Great Lakes Drying Up… No, Overflowing… Because Climate Change By David Middleton | Watts Up With That? | September 29, 2020 From the October 1, 2020 issue of Physics Today… The Great Lakes are filled to their brims, with no signs of receding Experts see the fingerprints of climate change on the lakes’ record high water levels What’s really funny? They tell us that climate change caused these record highs and lows and will make the seesawing worse… But: “Longer term, it’s anyone’s guess where lake levels are headed. The range of possibilities in the six-month forecasts by the US Army Corps of Engineers is so broad in the latter months as to be of little use, researchers say.” Read full article

Where Did Covid-19 Come From? By Paul Craig Roberts | Institute For Political Economy | September 30, 2020 Evidence indicates that it came from NIH funding of EcoHealth Alliance, an entity doing “gain-of-function” research in collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Many experts believe that the virus was created by that research and escaped from the Wuhan lab. Gain-of-function research involves enhancing the pathogenicity and transmissibility of pathogens. Many scientists are opposed to this research as it amounts in effect to bioweapons research. The rationale for the research is that it enhances with pre-knowledge the ability to respond to some emerging pandemic. In the case of the research at Wuhan, it might have caused one. There are other explanations of the Covid pandemic, as it is called. Ron Unz based on circumstantial evidence makes a rational case that the US unleashed the virus on China from where it blew back on the US and the rest of the world. Having watched Washington destroy in whole or part seven countries in the past 20 years, it is not difficult to believe that Washington would unleash Covid on China. However, the fact that the NIH itself was financing the research in China is inconsistent with the US having created and unleashed the virus. … continue

Engineering Contagion: UPMC, Corona-thrax and “the Darkest Winter” By Whitney Webb | The Last American Vagabond | September 25, 2020 Researchers at a BSL-3 lab tied to the organizers of the 2001 Dark Winter simulation, DARPA, and the post-9/11 biodefense industrial complex are genetically modifying anthrax to express Covid-19 components, according to FOIA documents. … Read article

Was the Estonia Downed by Submarine? Huge Hole in Hull Kindles New Theories About 1994 Tragedy By Igor Kuznetsov – Sputnik – 29.09.2020 The Estonia catastrophe 26 years ago that claimed 852 lives is the worst peacetime tragedy in the Baltic Sea and the second-deadliest peacetime sinking of a European ship, second only to the Titanic. The foreign ministers of Finland, Estonia, and Sweden have agreed to jointly assess new evidence regarding the Estonia ferry that sank in 1994. New underwater footage of the shipwreck from a Swedish documentary about the disaster shows extensive damage on the starboard side, including a previously unknown 4-metre hole. The find has since fuelled renewed speculations and theories about the massive cruise ship’s tragic fate. Margus Kurm, former public prosecutor and former chairman of the Estonian government’s investigation into the disaster, suggested that the Estonia probably collided with a submarine, a Swedish one at that. Based on the new information, Kurm speculated that there could have been a “sensitive consignment” on board the ship that needed to be monitored. The botched surveillance operation was likely performed by a Swedish submarine, he mused in an interview with the Estonian newspaper Postimees, suggesting that Sweden “lied straight to our face”. Kurm stressed that 400,000 cubic metres of sand and stone had been transported there and a decision to declare the sanctity of the site was made very quickly in 1995 when the inquiry was still underway. … continue

In unprecedented step, UK & Canada impose sanctions on Lukashenko & Belarus big wigs over ‘rigged elections’ & ‘repression’ By Jonny Tickle | RT | September 29, 2020 The British and Canadian governments imposed sanctions, on Tuesday, against long-time Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, along with his eldest son Viktor, and six other high-ranking officials in the state apparatus. The sanctions mean that those on the list are banned from traveling to the UK and Canada, and any assets they hold in those countries will be immediately frozen. Lukashenko is the first world leader to be targeted by the new UK Global Human Rights sanctions regime. … Full article

