “never recognized the right to private property as absolute and untouchable,” he added, but “always emphasized its social function in any of its forms.”

    “There is no social justice that can be based on inequity, which involves the concentration of wealth,” he said.”Pope Francis Calls for ‘New Social Justice’ to Challenge Utopia (breitbart, Dec 1, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/social-justice/2020/12/01/pope-francis-calls-for-new-social-justice-to-challenge-utopia/

    “Pope Francis called for a “new social justice” Sunday in which all well-intentioned people will challenge the reigning utopia.

    Addressing “social justice judges” from the African and American continents via streaming, the pope congratulated them for their commitment to “social rights,” asserting that the very fact that men and women “come together to think about their work and to build the new social justice is, without a doubt, excellent news.”

    The pontiff, who has been a vocal proponent of a “great reset” after the coronavirus pandemic, urged his hearers to “not lose sight of the distressing picture in which a small part of humanity lives in opulence, while an increasingly large number lives without dignity with their most elementary rights ignored or violated.”

    “We cannot think disconnected from reality,” he said. “And this is a reality that you must bear in mind.”

    The pope insisted that social justice is “a collective work” in which all people of good will challenge the reigning utopia. “Justice is a task that has to be conquered every day, because the imbalance is a temptation of every minute,” he said.

    Justice also involves overcoming the temptation to ignore others, “especially the weakest,” Francis said, lamenting that “we have become used to sidestepping or ignoring situations until they impact us directly.”

    “Unconditional commitment means taking charge of the pain of the other and not slipping into a culture of indifference,” he added.

    In their task of bringing about a “new social justice for the planet,” the pope urged his hearers to pay attention to history, to draw inspiration from “the struggles, the triumphs, and the defeats” of those who gave their lives for “a full and integrated humanity.”

    This effort will only succeed if it takes place as a grassroots initiative involving all people, “without pretending to be an enlightened elite,” Francis said, because “what God asks of us believers is to be God’s people, not God’s elite.”

    In the battle for social justice solidarity is necessary to overcome “the structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of work, land and housing,” he said.

    We must fight, he said, “against those who deny social and labor rights” and “against a culture that leads people to use others, to enslave others, and ends up taking away the dignity of others.”

    When we give essential things to the poor, he said, “we do not give them our things, or that of third parties, but we give them back what is theirs.”

    The Christian tradition “never recognized the right to private property as absolute and untouchable,” he added, but “always emphasized its social function in any of its forms.”

    “There is no social justice that can be based on inequity, which involves the concentration of wealth,” he said.”

    • The Pope wears lady’s underpants, and that’s no joke. –Just another shemale royal.

    • Well according to that link Johnny, they broke the first rule:

      ” How did it produce such an intense solar flare? Even small sunspots can explode if their magnetic fields criss-cross and reconnect.”

      We have known for a long time…

      NEVER cross the streams!

    • Ron Paul – like many Libertarian poseurs – gets most of his funding and exposure via Uncle Vlad. Buchanan and Paul are reliable exponents of policies Russia thinks weaken the USA. “Antiwar” propaganda is another tack.

      (Mercer and Koch – arch-globalists – have also funded these hypocrites.)

      Both Buchanan and Paul happen to be florid jew-haters. Now they seem to be aging out. Till 2014 Paul was a perennial on the Top 10 U.S. Antisemites List compiled by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

      The more they push Snowden and Assange, the less I trust the “martyred whistleblowers”.

      • I have been distrusting them for a long time, glad to have some reasoning to back up my gut feelings.

  3. 2020 Set To Be Record Year For Fatal Shootings in Sweden (breitbart, Dec 1, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/12/01/2020-set-to-be-record-year-for-fatal-shootings-in-sweden/

    “Despite the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak which could have suppressed some forms of criminality, Sweden is set to see a record year for fatal shootings as the number of people killed by firearms has already surpassed that of 2019.

    A fatal shooting in the multicultural southern city of Malmö over the weekend increased the number to 43 in 2020, surpassing the total number of gun deaths in 2019 with an entire month left in the year.

    Linda H. Staaf, head of the police’s national intelligence unit, stated that the level of fatal shootings is related to social work that was not done decades ago. Police say that many of the shootings are linked to gang crime and vulnerable areas, commonly referred to as no-go areas, Sveriges Radio reports.

    “It’s a lot to do with integration. It is about society as a whole withdrawing from these areas. Shops, government agencies, various community actors backed out and left residents stranded,” Staaf said.

    Sweden’s record for fatal shootings took place in 2018 when 45 people were killed as a result of gun violence. With a month left in 2020, broadcaster Sveriges Radio predicts it “likely” that record could be broken.

    The broadcaster noted that Stockholm County accounted for around half of the fatal shootings so far this year, which could be explained by heightened police pressure on criminal gangs that has led to violence between several criminal groups.

    According to Ms Staaf, however, there have been “positive trends” in these neighbourhoods, adding that “an important part is the police should be able to operate in the areas and pave the way for other social actors to establish themselves there”.

    Earlier this year it was noted that despite the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak and the anti-gang police operation Rimfrost, shootings were on the rise.

    In July of last year, Head of the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) Anders Thornberg simply told Swedes to get used to the current high level of shootings and indicated it could take five to ten years to tackle the issue.

    In some areas, such as Malmö, shooting suspects overwhelmingly come from migrant backgrounds. In Stockholm, all of the violent gang leaders are thought to be from migration backgrounds, as well.”

  4. Azerbaijan fully reclaims lands around Nagorno-Karabakh (abcnews, Dec 1, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/azerbaijan-fully-reclaims-lands-nagorno-karabakh-74476524

    “Azerbaijan on Tuesday completed reclaiming territory ceded by Armenia under a Russia-brokered peace deal that ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

    Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the restoration of control over the areas as a “historic victory.”

    “We all lived with one dream and now we fulfilled it,” Aliyev said in an address to the nation. “We won a victory on the battlefield and on the political arena, and that victory opens a new era for our country. It will be an era of development, security and progress.”

    Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but large chunks of surrounding lands in Armenian hands.

    In 44 days of heavy fighting that began on Sept. 27, the Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces and wedged deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept a Russia-brokered peace deal that took effect Nov. 10. The agreement saw the return of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijan’s control and also requested Armenia to hand over all of the regions it held outside the separatist region.