French Writer Hervé Ryssen Jailed for Criticizing Jews By Guillaume Durocher • Unz Review • September 29, 2020 The French identitarian writer and critic of Jewish power Hervé Ryssen was jailed on 18 September after having been found guilty of hate speech on three occasions. He has exhausted his right to appeal. He faces 17 months in jail and potentially more as he has other trials awaiting him. Ryssen was found guilty of “insult, provocation, and public defamation due to origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion.” In 2016, he was sentenced to 5 months in jail for passages in his books Understanding Judaism, Understanding Anti-Semitism. In 2017, he was sentenced to 6 months in jail for “anti-Semitic messages” on Twitter and Facebook. […] Ryssen is the author of numerous books on Jewry, with titles like The Jewish Mafia, Israel’s Billions, and The Planetary Hopes. The dissident website Contre-Info wrote: In a country in which 100,000 jail sentences have not been implemented, even as prisons are being emptied because of COVID-19, they are taking the decision, a political one, to lock up a patriotic writer. Hervé Ryssen has studied political Judaism in several books – but evidently certain subjects do not suffer “blasphemy.” He was basically sentenced because of tweets and book covers, his writings (which include very many quotes of Jewish intellectuals) being unimpeachable except for the odd sentence. He has never produced revisionist writings regarding the official history of the Second World War, but he simply shared a cartoon on Facebook. But the big media who deign to mention his incarceration present him especially as a holocaust denier [négationniste]. All this comes even as the French political-media class has again celebrated Charlie Hebdo’s right to “blaspheme,” at least where the Christian and Muslim religions are concerned. Je Suis Charlie for thee, but not for me. … Full article

Hillary Clinton cooked up Russiagate to smear Trump & distract from her own scandals, declassified docs suggest RT | September 29, 2020 Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Okayed a plan to smear then-rival Donald Trump with accusations about Russian election-hacking to distract from her email scandal, newly-declassified papers appear to show. Clinton approved an advisor’s proposal to “vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services” in July 2016, according to information declassified on Tuesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. The bombshell revelation was made public in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina), in response to a request for information related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane (i.e. Russiagate) probe. By the end of July 2016, US intelligence agencies had picked up chatter that their Russian counterparts not only knew of the scheme, but that Clinton was behind it – though the declassified material stresses that the American intelligence community “does not know the accuracy” of the claim that Clinton had green-lighted such a plan, or whether the Russians were exaggerating. However, then-CIA director John Brennan apparently followed up that assessment by briefing then-President Barack Obama on Clinton’s Russian smear scheme, according to his handwritten notes – suggesting the spy agencies were very much aware what was going on. … Full article

So Much for Income Tax Privacy By Jacob G. Hornberger | FFF | September 29, 2020 … I must say that I do find it ironic that while the mainstream press is celebrating the disclosure of Trump’s private tax returns, it is also failing to come to the defense of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, the men who disclosed the truth about the U.S. national security state to the world. In today’s topsy turvy world, it’s considered okay to violate the privacy of American citizens by publicly disclosing their income tax returns to the world. At the same time, it’s considered a grave crime to disclose the truth about the dark and sordid activities of the national security state that the income tax funds. … Read full article

Hezbollah Media Refutes Netanyahu’s Claims about Missile Depot, Opens Site Shortly after His Remarks Al-Manar | September 29, 2020 Hezbollah Media Relations Department has issued a statement in which it invited media outlets to inspect the Beirut site falsely claimed by Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu as a missile Depot. A large number of cameramen and reporters gathered near the alleged site around two hours after Netanyahu’s remarks in the context of the step organized by Hezbollah to refute the Zionist claims in light of the critical political conditions in Lebanon. Head of Hezbollah Media Relations Department, Hajj Mohammad Afif, stressed that today’s tour aims at proving that Netanyahu’s story is wrong, adding that the Resistance is not concerned with exposing every site claimed by the Zionist enemy as a missile depot. Netanyahu had alleged that Hezbollah stores missiles at a depot in a residential area in Jinah, adding that it lies near a gas facility and that its explosion will be similar to that of Beirut port. The Israeli intelligence command has prepared a plan to provoke the Lebanese against Hezbollah by weaponry by unveiling maps of its locations in Lebanon and launching a propaganda that promotes its threat in light of the Beirut Port explosion, Al-Manar English Website reported on August 25, 2020. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced the invitation during his televised speech, highlighting that it would be shortly after Netanyahu’s remarks so that the inspection will be very credible. The following video shows the iron factory full of the media reporters shortly after Netanyahu’s remarks… continue to Al-Manar for video tour

Lebanon hits back at Israel, defends Hezbollah at UN Human Rights Council session Press TV | September 29, 2020 Beirut has strongly reacted to the Israeli envoy’s interventionist remarks against Hezbollah at a UN Human Rights Council session, describing the resistance movement as an “inseparable part” of Lebanon and slamming the regime’s history of rights violations in Lebanon and other Arab states. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants issued a statement on Monday in condemnation of the comments by Merav Marks, the legal counselor to the Israeli mission to the UN and international organizations in Geneva, who had attacked the Hezbollah resistance movement for its role in Lebanon during a general debate at the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The Israeli envoy accused the UN Human Rights Council of not dealing with what she called Hezbollah’s efforts to hamper the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and attempts to manipulate the Lebanese government. In its statement, the ministry said Lebanon’s Permanent Mission to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva exercised its “right to respond to the Israeli enemy’s envoy, as has been the case whenever there is an attack on Lebanon and its right to resistance.” The ministry then described Israel as “an occupation force armed with sophisticated weapons and in possession of a nuclear arsenal, with which it threatens its neighbors.” … continue

IRGC Chief Rules Out Possibility of US War Al-Manar | September 29, 2020 The US is unable to take military action against Iran, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami said, warning that reconciliation would not stop the US from trying to harm the Islamic Republic. In an address to the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, Major General Salami said there is no possibility of a US war against Iran, since the road to military action on the country is closed. “We have prepared the capacities for military victory over the enemy, and have sometimes imposed our tactical resolve on them,” the commander said. Pointing to the enemy’s economic and psychological war against Iranian people, the IRGC commander said the US is neither able nor willing to settle the problems in Iran. “Even if we make up with the US, it will harm us again,” he stated, describing the notion of compromise with Washington as a “political deception”. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei has announced repeatedly that Iran will not hold talks with the US, either bilaterally or multilaterally. “If the US backs off from its call, repents, and returns to the nuclear treaty it has breached, then it will be able to join the gathering of the parties to the deal (JCPOA) who hold meetings and talk with Iran, otherwise no negotiations will take place between the officials of the Islamic Republic and the Americans at any level, not in New York and not anywhere else,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in September 2019.

Ex-OPCW Member Says Syria 2018 Chemical Attacks Report May Not Reflect Actual Events Sputnik – 29.09.2020 A former lead investigator from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ian Henderson, said the final report of the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) into the alleged use of toxic chemicals in an attack in Douma, Syria, in 2018, may not reflect what happened on the ground. Henderson was speaking at an informal meeting of the UN Security Council, organised by the Russian Mission, to openly discuss the treatment of the Syrian chemical dossier, in contrast to traditionally closed gatherings of the council on the issue. “I speak for myself, but I know there are other Douma FFM inspectors who hold the similar concerns that I do about the manner in which the investigation was controlled, locked-down… [as well as] the findings reflected in the final FMM report”, Henderson said. “We believe that there is more than sufficient information out there today that has demonstrated our points that the findings of the FFM report on Duma may not reflect the actual situation”. Henderson said the launching of a transparent technical inquiry aimed at clarifying the actual course of events in Douma in 2018 is justified, given the scope of the available information and facts on the alleged incident. … continue

Iran rejects Saudi Arabia’s claim on terror cell, advises kingdom to embrace honesty Press TV – September 29, 2020 Tehran has roundly dismissed Saudi Arabia’s claim of breaking up a “terrorist cell” trained by Iran, advising authorities in Riyadh to choose the path of honesty and wisdom instead of fabricating worthless scenarios. … continue

Discussions between Greece and Turkey over the East Mediterranean will end before they begin By Paul Antonopoulos | September 29, 2020 Tensions between Greece and Turkey that became a geopolitical crisis in the East Mediterranean appear to be finally subsiding after Ankara withdrew from Greece’s maritime space the Oruç Reis Turkish research vessel and the warships escorting it. Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initiated the crisis at the beginning of August in search of oil and gas deposits in Greece’s maritime space, his administration, along with Turkish media that is 90% controlled by the government, continually makes the claim that Greece must “demilitarize” their East Aegean islands “as stipulated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.” The Treaty of Lausanne set the borders of the modern Greek state, with the exception of the Italian-occupied Dodecanese islands that reunited with Greece in April 1947 after the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty between Italy and the World War II Allies. It also set the borders for the modern Turkish state. Turkey’s withdrawal of the Oruç Reis and the warships escorting it opened up a new opportunity for Greece and Turkey to begin dialogue to resolve their differences in the East Mediterranean peacefully. However, it is likely that this plan for dialogue will end before it even begins as even discussion topics cannot be agreed upon. Athens insists that dialogue should only concentrate on the demarcation of maritime borders between Greece and Turkey, while Ankara says that any dialogue must also include discussions of Greece demilitarizing its East Aegean islands that lay directly opposite Turkey’s coastline – in many cases only a few minutes boat ride away. … continue