    The Lachin region, which lies between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, was the last of the three areas on the rim of Nagorno-Karabakh to be surrendered by Armenian forces on Tuesday.

    Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal and help the return of refugees. The Russian troops will also ensure safe transit between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia across the Lachin region.

    “We have restored historic justice,” Aliyev said. “The Azerbaijani people will do everything to rebuild the ruined cities and villages. From now on, we will live as a great and proud people.”

    Aliyev said 94 Azerbaijani civilians were killed and more than 400 were wounded in the latest fighting, but he again refrained from revealing his country’s military losses.

    Armenian authorities said that more than 1,700 Armenian soldiers have been killed.

    Turkey, which has strongly backed its ally Azerbaijan, has extended its clout in the region. On Tuesday, Russian and Turkish military officials signed documents to set up a joint monitoring center to ensure the fulfillment of the peace deal.

    The peace agreement was celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan, but sparked mass protests in Armenia, with thousands taking to the streets to demand the ouster of the country’s prime minister.

    After the hostilities ended, Russian peacekeepers have assisted the return of refugees who fled the latest fighting. The Russian military said that over 25,000 people have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.

    As Armenian forces ceded control of the Aghdam and the Kalbajar regions after the peace deal, some Azerbaijani residents who fled them more than a quarter-century ago also started trickling back to the territories.

    Gurban Hasanov, 56, who was forced to flee Lachin 26 years ago with his family, said he’s longing to come back.

    “I and all my family dream to return to our native village,” he told The Associated Press. “I lack words to explain how badly we want to come back. I’m a teacher, and I want to teach children geography.”

    Hasanov said he recently saw his village on video with his house intact — one of just a dozen that have survived.

    Before the territories’ handover, some ethnic Armenians set houses on fire in a bitter farewell — a gesture that insulted Azerbaijanis.

    “I hope the Armenians didn’t burn it as they did in the Kalbajar region,” he said.”

  5. EU border chief faces grilling over migrant pushback claims (abcnews, Dec 1, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/frontex-chief-faces-eu-grilling-migrant-pushback-claims-74475487

    “The head of the European Union’s border and coast guard agency faces a grilling Tuesday by EU lawmakers as pressure mounts over allegations that Frontex was involved in illegal pushbacks aimed at preventing migrants or refugees entering Europe through the Greek islands.

    A joint investigation published in October by media outlets Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports, Der Spiegel, ARD and TV Asahi said that video and other publicly available data suggest Frontex “assets were actively involved in one pushback incident at the Greek-Turkish maritime border in the Aegean Sea.”

    The report said personnel from the agency, which monitors and polices migrant movements around Europe’s borders, were present at another incident and “have been in the vicinity of four more since March.”

    EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she still has confidence in Frontex’s managing board but remains deeply concerned about the allegations.

    After the report surfaced, Frontex announced an internal investigation, and Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in October that “so far, no documents or other materials have been found to substantiate any accusations of violations of the law or the Frontex Code of Conduct by deployed officers.”

    He said the agency does “not tolerate any violations of the fundamental rights in any of our activities.”

    Pushbacks are considered contrary to international refugee protection agreements, which say people should not be expelled or returned a country where their life and safety might be in danger due to their race, religion, nationality or being members of a social or political group.

    Frontex’s board met to discuss the allegations late last month. The board said afterwards that the European Commission had ordered it to “hold a further extraordinary meeting within the next two weeks in order to consider in more detail the replies provided by the agency.” That meeting is scheduled to take place on Dec. 9.

    The allegations are extremely embarrassing for the Commission. In September it unveiled sweeping new reforms to the EU’s asylum system, which proved dismally inadequate when over 1 million migrants arrived in 2015, many of them Syrian refugees entering the Greek islands via Turkey.

    Part of the EU’s migration reforms includes a system of independent monitoring involving rights experts to ensure that there are no pushbacks at Europe’s borders. Migrant entries have dropped to a relative trickle in recent years, although many migrants still languish on some Greek islands waiting for their asylum claims to be processed or to be sent back.

    During a visit to Morocco, Johansson told the AP that the report “concerns me a lot. If it’s true, it’s totally unacceptable. A European agency has to comply to EU law and fundamental rights with no excuse.”

    Johansson said she has “full confidence in the process that (has) gone on in the management board and the sub-group they are setting up” to continue the investigation, but, she noted that “there were a lot of questions put to the director. And he has not answered these questions.”

    Frontex says its work in the eastern Aegean Sea has been complicated by a dispute between Turkey and Greece over their maritime borders. Greek and Turkish coast guard ships are routinely involved in standoffs and threats in the relatively narrow stretch of water that separates the two countries.”

  6. When I went to bed on the morning of November 4, President was ahead in many states where they had quit counting for some (criminal activity time) reason. Then poof he was behind in the morning. Please, please stop the horse pucky, everyone with a brain knows Donald Trump was re-elected period.

  7. GERMANY – Trier: Four killed by car in pedestrian zone in German town, driver arrested

    At least four people were killed and 15 others injured on Tuesday when they were hit by a car in the Western German city of Trier, police said.

    A 51 year old man from the local Trier-Saarburg area was arrested, police announced on Twitter. They are currently questioning the suspect.

    Police and rescue crews are on the scene and authorities have told people to avoid the city center.

    “We have arrested one person, one vehicle has been secured. Two people have died, according to preliminary indications. Please continue to avoid the downtown area,” police said on Twitter.

    Mayor Wolfram Leibe told the SWR broadcaster that in addition to the two dead, 15 people had suffered serious injuries.

    “We have an amok driver in the city. We have two dead that we are certain of and up to 15 injured, some of them with the most severe injuries,” he told SWR.

  8. (Richard: 15 minutes in and the video is very interesting.)

    Exclusive: 3-Star General McInerney Calls For Martial Law, Tribunals & Investigation of Treason

    • WVW-TV Exclusive: Lt. General Michael Flynn’s First Interview Since President Trump’s Pardon

  9. Gender issue | Child removed from family as parents refuse sex reassignment therapy

    An Australian child has been seized from its parents following a court decision after they refused requests for a gender change.

    The couple is now appealing, warning that they’re being bullied into granting consent.