Statements of Military Support for Azerbaijan or Armenia Will Only Escalate Conflict, Kremlin Says Sputnik – 29.09.2020 Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to negotiations, also stressing that other countries should not to add fuel to the fire amid the clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh. “The Kremlin, first of all, proceeds from the need for an immediate ceasefire. Any statements about any military support or military activity definitely add fuel to the fire. We are definitely against this and we do not agree with presenting an issue this way”, he said. “We call on all countries, especially our partners, such as Turkey, to do everything to convince the opposing sides to cease fire and return to a peaceful settlement of this longstanding conflict via political and diplomatic means”, Peskov said. Previously, Turkey stated that it is ready to support Baku both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. At the same time, Ankara stressed that any attack on Azerbaijani territory is also an attack against Turkey. … Full article

Tehran rejects media allegations of arms transfer to Armenia via Iran Press TV – September 29, 2020 Iran has dismissed as lies reports by some media outlets about the transfer of weapons and military equipment to Armenia through the territory of the Islamic Republic. “The movement of trucks and the transit of conventional civilian goods between the Islamic Republic of Iran and neighboring countries have been ongoing as usual,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said. However, he added, “in addition to closely monitoring and controlling the movements and transit of goods to other countries, Iran does not allow the use of its soil for the transfer of weapons and ammunition.” The remarks came after certain media reports alleged that Russia had sent three of its MiG-29 fighters to Armenia using Iranian airspace. … Full article

If you can’t beat them, ban them: Twitter no longer showing search results from well-known Russian state news agency RIA Novosti By Jonny Tickle | RT | September 28, 2020 Twitter has shadow-banned well-known Russian news agency RIA Novosti. In practice, the move means users will no longer see the agency’s tweets in the website’s search results, unless they follow the media organization’s account. The removal of RIA Novosti’s tweets from the search function has been called “media censorship,” as the social network continues to restrict news outlets it considers to be “Russian state-affiliated.” Last month, both RT and Sputnik also faced the same suppression. “We consider such restrictions on the part of Twitter to be an act of media censorship, which is expressly prohibited by the Russian Constitution,” the press service of Rossiya Segodnya, the parent company of RIA Novosti, said on Monday. “The social network does not react to our requests and does not explain its decisions.” This latest move against Russian media has been criticized by independent Russian Senator Alexander Bashkin, who called the decision “open censorship,” accusing Twitter of “double standards.” “This is a real information war,” he insisted. In August, Twitter announced that it would be labeling accounts of key government officials of the five UN Security Council members, as well as state-linked media and their senior staff. This caused controversy when the company opted to label RT and Sputnik as ‘state-affiliated,’ but left the likes of BBC and US state-run Voice of America and RFE/RL alone. Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Russian correspondents abroad are “openly discriminated against,” highlighting issues in France and the Baltic states.

Study: The Average American is Filmed by At Least an Estimated 238 Security Cameras a Week Safety.com – September 24, 2020 In a study conducted by the Safety.com security team, research has found that the average American is filmed by security cameras over 230 times a week, a number that has increased rapidly over the last decade and will continue to do so in the near future. Surveillance technology isn’t new, but there has been an exponential increase in the number of security cameras deployed throughout the United States and around the world. CNBC reports that there will be an estimated one billion security cameras filming around the world by 2021, with somewhere between 10-18% of those being in the United States alone. When calculated on a per-person basis, this is the second-highest ratio of security cameras to population in the world. CBS News reported in 2019 that second to China, the US has at least one security camera filming for every 4.6 people, compared to one camera for every 4.1 people in China. Below, our research on how many times one might be filmed by security cameras each day is based on IPUMS Time Use data and spread out over the course of an average week… continue

COVID19 False Positives By Dr Malcolm Kendrick | September 28, 2020 … More troubling, right now, than the very poor sensitivity of COVID19 testing (high number of false negatives) is the knotty question of how many false positive tests there are? This is important, because we are told that cases are rising and rising as we suffer a ‘second wave’ of COVID19. However, if we have a high rate of false positives, then the rise in ‘cases’ could be driven by a rise in testing – and nothing else. And you don’t need a high percentage of false positive tests to do this. If the false positive rate is as little as just one per cent (1%) this means the majority of people told they are positive for COVID19, do not have COVID19! I know that most people find this a difficult one. It goes like this. First, you have to know the estimated prevalence of the disease in the community. That is, the total number currently infected. Last time I looked it was one in nine hundred. For the sake of this calculation I shall call it one in a thousand. […] Even if there were a test with 99% specificity, you would still expect to get 3500 false positives from performing 350,000 tests – which is still greater than the number of “cases” reported. When the number of “cases” is lower than your rate of false positives, then a positive result on its own is virtually meaningless. The PCR test is best utilized as a diagnostic test to confirm the diagnosis of an infection based on clinical signs and symptoms. It certainly should not be used as a screening test when there is low prevalence of disease and should NEVER be used as the sole determinant in the diagnosis of a case. … Read full article

Question ‘The Science’? Go To Gulag! By Dr Ron Paul | September 28, 2020 … Last week on my daily news broadcast, the Ron Paul Liberty Report, we reported on two whistleblowers from inside the CDC and Big Pharma who raised serious and legitimate questions about the prevailing coronavirus narrative. The former Chief Science Officer for the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Dr. Mike Yeadon, has stated that from his experience he believes that nearly 90 percent of positive results from the current tests for Covid are false positives. That means that this massive expansion in “cases,” used to justify continued attacks on our civil liberties, is simply phony. As Dr. Yeadon said in a recent interview about the Orwellian UK coronavirus lockdown, “we are basing a government policy, an economic policy, a civil liberties policy, in terms of limiting people to six people in a meeting… all based on, what may well be, completely fake data on this coronavirus?” Is Dr. Yeadon correct in claiming that based on his scientific observation there is no “second wave”? We don’t know. But we do know that his claims that the massive increase in “cases” in Europe used to justify new lockdowns are not in any way being matched with a similar increase in deaths. The EU’s own charts prove this. Deaths remain a flat line near zero while “cases” skyrocket to match the massive increase in testing. Yet when we reported on Dr. Yeadon’s findings on the Liberty Report last week we found that for the first time ever, our program was removed by YouTube. … Read full article

The UN Ignores NGO’s Warnings About Mandated Vaccines Planetary Association for Clean Energy, Inc. | August 20, 2020 Vaccine Mandates Violate the Right to Informed Consent On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared pandemic status for COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Governments responded by implementing unprecedented “lockdown” measures globally with no clear exit strategy apart from the stated goal of rapidly developing a vaccine. Concurrently, advocates of this hypothetical solution have called for lawmakers to make COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory. However, compulsory vaccination violates the right to informed consent, one of the most fundamental ethics in medicine and a human right recognized under international law, including the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights of 2005, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol of 2006 and under internationally recognized agreements such as the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects of 2002, and the World Medical Association Declaration Of Helsinki of 1964, revised in 2013. … continue

UAE writer barred from traveling for rejecting normalization with Israel Press TV – September 28, 2020 A prominent Emirati writer says she was banned from traveling out of the United Arab Emirates over her opposition to the country’s normalization deal with Israel. Dhabiya Khamis, 62, said in a post on Facebook that authorities at the Dubai International Airport banned her from boarding a Cairo-bound flight on Saturday. “I was banned from flying today due to an order from Abu Dhabi without specific reason,” Khamis wrote. “Most likely this is because of my publicly announced position against the Zionists and normalization and I am fearful for my freedom and life from threats and arrest,” she added. Khamis, a popular academic and poetess who has previously worked as a diplomat for the Arab League, described her country’s decision to normalize relations with Israel as a “sad and catastrophic day”. … Full article

PLO: US puts pressure on Sudan to settle Palestine refugees MEMO | September 28, 2020 The United States is putting pressure on Sudan to accept settling Palestine refugees on its soil, member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, Bassam Al-Salhi, was reported saying by Anadolu yesterday. “Special sources told me that the ongoing normalisation talks between Washington, Israel and Sudan include Sudan’s possibility to resettle [Palestine] refugees on its soil as part of the deal of the century,” Al-Salhi said, in reference to the US ‘peace deal’ for the region. He stated that “this is part of the conspiracy against the Palestinian cause,” stressing the issue between Israel and Sudan goes beyond the normalisation of ties. The PLO official called on Sudan “to reject being dragged into these American-Israeli plans in order to maintain its interests and future.” Resettling Palestine refugees had been raised dozens of times by Israel and the US mainly in Egypt and other host countries; however, Al-Salhi said, proposing to resettle them in Sudan is new. Sudan did not issue an immediate comment on the remarks, but the country’s officials have several times denied reports about the possible normalisation of ties with Israel despite several meetings between Sudanese and Israeli officials.

Jewish Settler Brutally Assaults Palestinian Farmer near Nablus Palestine Chronicle | September 28, 2020 A Palestinian farmer was attacked by an armed Israeli settler whilst tending his land in the occupied West Bank. The settler, who is also the security guard of the illegal Yitzhar settlement, is accused of attacking farmer Usama Hamdan, leaving him with bruises so severe it landed him in hospital. The attack happened in the Asira Al-Qiblya village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Earlier this month a group of gun-wielding settlers attacked a group of Palestinian construction workers in Nablus. Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities. … Full article