  10. Belgian police arrest 25 men including MEP as ‘sex party’ breaks curfew

    Hungarian MEP in Viktor Orbán’s party resigns and apologises for ‘irresponsible behaviour’

    A Hungarian MEP in Viktor Orbán’s rightwing party, spotted fleeing along a gutter to escape police raiding a “sex party” above a Brussels bar, has apologised for breaching Belgium’s lockdown rules.

    József Szájer, a senior member of the Fidesz party who helped write Hungary’s constitution in 2011, was one of about 20 people, mainly men and including at least two EU diplomats, who attended a party held near the Grand Place in the Belgian capital’s historic centre on Friday evening.

    The MEP had attempted to escape the scene by climbing out of a window from the first floor apartment before being spotted by a passerby “fleeing along the gutter”, according to Sarah Durant, a spokesman for the Brussels region’s deputy public prosecutor.

    “The man’s hands were bloody,” Durant said. “It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing. Narcotics were found in his backpack. The man was unable to produce any identity documents. He was escorted to his place of residence, where he identified himself as S. J. (1961) by means of a diplomatic passport.” It was reported he tried to claim diplomatic immunity.

    In a statement, Szájer, 59, who resigned on Sunday without mentioning his brush with the law, apologised for his “irresponsible” behaviour but denied carrying drugs.

    He said: “A newspaper article appeared in the Belgian press today about a house party in Brussels on Friday, which I attended. After the police asked for my identity – since I did not have ID on me – I declared that I was an MEP.

    “The police continued the process and finally issued an official verbal warning and transported me home.

    “I did not use drugs. I offered to the police to take an instant test, but they did not do it. Police said an ecstasy pill was found. It’s not mine, I don’t know who placed it and how. I made a statement to the police about this.”

    Szájer, who is married to Tünde Handó, a prominent Hungarian lawyer and judge with whom he has a daughter, asked his family to forgive him in his statement.

    He wrote: “I deeply regret violating the Covid restrictions – it was irresponsible on my part. I am ready to pay the fine that occurs. With my resignation on Sunday I drew the political and personal consequences.

    “I apologise to my family, to my colleagues, to my voters. I ask them to evaluate my misstep against a background of 30 years of devoted and hard work. The misstep is strictly personal. I am the one who owns responsibility for it.”

    Two other people, aged about 43 and 33, claimed diplomatic immunity when discovered at the party, where many had been found wearing little or no clothes, according to local reports. A source told the DH Sports newspaper: “We interrupted a gang bang”.

    Szájer has previously boasted that he personally drafted changes to the Hungarian constitution that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. “Steve Jobs will surely be happy when he gets word that Hungary’s new constitution is being written on an iPad, actually my iPad,” he wrote in a 2011 blogpost, a year after Orbán’s government came to power.

    In the intervening decade, Orbán’s government has made family values a centrepiece of its political programme, frequently employing anti-LGBT rhetoric.

    Friday’s illegal gathering, staged on Rue des Pierres a few yards from a police station, broke Belgium’s rules limiting indoor gatherings to four people.

    Brussels is under a 10pm to 6am curfew, and all bars and restaurants have been ordered to shut until mid-January. Masks must be worth both indoors and outdoors in public spaces. Individuals found to have breached the regulations face a €250 (£224) fine – less than the daily stipend given to MEPs for attending parliament.

    MEPs cannot be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings because of opinions expressed or votes cast, but they do not have immunity when found committing a criminal act.

    Officials from the Belgian ministry of foreign affairs were said have been called for guidance in the early hours of the morning and the mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, was informed.

    A source in the European parliament said: “There is nothing wrong to participate in a sex party of any kind. However such kinds of meetings with many people are illegal under the coronavirus laws. The fact of being covered by parliamentary immunity does not exempt anyone from obeying the law.”

    In her statement, the prosecutor’s office spokesman said the MEP was being investigated over possession of narcotics. “A police report was drawn up for non-compliance with measures relating to the Covid-19 pandemic for all those present,” she said. “A report was also drawn up for S.J. for violation of the narcotics legislation.

    “The procedure is ongoing. Criminal proceedings could only be brought after the waiver of the diplomatic or parliamentary immunity of the above-mentioned persons by the competent authorities.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/01/belgian-police-arrest-25-men-including-mep-as-sex-party-breaks-curfew-coronavirus
    ============================================

    Lawmaker and Diplomats Flee Police Raid on COVID Lockdown Orgy: Reports

    Diplomats and a politician breached strict coronavirus lockdown rules in Brussels, Belgium—the home of the European Parliament—during an alleged group sex party.

    PARIS—Belgian police have broken up an illegal lockdown orgy involving 25 men, including at least one foreign politician and several diplomats, at a central Brussels bar, according to local reports.

    Officers burst into the ground floor of a bar on Rue des Pierres in the Belgian capital on Friday night to discover alcohol, drugs, and what has been described as “a party of legs in the air,” Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure (DH) reported, with a source telling the outlet: “We interrupted a gang bang!”

    One of the revelers, a foreign Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who reportedly remains unnamed after invoking his parliamentary right to immunity, tried to escape through a window but injured himself and was then confronted by police reinforcements who had just arrived. The reports conflict with European Parliament regulations, which state that members can be subject to “inquiry, detention, or legal proceedings” if they are “found in the act of committing an offense.”

    According to DH, all those present were fined for attending the gathering, which broke Belgian limitations on meet-ups under coronavirus safety laws. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office was informed of the incident, according to local reports, and decided to release the attendees without further charge. The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, was also notified.

    The Daily Beast did not receive comment from Brussels police by time of publication.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/brussels-lockdown-orgy-busted-by-cops-european-lawmaker-and-diplomats-flee?source=articles&via=rss

  11. “HCQ/Zinc may be effective against many influenza strains. May eliminate need for flu shot, which is only around 40% effective, and tamiflu which is not used in children. We may reduce much of the mortality (50000/year) and economic loss from missed work. We need research ASAP.”
    Dr. Zev Zelenko – December 1, 2020 – Twitter
    https://twitter.com/zev_dr/status/1333692968071536640

    JJ replying to Dr. Zev
    JJ – Look, one of the running dog of CCP
    JJ – December 1, 2020 – Twitter
    https://twitter.com/JJ49380284/status/1333699942993387521

  12. Don’t mess with MAC 🙂

    “Staten Island – Mac’s Public House – More FINES! Original $15,000 Fine Voided, THE BATTLE HEATS UP!”
    MattoosEntertainment – November 28, 2020

    • “Staten Island – Mac’s Public House UPDATE 11/29 – Cuomo sends in foot soldiers for more harassment”
      MattoosEntertainment – November 29, 2020

  13. Democrats Brought ‘Dominion’ Software Into Michigan with Approval of Anti-Trump Republican Gov. Rick Snyder

    It wasn’t Gretchen Whitmer who approved Dominion.

    Democrats Brought ‘Dominion’ Software Into Michigan with Approval of Anti-Trump Republican Gov. Rick Snyder

    It wasn’t Gretchen Whitmer who approved Dominion.

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/democrats-brought-dominion-software-into-michigan-with-approval-of-anti-trump-republican-gov-rick-snyder/

  14. Report: Democrats face voter fraud allegations after ballot review by Dem judge erased Republican lead

    ‘The judge miraculously “found” enough ballots that he felt were okay …’

    Democrats are reportedly facing voter fraud accusations in an extremely tight New York congressional race that resulted in a Republican candidate having her lead over a Democratic incumbent completely erased, the Washington Examiner reported.

    On election night, freshman Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi (N.Y.) trailed Republican challenger Claudia Tenney by over 28,000 votes. Then, as mail-in ballots were counted over the coming weeks, Brindisi’s deficit was erased, and he trailed Tenney by just 100-200 votes, the Examiner noted.

    That’s when Oswego County state Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte, a Democrat, intervened, reviewing “spoiled” ballots that had been initially rejected, which gave Brindisi the lead — by just 13 votes.

    “BREAKING: sources on both Dem & GOP sides confirm that the final counts submitted by all 8 counties in #NY22 to NY Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte will show Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D) *ahead* of Claudia Tenney (R) by either 12 or 13 votes. Wow,” Cook Report’s Dave Wasserman reported following the development.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/report-democrats-face-voter-fraud-allegations-after-ballot-review-by-dem-judge-erases-republican-lead?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201201Trending-VoterFraudNY&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News

  15. Barr: No evidence of fraud that’d change election outcome

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

    His comments come despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the election was stolen, and his refusal to concede his loss to President-Elect Joe Biden.

    n an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they’ve received, but they’ve uncovered no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

    “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.

    The comments are especially direct coming from Barr, who has been one of the president’s most ardent allies. Before the election, he had repeatedly raised the notion that mail-in voter fraud could be especially vulnerable to fraud during the coronavirus pandemic as Americans feared going to polls and instead chose to vote by mail.

    Last month, Barr issued a directive to U.S. attorneys across the country allowing them to pursue any “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities, if they existed, before the 2020 presidential election was certified, despite no evidence at that time of widespread fraud. That memorandum gave prosecutors the ability to go around longstanding Justice Department policy that normally would prohibit such overt actions before the election was certified. Soon after it was issued, the department’s top elections crime official announced he would step aside from that position because of the memo.

    The Trump campaign team led by Rudy Giuliani has been alleging a widespread conspiracy by Democrats to dump millions of illegal votes into the system with no evidence. They have filed multiple lawsuits in battleground states alleging that partisan poll watchers didn’t have a clear enough view at polling sites in some locations and therefore something illegal must have happened. The claims have been repeatedly dismissed including by Republican judges who have ruled the suits lacked evidence. Local Republicans in some battleground states have followed Trump in making similar unsupported claims.

    Trump has railed against the election in tweets and in interviews though his own administration has said the 2020 election was the most secure ever. Trump recently allowed his administration to begin the transition over to Biden, but has still refused to admit he lost.

    The issues Trump’s campaign and its allies have pointed to are typical in every election: Problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postal marks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost.

    But they’ve also requested federal probes into the claims. Attorney Sidney Powell has spun fictional tales of election systems flipping votes, German servers storing U.S. voting information and election software created in Venezuela “at the direction of Hugo Chavez,” – the late Venezuelan president who died in 2013. Powell has since been removed from the legal team after an interview she gave where she threatened to “blow up” Georgia with a “biblical” court filing.

    Barr didn’t name Powell specifically but said: “There’s been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that,” Barr said.

    He said people were confusing the use of the federal criminal justice system with allegations that should be made in civil lawsuits. He said such a remedy for those complaints would be a top-down audit conducted by state or local officials, not the U.S. Justice Department.

    “There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,’” Barr said.

    He said first of all there must be a basis to believe there is a crime to investigate.

    “Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations and. And those have been run down; they are being run down,” Barr said. “Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”

    https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-elections-william-barr-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d

    fox news : Barr: DOJ has not found widespread voter fraud

  16. Democrat Lockdowns Exempt Hollywood, Destroy Small Businesses – Frontpagemag
    Daniel Greenfield
    8-10 minutes

    Why does Hollywood get a pass on lockdowns from Cuomo and Newsom? Follow the money.

    Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

    Before Thanksgiving, Los Angeles imposed a curfew and, in a shocking oversight, asked Hollywood to follow it. While the entertainment industry isn’t as big a part of the local economy as it would like you to think, its producers, directors, and stars provide a disproportionate share of the capital that the Democrats politicians who run the place use to get elected to higher office.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/12/democrat-lockdowns-exempt-hollywood-destroy-small-daniel-greenfield/

  17. Can Sanctions Bring Down The Mullahs? – Frontpagemag
    Michael Ledeen
    6-7 minutes

    Why the Iranian regime’s days are numbered.

    I don’t believe that sanctions against Iran are good enough, although, as I have written before, the Iranian regime is so hollow it could crash at any time. At my advanced age, I still don’t believe I have seen an oppressive regime fall simply because life in its land had become unbearable.

    Look around the world, and pick your favorite failed dictatorship. My short list runs from Pyongyang to Caracas, via Tehran and Havana. They are all under sanctions. Their people are miserable, and detest the regime. In some places, there are demonstrations, even huge ones. Yet, from North Korea to Venezuela, the regime isn’t headed for the exits. It cracks down. In some places, such as Venezuela and Iran, the people continue to demonstrate and call for regime change. I think the Islamic Republic of Iran is doomed, and this is pretty much demonstrated by the events of the past few weeks, culminating in the fiasco on Sunday. Successful evolutions require several things, including manifest failure of the regime, widespread contempt from the overwhelming majority of the people, and a palpable inability of the leaders to impose themselves on the country.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/12/can-sanctions-bring-down-mullahs-michael-ledeen/

  18. Mathematician Who Claimed Voter Fraud to Arizona Legislature Suspended From Twitter
    By Jack Phillips
    December 1, 2020 Updated: December 1, 2020
    Print

    A mathematician who offered the results of his investigation regarding allegations of voter fraud in front of members of the Arizona State Legislature said that he’s been suspended from Twitter.