Israel Closes Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians for Jewish Holidays Palestine Chronicle | September 28, 2020 Israeli forces Monday denied Palestinian worshippers access to the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil), citing the Jewish holidays as a pretext, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. A large number of Israeli soldiers deployed in the vicinity of the mosque and around the old city, placing stifling restrictions on Palestinian movement, as illegal Jewish settlers were preparing to celebrate Yom Kippur. Director of the mosque Hifthi Abu Sneineh told WAFA that the closure went into effect Sunday afternoon and it would remain imposed until 10:00 PM. on Monday, noting that the settlers set up tents in the area. Member of the PLO Executive Committee Ahmad Tamimi slammed the closure as a “blatant infringement” upon Palestinians and Muslims’ human rights, including the right to freedom of worship. A week ago, Israeli authorities closed the mosque for two days in a row in order to make way for Jewish settlers to celebrate the Rosh Hashanah holiday or the Jewish New Year. … Full article

Yemen war: Journalists gather ‘war crime’ evidence at scene of Saudi-led airstrike Press TV – September 28, 2020 A group of journalists have looked for evidence of war crimes at the scene of a recent massacre of civilians, including children, during a Saudi Arabia-led strike that targeted a civilian home near Yemen’s border with the kingdom. The Sky News team that identified itself as the first journalists to independently investigate the attack, “discovered evidence of a recent potential war crime in northern Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition, which is backed by the US and Britain,” the network reported on its website on Monday. The attack saw a jet reaching the remote village of Washah before striking the home where only women and children were present at the time, while refusing to even “touch” any other nearby structure. “No other home in the area was touched,” the network cited a relative as saying. A total of nine civilians were killed in the attack, six of them children. […] Following the attack on the village, the jet was still circling for around 15 minutes above the site, the Sky News report said, pointing to a common practice by the coalition’s warplanes that is apparently aimed at scaring relief workers and others trying to help away from the places that have just been attacked. After the United States, the UK and France rank among the biggest supporters of the war, likewise providing the invading coalition with arms as well as logistical and political backing. … Full article

Turkish claims that the PKK is operating in Artsakh set dangerous precedent By Paul Antonopoulos | September 28, 2020 Conflict sparked up again yesterday in Artsakh, or more commonly known as Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijan launched an offensive against Armenian forces. Although the Republic of Artsakh is not recognized by any state, including Armenia, and it is still internationally recognized as occupied Azerbaijani territory, it achieved a de facto independence in 1994. As acting Commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union in the early 1920’s, future Soviet leader Joseph Stalin granted the Armenian-majority region of Artsakh to the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. The Azeris, the dominant ethnic group of Azerbaijan, are cultural and linguistic kin with the Turks. It is said that the Turks and Azeris constitute “one nation in two states.” The defining difference is that Azeris are Shia Muslims unlike Turks who are mostly Sunni. The Soviets had hoped that by granting Artsakh to Azerbaijan instead of Armenia, they could court the newly founded Republic of Turkey to closely align with Moscow, or perhaps even become a Soviet Republic, by appeasing their ethnic Azeri kin. In 1921, it was estimated that Artsakh was 94% Armenian. However, according to the 1989 census, Artsakh’s population was approximately 75% Armenian and 25% Azeri. Former Soviet Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, father of current President Ilham Aliyev, said in 2002: “I tried to change demographics there […] I tried to increase the number of Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh and the number of Armenians decreased.” The collapse of the Soviet Union unsurprisingly led to the Artsakh War, which only ended after a ceasefire in 1994 when Armenian forces achieved a decisive victory. Despite Azerbaijan’s defense budget ($2.267 billion) being about five times larger than Armenia’s, they have failed to capture Artsakh on numerous attempts, particularly during the 2016 April War and another major attempt in July of this year. Azerbaijan’s resumption of hostilities yesterday could be passed off as just another skirmish that will subside in a few days. However, the current conditions are far different and much more dangerous than in previous situations. … continue

Kremlin Calls For Immediate Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh Amid Clashes Between Armenia, Azerbaijan By Evgeny Mikhaylov – Sputnik – 28.09.2020 Moscow has urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately cease fire in Nagorno-Karabakh and show utmost restraint amid the crisis. “We are calling on all the actors, both external and internal ones, to show maximum restraint, including in terms of rhetoric. It is necessary to be as cautious as possible in order to immediately achieve a ceasefire and get back to the negotiating table”, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told reporters. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Moscow has an opportunity to stop the escalation due to its balanced position. “It is very important to stop a military conflict, rather than figure out who is right and who is wrong. Russia has always had a balanced position. This position is what gives Russia an opportunity to use its influence and its good relationship with both countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan, to settle the conflict”, Peskov told reporters. He also said that Moscow is in close contact with Ankara regarding the tensions in the region. “The Foreign Ministry was in contact with Ankara yesterday. So, the Russian side maintains full contact”, Peskov told reporters when asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning to hold phone talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. … Full article

Peruvian president wins impeachment process, but opposition grows By Lucas Leiroz | September 28, 2020 The political crisis in Peru is far from over. Despite the fact that President Martín Vizcarra won the first stage of his dispute against the Congress mainly formed by Fujimori’s supporters, the expectation is that his opponents will continue to try to overthrow him through an institutional coup that “respects” the limits of “legality” and “democracy”. In September 2019, Vizcarra resorted to the Constitution to legitimately dissolve the National Congress, after a series of clashes between the Legislative and the Executive, with parliamentarians denying cooperation with the government in a boycott gesture. In response, Congress intensified its opposition to the government and, even though suspended, illegally “deposed” President Vizcarra, recognizing his former vice president, Mercedez Araóz, as the country’s leader. For one day, Peru had two presidents – similar to the Venezuelan case: one legitimate and one artificially chosen by the opposition. However, Araóz resigned the next day. … continue

US Accuses Its Own Informant in Venezuela Case of Lying to Feds teleSUR – September 26, 2020 United States federal law enforcement has accused a key informant on the trumped up case targeting Venezuela’s Minister Tareck El Aissami of lying and stealing US $140,000. The Associated Press reports that Venezuelan-born businessman and pilot Alejandro Marin was arrested on September 19th in Miami on three counts of knowingly making false statements to U.S. federal agents, according to court filings. Marin operates a chartered flight business out of Miami’s Opa Locka executive airport and conspired in the plot against Vice President El Aissami, utilizing his business. The government of Venezuela has said that the years-long persecution of Minister Tareck El Aissami, like the recent charges against President Nicolas Maduro, are part of a permanent destabilization campaign against top officials of the Bolivarian government. … continue

Canada Wildfires At Lowest Level In Years By Paul Homewood | Not A Lot Of People Know That | September 27, 2020 According to the Met Office, global warming is leading to record breaking fires in North America. Canada, of course, is a large part of North America, so surely fires should be getting worse there too. In fact wildfires this year are running at just 8% of the 10-year average… continue

Iran calls for restraint, dialogue amid clashes on Nagorno-Karabakh border region Press TV – September 27, 2020 Iran has called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint and engage in negotiations in the wake of recent military clashes between the two sides over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is closely monitoring military conflicts between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with concern, and while inviting both parties to show self-restraint, calls for immediate cessation of clashes and initiation of talks between the two countries,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday. He added that Tehran is ready to employ all its capacities to help establish ceasefire and start peace talks between the two sides. Zarif: Our region needs peace now Iran’s foreign minister also took to his Twitter account later on Sunday, calling for “an immediate end to hostilities,” and urging, “dialogue to resolve differences.” Mohammad Javad Zarif also indicated Iran’s readiness to “provide good offices to enable talks” between Yerevan and Baku, emphasizing that “our neighbors are our priority.” … Full article

‘Sort out your own internal affairs,’ Lukashenko tells Macron after French leader calls for his resignation RT | September 27, 2020 If Emmanuel Macron believes heads of state must resign over street protests, he should have left office himself when Yellow Vest demonstrators took to the streets in France, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said. Lukashenko, who has faced weeks of large-scale protests following the August 9 presidential election which the opposition insists was rigged, has labeled Macron an “immature politician.” His words were reported to the BelTA news agency by his press secretary. As a “mature politician,” the Belarusian president advised his French counterpart “not to get distracted, but instead focus on the internal affairs of France. At least, begin solving the many problems that accumulated in the country,” Lukashenko added. The statement came after Macron said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that “it is clear that Lukashenko must go” because his “authoritarian administration” is unable to accept democracy. … Full article

When False Flags Go Viral False flag bioterrorism The Corbett Report | September 26, 2020 … As it turns out, 9/11 may not prove to be the most long-lasting and world-changing false flag event to take place in the fall of 2001. The anthrax attacks that followed on the heels of “the day that changed everything” may in fact have more to say about the COVID-1984 world in which we find ourselves. … continue

SDF militants shoot dead two young men in Syria’s Raqqah Press TV – September 27, 2020 Militants affiliated with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have fatally shot two young men in Syria’s northern province of Raqqah. Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that the militants stormed the village of Tarwaziyah, which lies near the M4 international highway that links Syria’s east and west and north of the provincial capital Raqqah, on Sunday. Houses were violently ransacked in the raid. Elsewhere in the western countryside of Raqqah, the militants rounded up a number of civilians in the town of Jarniyah and took them away to their own camps to undergo military training. The SDF extremists had raided homes in the villages of Sakar, Watifah and Abu Jalal of Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah the previous day, abducting a number of young men and taking them to an unknown location. […] Separately, Turkish military forces and their allied militants raided the villages of Qatouf and Tal Dhiab in the Ra’s al-Ayn district of Hasakah province. SANA said the forces stormed several houses in the villages. … Full article