    “Just got suspended OFF TWITTER AGAIN…. Guess I’m no longer welcomed there anymore,” Bobby Piton wrote on social media website Parler.

    An account on Twitter with his name says, “Account suspended … Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.” It’s unclear why Piton’s account was suspended, and Twitter has not yet responded to a request for comment.

    Piton, at the event on Monday, stated that based on his analysis, “I would have never certified” the election results in some battleground states. “I’d rather resign than certify those results,” he said, adding, “I believe they’re fraudulent … assuming that the data that I got is accurate.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mathematician-who-claimed-voter-fraud-to-arizona-legislature-suspended-from-twitter_3600283.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-01-2

  19. Up to 280,000 Ballots ‘Disappeared’ After Being Transported From NY to Pennsylvania: Amistad Project Director
    By Jack Phillips
    December 1, 2020 Updated: December 1, 2020
    Print

    Phill Kline, the director of the legal group Thomas More Society’s Amistad Project, has claimed that as many as 280,000 ballots were transported from New York to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where the ballots “disappeared.”

    Kline, a former district attorney and Kansas attorney general, said he received evidence that between “130,000 to 280,000 completed ballots for the 2020 general election were shipped from Bethpage, New York, to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where those ballots and the trailer in which they were shipped disappeared” on Oct. 21. Kline cited the statements from a USPS subcontractor that he described as a whistleblower.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/up-to-280000-ballots-disappeared-after-being-transported-from-ny-to-pennsylvania-amistad-project-director_3600718.html

  20. Gristedes CEO: Progressives Are Regressing New York
    By Gary Du and Jan Jekielek
    December 1, 2020 Updated: December 1, 2020
    Print

    New York billionaire and CEO of Gristedes Foods, John Catsimatidis, criticized the progressive policies adopted by New York State and New York City.

    “Let’s tell the truth. Progressives are not progressing our city. They are taking it backwards. They’re taking it backwards to the days when we were worried about the radios in our cars because somebody’s gonna break into them,” Catsimatidis told Jan Jekielek, the host of The Epoch Times’ American Thoughts Leaders program.

    Catsimatidis rebuked progressive officials for using the words “black lives matter” but not really caring about the African-American community.

    “They want to defund the police. We support New York City police. The people in Harlem, I have talked to the people in Harlem, they want to be able to dial 911 and get police support. They can’t dial BLM Black Lives Matter and get support from them,” said Catsimatidis.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-billionaire-progressives-are-regressing-the-city_3600347.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-01-3

  21. Mysterious Airstrike Kills Iranian Commander Days After Nuclear Scientist Assassinated

    Iraqi officials said that the vehicle in which the commander and three other men were killed was carrying weapons into Syria.

    By JNS

    A commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in an airstrike at the Iraq-Syria border, Iraqi security and local militia officials said on Monday, Reuters reported.

    According to the report, the identity of the IRGC commander, who was killed in a vehicle with three other men, had not been confirmed.

    But two Iraqi officials claimed that the vehicle had been transporting weapons across the border and was hit in the airstrike after it entered Syria. The officials said that Iran-backed Iraqi militias helped retrieve the bodies.

    https://unitedwithisrael.org/mysterious-airstrike-kills-iranian-commander-days-after-nuclear-scientist-assassinated/

  22. MEMRI – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Video Message to Muslim American Society

    On November 27, 2020, the Turkish Presidency’s official YouTube channel uploaded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s video message to the Muslim American Society’s Rise Up to the Moment Convention, held virtually on November 26-29, 2020.
    Erdo?an said that in addition to COVID-19, the world has been fighting the “virus of Islamophobia,” which he said is spreading throughout the world.

    Among other things, Erdogan criticized the French cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad, saying that this is not justifiable as freedom of opinion or thought.

    In addition, Erdogan said that Turkey will defend with its life the Muslims’ right to Jerusalem and to Muslim conflict zones throughout the Middle East.

    Erdogan also said that the Muslim American Society (MAS) strengthens these efforts, and that the Turkish state is ready to support MAS, Muslim organizations in the United States, and any initiative or project undertaken by the Muslim-American community.

  23. Trump Asks Supreme Court To Keep Illegal Immigrants Out Of Redistricting
    Exclusion could make Dems’ thin majority in the House even thinner

    The Trump administration will press its bid to exclude illegal aliens from the population baseline for awarding House seats on Monday in the Supreme Court, a move that would shift political clout away from states with large undocumented populations.

    President Donald Trump’s July order to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment could be one of his most consequential acts in office. States like California, where approximately 6 percent of the population is undocumented, will lose out on congressional seats and untold millions in federal funds if the administration prevails.

    Blue states losing even a handful of seats would make the House’s thin Democratic majority even more precarious. Congressional analysts suggest Democrats will lose the House in 2022 on the basis of reapportionment alone, since red states with growing populations are expected to gain seats. But right-leaning states like Florida and Texas could each pick up one seat fewer as a result of the order, according to the Pew Research Center.

    The dispute is moving at a fast clip. Census figures are by law due to the White House from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Dec. 31. President Trump must transmit a reapportionment to Congress by Jan. 10, 2021. The Constitution requires the government to conduct a census every 10 years.

    https://freebeacon.com/courts/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-keep-illegal-immigrants-out-of-redistricting/

  24. After Democrats Lose A Dozen Seats In The House – Now The Supreme Court Could Make Their Majority Shrink Even More
    Ben Dutka
    4-5 minutes

    After Democrats Lose A Dozen Seats In The House – Now The Supreme Court Could Make Their Majority Shrink Even More

    Going into the 2020 election, most Democrats were confident they’d retain the majority in the House. In fact, many predicted they’d add to their majority lead when the dust settles.

    But while Democrats did indeed hold the House majority, they actually ended up losing several key seats. Clearly, this came as a surprise to left-wing politicians around the country.

    Now, they might see that majority shrink even further.

    https://thepatriotjournal.com/democrats-seats-house-court-majority/?utm_source=gjwhg&utm_medium=email

  25. Trump Goes After Georgia Republican Governor – Donald Orders Kemp To Overturn Decision On Signature Matching
    Adam Casalino
    3 minutes

    Trump Goes After Georgia Republican Governor – Donald Orders Kemp To Overturn Decision On Signature Matching
    What’s Happening:

    Trump’s legal team continues to battle for a fair and honest election. But in several key states, power-hungry leaders are forcing their agenda.

    To the shock of many, conservative Georgia is bowing to a small group of seemingly corrupt officials. The secretary of state refused to match signatures with ballots—a massive problem that could lead to fraud.

    So, Trump is going over the secretary of state’s head and is calling on the governor to actually do his job:

    https://thepatriotjournal.com/georgia-republican-governor-trump/?utm_source=gjwhg&utm_medium=email

  26. Before the Election, DHS Set Up ‘Sector Coordinating Council’ with Dominion and Smartmatic Reps to Oversee the Vote

    It appears the vote steal was ordered from the highest of levels.

    After the election, many so-called national experts have proclaimed that the 2020 vote was the most secure in history as they plot desperately to avoid legitimate inquiry.

    “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result,” the members of Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) Executive Committee said in a statement.

    “While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too. When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections,” they added.

    Trending: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s Lawyers Argue That Protecting Dominion’s Trade Secrets is More Important Than Rooting Out Fraud

    However, it has been revealed that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) literally partnered with executives from Dominion and Smartmatic to form the Elections Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) to “protect” electoral infrastructure prior to the dubious vote.

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/before-the-election-dhs-set-up-sector-coordinating-council-with-dominion-and-smartmatic-reps-to-oversee-the-vote/

  27. ‘Unrighteous Commerce’: Our Responsibility for China’s Barbaric Acts

    by Gordon G. Chang
    December 1, 2020 at 5:00 am

    China’s Communist Party is committing crimes against humanity. American companies are helping it do so.

    It is, as explained below, no longer possible to “compartmentalize” China, so the White House and Congress should use their powers to end all trade, investment, and other business relationships.

    In what the Chinese euphemistically call the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Party is relentlessly eliminating cultural and religious identity and implementing race-based policies reminiscent of those of the Third Reich, at least before the mass exterminations.

    At least a million — and perhaps more than three million — Xinjiang inhabitants, for no reason other than their Uighur or Kazakh ethnicity or adherence to Islam, are being held in facilities meeting the definition of “concentration camps.” Internees are dying in detention. Families are broken apart and children incarcerated in “orphanages.”

    The Chinese state implements genocidal policies in Xinjiang and has institutionalized rape of Muslim women. Tens of thousands of minorities work for domestic and foreign companies in state-run “forced labor” programs that can be described as “slavery.” China may also be killing minorities to harvest their organs.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16814/china-commerce-barbaric-acts

  28. So after 50+ years of the most concentrated industrial espionage during which they ripped off every conceivable technological innovation created by FREE thinkers, the CCP decides to display their faux-Chinese innovation to the world by grabbing moon rocks. And while this is an admirable endeavor, talk about lack of imagination, which happens to be the Asian Achilles heel. (Apologies to Norse Radish).

    https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-12-01/China-s-Chang-e-5-successfully-lands-on-moon–VSilnSM6J2/index.html

  29. Trump Campaign Hits Attorney General Over Claim on Election Fraud
    By Zachary Stieber
    December 1, 2020 Updated: December 1, 2020
    Print

    President Donald Trump’s campaign on Dec. 1 fired back at Attorney General William Barr after the nation’s top law enforcement official reportedly claimed that officials haven’t seen evidence of widespread election fraud.

    “With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation,” Rudy Giuliani, a Trump lawyer, and Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign attorney, said in a joint statement. “We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined. We have many witnesses swearing under oath they saw crimes being committed in connection with voter fraud. As far as we know, not a single one has been interviewed by the DOJ. The Justice Department also hasn’t audited any voting machines or used their subpoena powers to determine the truth.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-campaign-hits-attorney-general-over-claim-of-no-fraud-evidence_3600832.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-01-4

    (Richard: Now we know why there haven’t been any indictments)

  30. The Biden Administration and the Mexican Border: Questions of Food Security, Drug Smuggling and Money Laundering

    by Chris Farrell
    December 1, 2020 at 4:00 am

    When was the last time you wondered if your food was safe to eat? Sure, in the dystopian weirdness of 2020 “COVID world” – people enjoy “contactless delivery” and online shopping for groceries – but did you really question if your ground beef was contaminated? Get ready to do so. It is the most under-reported story you have never heard of.

    There is an increasing food security threat to the beef industry and the American people. That threat is part of a mosaic of corruption and criminality involving modern-day cattle rustling, Mexican cartel drug smuggling and money laundering. All told, hundreds of millions of dollars are in play. A number of corrupt officials along the way facilitate the transactions and perpetuate our 50+ year-long “War on Drugs” that we can never quite seem to win. The public corruption angle to this story is the subject of a current, ongoing investigation by Judicial Watch.

    In Arizona, state law enforcement and agriculture inspections at cattle crossing points at the Mexican border are a thing of the past. Federal Customs Officers are not agriculture, veterinary or firebrand inspectors. Mexican cattle crossing into Arizona cannot be traced once they enter the U.S. The cattle should be traceable all the way to the slaughterhouse. It is a question of disease. The sale, movement and slaughter of untraceable cattle are a means to smuggle drugs and a way for the Mexican cartels to launder money.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16815/biden-administration-mexican-border

  31. President: Sanctions Fail to Ruin Iran’s Economy
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/12/01/2401344/president-sanctions-fail-to-ruin-iran-s-economy

    “The hostile target of economic collapse in Iran has ended in failure as the administration has managed to deal with the sanctions and neutralized their adverse effects, President Hassan Rouhani said.

    Speaking at a Tuesday session of the Administration’s Economic Coordination Headquarters, Rouhani said the enemy has failed to achieve its main purpose in imposing the sanctions and economic war against Iran, namely the economic collapse of the Islamic Republic.

    In spite of the harmful effects of the sanctions on Iran’s economy and the livelihood of people, “we can assert strongly that the impacts of the sanctions have been neutralized,” the president added…”

  32. 82 Military Personnel Detained in Turkey over Suspected Gulen Links
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/12/01/2401414/82-military-personnel-detained-in-turkey-over-suspected-gulen-links

    “Turkey ordered the detention of 82 military personnel in an operation targeting supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara says was behind a failed coup in 2016.