Sudan rebuffs US offer of terror list removal as condition for normalization with Israel Press TV – September 27, 2020 Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok says Sudan does not accept the conditioning of its removal from a US “terrorism list” upon normalization of relations with the Israeli regime. “Sudan’s name should be removed from the list of countries that are sponsoring terrorism. Sudan has returned to the international fold after 30 years outside it. This must happen,” Hamdok said Saturday. US officials reportedly indicated in talks with a Sudanese delegation that they wanted Khartoum to follow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain in establishing ties with Israel in return for Sudan’s removal from the terror list. Hamdok said Sudan had already told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit last month that it was necessary to separate the two issues. Sudan was put on the so-called terrorism list in 1993 over allegations that its toppled ruler Omar al-Bashir was supporting terrorism. Under al-Bashir, Sudan was a staunch foe of the Israeli regime. Sudan’s inclusion on the list has made it difficult for the transitional government to access urgently needed debt relief. The country’s surging inflation and plummeting currency have been Hamdok’s biggest challenges since he took over last year. Hamdok said the current transitional government in Sudan was actively fighting terrorism and terror financing. He also said that normalizing with Israel was an issue that needed “a deep discussion of the society.” The current government has postponed any decision regarding the normalization until after the transitional period ends in the African country. However, it was reported this week that Sudan was ready to join the UAE and Bahrain in normalizing ties with the Israeli regime in return for over $3 billion in economic aid. … Full article

Israeli Soldiers Injure Five Palestinians In Kufur Qaddoum IMEMC | September 27, 2020 Israeli soldiers injured five Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets, during the weekly procession in Kufur Qaddoum town, east of Qalqilia, in northern West Bank on Saturday. Morad Eshteiwi, the media coordinator of the Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum, said the soldiers fired many rubber-coated steel bullets and gas bombs at the protesters as they marched from the center of the town. He added that five young men were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets; four of them received the needed treatment by local medics, and one was rushed to Darwish Nazzal Governmental Hospital for further treatment. On Friday, the soldiers injured seven Palestinians, including a journalist, and caused many to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, after the army attacked the weekly procession in Kufur Qaddoum town. Palestinians have been holding weekly demonstrations, on Fridays and Saturdays, in Kufur Qaddoum village, since 2003, to demand the Israeli authorities reopen the village’s main road, which was closed in 2002, for the benefit of illegal settlers in nearby Israeli colonies, especially the Kedumim colony, which was built on private Palestinian lands.

Colombia: Five Indigenous People Killed, 40 Kidnapped in Nariño teleSUR – September 27, 2020 Illegal armed groups Saturday killed five members of the Awa Indigenous community and kidnapped another 40 members after breaking into the Awa people’s Inda Sabaleta reservation, in the Narino Department. Colombia’s National Indigenous Organization (ONIC) warned of the grave situation in the Inda Sabaleta Indigenous Reservation of the Awa People. “The five dead people have not yet been investigated by forensic doctors, while the wounded have not been transferred to any hospital,” the organization stated. Since the early hours of Saturday morning, the town has recorded clashes between the armed group ‘Los Contadores’ and the ‘Oliver Sinisterra front’, who were trying to take over the territory completely. The Oliver Sinisterra front held at least 40 indigenous people, including two or three minors, youth, women, and adults. “The people held by the armed group were defenseless, they were civilians from the reservation, and their whereabouts remain unknown,” ONIC reported. The organization asked Colombia’s President Ivan Duque and the Ombudsman’s Office to “adopt urgent measures to protect this community’s human rights.”

Mexico finally orders arrest of soldiers in mysterious case of 43 missing students Press TV – September 27, 2020 On the sixth anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of 43 Mexican college students, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has issued dozens of arrest warrants for soldiers, who are suspected of involvement in their still un-resolved abduction from a teacher’s college in the state of Guerrero. Lopez Obrador announced the arrest warrants at an event with parents of the missing students on Saturday. “Orders have been issued for the arrest of the military personnel,” he said. “Zero impunity —those proven to have participated will be judged.” Gomez Trejo, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the case, said in a separate statement that 25 arrest warrants had been issued for the “material and intellectual authors” of the crime, including military members, and federal and municipal police. … continue