    Operations targeting the network of Gulen have continued under a four-year-long crackdown since the attempted coup in July 2016. Gulen denies involvement in the putsch attempt, in which some 250 people were killed.

    Tuesday’s operation was spread over 39 provinces and 63 people have already been detained, Anadolu Agency said. Of the suspects, 70 were on active duty.

    The detentions were ordered by the chief prosecutor in the western coastal province of Izmir, the reports said, adding that it also took steps to sack 848 military personnel, including high-ranking officers, over links to the network.

    Since the coup attempt, about 80,000 people have been held pending trial and some 150,000 civil servants, military personnel, and others have been sacked or suspended. More than 20,000 people had been expelled from the Turkish military alone.

    Last week, a Turkish court sentenced leaders of the attempted coup to life in jail, convicting hundreds of army officers, pilots and civilians over the failed bid to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.”

  33. Jubeir: Iranian Regime Thrives on Assassinations
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2658621/jubeir-iranian-regime-thrives-assassinations

    “Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir stated on Tuesday that the Iranian regime thrives on assassinations that it has carried out “throughout the world.”

    “Saudi Arabia has lost several of its citizens because of Tehran’s criminal and unlawful behavior,” he said in a tweet.

    Moreover, he questioned the “desperation” that prompted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to blame Saudi Arabia for the developments in Iran.

    “Perhaps, if an earthquake or flood were to strike Iran – God forbid – then will he also blame the Kingdom?” he wondered.

    “We do not recognize or approve of assassinations in any way shape or form. They are not part of the Kingdom’s policy, whereas the Iranian regime has thrived on assassinations throughout the world, ever since the revolution that was usurped by Khomeini in 1979,” Jubeir remarked.”

  34. Manama Condemns Qatar’s Interception of Bahraini Vessels
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2657271/manama-condemns-qatar%E2%80%99s-interception-bahraini-vessels

    “Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior reiterated on Monday its categorical rejection of “any insults to its staff or threats to their safety”, vowing it will take the steps it deems appropriate to protect the kingdom’s security and stability.

    In a statement, the ministry clarified the incident that occurred on November 25 when Qatari patrols intercepted two Bahraini vessels on their way home from a maritime exercise in violation of the Law of the Sea and international conventions.

    Three Qatari Coast and Border Security patrols had intercepted two Bahraini Coast Guard vessels that were making their way back following the end of their mission in “Al Manaa” maritime exercise.

    The incident targeting the two Bahraini vessels started with the response of the two vessels, then their interception, clarified the ministry in a statement carried by the Bahrain news agency (BNA).

    “The Qataris detained the vessels, threatened to use weapons and prevented the Bahraini crews from contacting the operations room, without regard to their affiliation to the Bahraini Coast Guard as an official entity,” it revealed.

    “The Qatari boats did not carry any flag or identification as required by international norms, while the two Bahraini vessels carried the flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the logo of the Ministry of Interior,” it went on to say.

    The Ministry of Interior commended “the level of discipline, professionalism and self-restraint displayed by the captains of the Bahraini vessels in dealing with the hostile actions of the Qataris.”

    “The actions taken by the Qatari patrols are in blatant violation of the conventions and treaties related to the international Law of the Sea,” it continued.

    “No country has the right to intercept by a force a Coast Guard ship or vessel, especially since the incident occurred in the territorial waters of Bahrain,” it added.

    The ministry noted that last week’s incident was just one of many that have been provoked by Qatar over the years…”

  35. Swedish-Iranian Scientist May Face Imminent Execution, Say Rights Groups
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2658636/swedish-iranian-scientist-may-face-imminent-execution-say-rights-groups

    “Swedish-Iranian scientist Ahmadreza Djalali, sentenced to death in Iran on espionage charges, may face imminent execution, rights groups said on Tuesday.

    “On 1 December, a judge said Ahmadreza was to be transferred to Rajai Shahr prison TODAY to proceed with his imminent execution,” Amnesty International said on Twitter.

    “His lawyer was informed that Ahmadreza would be transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison … today (Tuesday, Dec. 1),” Iran Human Rights said in a statement, quoting his wife Vida Mehrannia.

    There was no official Iranian reaction to the reports.

    Sweden’s foreign minister said last week she had spoken to her Iranian counterpart after reports Iran may soon carry out Djalali’s death sentence.

    Djalali, a medical doctor and lecturer at the Karolinska Institute in the Swedish capital Stockholm, was arrested in Iran in 2016 and later convicted of espionage, having been accused of providing information to Israel to help it assassinate several senior nuclear scientists. Iran’s Supreme Court in 2017 upheld the death sentence.

    Rights activists have accused Iran of arresting a number of dual nationals to try to win concessions from other countries. Tehran has regularly dismissed the accusation.”

  36. UAE convicts Saudi minister of fraud, issues $450m fine
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201201-uae-convicts-saudi-minister-of-fraud-issues-450m-fine/

    “The Court of First Instance in Dubai has found the Saudi Minister of Labour, Ahmed Al-Rajhi, guilty of fraud issuing him a $450 million fine in the case filed against him by the Palestinian-Canadian businessman Omar Ayesh.

    The court also charged Al-Rajhi with nine per cent annual interest on the fine, starting from 12 March 2017 until the completion of the payment.

    The court ordered the Saudi official to pay Ayesh, who holds a 25 per cent share in Tameer Holding Investment Company, $2.8 million in compensation for material and moral damages.

    Al-Rajhi and his brothers were accused of seizing the properties and assets of Tameer Holding Investment, including the shares of its founder, Ayesh.

    “The ruling is historical for the real estate market in the UAE as the Dubai court ordered Saudi Minister Ahmed Al-Rajhi to pay nearly 2 billion dirhams,” the Arabic Post quoted Ayesh as saying.”Although the ruling came at a much lower amount than I expected, it represents a great victory for justice in the face of corruption and injustice,” he added.”

  37. Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria return to Yemen’s Marib
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201201-al-qaeda-fighters-in-syria-return-to-yemens-marib/

    “Tribal sources have disclosed that a number of Al-Qaeda leaders and fighters have returned to the Yemeni province of Marib from Syria in recent days, according to the Yemen News Portal.

    The Al-Qaeda elements have reportedly arrived in Marib through the coast of Shabwah with many returnees from Syria settling in the two Yemeni provinces. The sources did not rule out whether these groups were linked in any way to factions supported by Turkey in Syria, amid suggestions by some Gulf news outlets that it has the intention to intervene in Yemen.

    In the early years of the Syria conflict, there were unconfirmed but “credible” reports of several thousand Yemeni fighters from the local Al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar Al-Sharia operating alongside the group formerly known as the Al-Nusra Front which had previous formal ties with Al-Qaeda and is presently known as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.

    The development comes as the provincial capital of Marib – Marib city which is the final stronghold of Saudi-backed forces in the north is facing the advancement of the Houthi-supported Yemeni military which has since entered a strategic area in the city’s outskirts as of yesterday, taking control of the Nakhla area between Marib city and the Sarwah district. Earlier last month, the strategic Mas camp also fell to the Houthi-armed forces, considered the last line of defence to the city.

    On Sunday, the pro-Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that eight Saudi soldiers were killed and several were wounded during a ballistic missile strike the night before on the Tadawin camp in the Marib province.

    Yesterday the Yemen Press Agency reported that Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a series of air strikes on Marib province in a bid to set back the advancing Houthi forces with ten strikes targeting the Medghal district and another hitting Sirwah.”

  38. EU wants to keep Iran deal alive
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201201-eu-wants-to-keep-iran-deal-alive/

    “The EU remains intent on preserving the Iran nuclear deal, the bloc’s top diplomat said Tuesday, reports Anadolu Agency.

    Speaking at an event organized by the European External Action Service (EEAS), EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on November 27 was a “criminal act.”

    “This is not the way you’re solving problems,” he asserted, underlining that the EU had been working throughout the year to keep the Iran nuclear deal in effect “in spite of the American withdrawal.”

    Fakhrizadeh, who headed research and innovation at Iran’s Defense Ministry, was assassinated near Tehran on Friday.

    Iran’s president on Saturday joined other top officials in accusing Israel of killing the country’s top nuclear scientist, an incident fanning the flames of tension in the region.

    “The Europeans have remained united on keeping this deal alive,” Borrell added.

    Borrell said the EU hopes to bring the US and Iran back into the deal and expects Tehran to return to full compliance with its nuclear responsibilities.

    “We will do whatever we can in order to make this deal be a security provider for the whole region.”

    The deal was signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and the EU.

    Washington unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

    Following a dramatic surge of confrontations between Iran and the US early this year, Iran also announced it would stop complying with the deal.”

  39. Rise in Egypt executions reveals ‘depth of human rights crisis’: Amnesty
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/12/2/rise-in-executions-reveals-human-rights-crisis-in-egypt

    “Egypt’s human rights violations drastically increased in October and November, culminating in at least 57 executions – double the number of those carried out in 2019 – Amnesty International reported on Wednesday.

    At least 15 of those sentenced to death were in relation to cases of “political violence” following “unfair trials marred by forced ‘confessions’… including torture and enforced disappearances”, the human rights organisation said.

    The exact numbers of these are likely to be more, due to a lack in transparency from Egyptian authorities. Pro-government media have reported at least 91 executions since October, citing anonymous officials.

    “The Egyptian authorities have embarked on a horrifying execution spree in recent months, putting scores of people to death, in some cases following grossly unfair mass trials,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director.

    “These executions are particularly appalling given the well documented and systematic breaches of fair trial rights in Egypt, with courts often relying on torture-tainted ‘confessions’.

    “Not only are the Egyptian authorities trampling on the right to life in shocking disregard for their obligations under international law, but they are also punishing the brave human rights defenders at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights documenting and speaking out these violations.”…”

  40. Seventeen Malaysian Islamic organisations reject Muslim Brotherhood ‘terror’ designation
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/12/1/seventeen-malaysian-islamic-organisations-reject-muslim-brotherhood-terror-designation

    “More than a dozen Islamic organisations in Malaysia have condemned a move by Saudi Arabia to declare the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist movement.

    The 17 Malaysian organisations said they reject a declaration by the Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia that described the Muslim Brotherhood as a “deviant terrorist movement that does not represent true Islam”.

    The joint statement said that Saudi move was based on false accusations and judgements without evidence.

    It condemned the action against the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as previous fatwas by Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz, which it said served to cause “further divisions among Muslims, in line with the Zionist entity”…”

  41. Turkey being subjected to double standard by int’l media: Erdo?an
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-being-subjected-to-double-standard-by-intl-media-erdogan-160502

    “International media channels have been subjecting Turkey of having double standards by showing those “burning down the streets” as peaceful protestors, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said, criticizing international media organizations on Dec. 1.

    Speaking during the TRT Forum, Turkey’s state-run broadcaster’s English-based service, Erdo?an said that since the Gezi Protests in 2013, Turkey had suffered many injustices and double standards by international media organizations.

    The president underlined that those “burning down the streets” are being shown as peaceful protestors in the international media.

    Additionally, he said that members of separatist terror organizations, who are responsible for the death of hundreds and thousands of lives in Syria, were put on covers of the “so-called prestigious magazines” of the West.

    “But when the same incidents take place in Europe’s different countries, those who attempted to teach us about the freedom of press then played ostrich,” he said.

    “They ignored the yellow-vests in the center of Paris. They did not mention anything about the French police’s out of proportion interventions,” he added.

    Digitalization must not fuel inequity

    Erdo?an also warned about unchecked digitalization.

    “With digitalization expanding the field of freedom, it should not lead to new inequalities, injustices, and marginalization,” he said.

    “If seen as an area with no control, open to arbitrariness and outside of the law, digitalization will lead us directly to fascism,” Erdo?an warned.

    On a recently proposed French security law, under fire for violating press freedom and hindering efforts to stop police brutality, Erdo?an criticized the proposal, saying, “International media kept silent in the face of France’s blockade on the media.”

    France’s ruling party on Nov. 30 withdrew the proposed law, stating that the controversial sections of the law will be revised.

    “It is very embarrassing for media outlets to carry the banner of Islamophobia and xenophobia,” Erdo?an said, likely referring to much-criticized cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by a French magazine.

    “If discourteous attitudes shown under the cover of press freedom are not stopped, both Europe and all humanity will suffer,” he added.”