European Politics > EU Shooting themselves in both feet; Ukrainian Refugees abandoning EU to return to war-torn homes; Russia chokes gas supplies to EU

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Europe's insane support of NATO/USA's proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is going to cost the continent billions and billions of Euros and a very angry population. Are they really that stupid that they cannot see what is happening? Are they really that stupid that they are willing to provoke their own people with extremely high prices for energy? Apparently so!

High energy prices push inflation to nearly 9% in 19 euro-using countries

By Clyde Hughes

   

Similar to the United States, inflation in the eurozone continues to be affected by the higher costs of energy,

such as gasoline and natural gas, an official economic report said Friday.

File Photo by symbiot/Shutterstock

July 29 (UPI) -- A sharp rise in energy prices aided by Russia's war in Ukraine has helped fuel rising inflation in countries that use the euro, official statistics said on Friday.

According to the figures by Eurostat, prices in the eurozone nations reached a record-high 8.9% over the past 12 months.

The July inflationary increase was up from 8.6% in June. Energy costs rose 42% and continue to be heavily affected by the fighting in Ukraine, which has severely disrupted global energy markets.

Energy prices were expected to continue to rise at a high clip of 39.7% in July.

"Energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in July, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco, non-energy industrial goods and services," Eurostat said in a statement.

While the inflation spike is connected with Ukraine, prices in the 19-nation eurozone have been on the rise since last August when inflation stood at 3.2% and steadily increased over the past 12 months.

Inflation later rose to 5.6% in January, a month before the war in Ukraine, and then 6.2% in February.

Despite the high inflation, economic health in the eurozone was up in the most recent quarter, Eurostat said. Gross domestic product in the zone increased 0.7% for the second quarter and 0.6% in the European Union. The rise follows a 0.5% increase in the first quarter.

EU countries seemed to have been supportive of Ukrainian refugees a few months ago, however, it appears the refugees were left completely on their own with no means of survival. We are a long way from finding out how many women and children have been abducted and forced into prostitution, and nobody appears to be trying to find out.

'The money is gone': Evacuated Ukrainians forced to return

By CARA ANNA

July 25, 2022

POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — The missile’s impact flung the young woman against the fence so hard it splintered. Her mother found her dying on the bench beneath the pear tree where she’d enjoyed the afternoon. By the time her father arrived, she was gone.

Anna Protsenko was killed two days after returning home. The 35-year-old had done what authorities wanted: She evacuated eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region as Russian forces move closer. But starting a new life elsewhere had been uncomfortable and expensive.

Like Protsenko, tens of thousands of people have returned to rural or industrial communities close to the region’s front line at considerable risk because they can’t afford to live in safer places.

Protsenko had tried it for two months, then came home to take a job in the small city of Pokrovsk. On Monday, friends and family caressed her face and wept before her casket was hammered shut beside her grave.

Men carry the lifeless body of 35-year-old Anna Protsenko, who was killed in a Russian rocket attack, during her funeral procession, on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, Monday, July 18, 2022. Protsenko was killed two days after coming home. She had done what authorities wanted, evacuating eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region as Russian forces move closer, but starting a new life elsewhere was uncomfortable and expensive. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

A man walks away from a crater in the aftermath of a Russian rocket attack, that killed 35-year-old Anna Protsenko, on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, July 16, 2022. Protsenko was killed two days after coming home. She had done what authorities wanted, evacuating eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region as Russian forces move closer, but starting a new life elsewhere was uncomfortable and expensive. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

“We cannot win. They don’t hire us elsewhere and you still have to pay rent,” said a friend and neighbor, Anastasia Rusanova. There’s nowhere to go, she said, but here in Donetsk, “everything is ours.”

The Pokrovsk mayor’s office estimated that 70% of those who evacuated have come home. In the larger city of Kramatorsk, an hour’s drive closer to the front line, officials said the population had dropped to about 50,000 from the normal 220,000 in the weeks following Russia’s invasion but has since risen to 68,000.

Tens of thousands of evacuees from Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region are returning to homes close to the front line, as they can't afford to live in safer places. 

It’s frustrating for Ukrainian authorities as some civilians remain in the path of war, but residents of the Donetsk region are frustrated, too. Some described feeling unwelcome as Russian speakers among Ukrainian speakers in some parts of the country.

But more often, lack of money was the problem. In Kramatorsk, some people in line waiting for boxes of humanitarian aid said they were too poor to evacuate at all. Donetsk and its economy have been dragged down by conflict since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists began fighting Ukraine’s government.

“Who will take care of us?” asked Karina Smulska, who returned to Pokrovsk a month after evacuating. Now, at age 18, she is her family’s main money-earner as a waitress.

Eighteen-year-old waitress, Karina Smulska, who returned to her home town after fleeing, prints a receipt for Ukrainian servicemen, at a restaurant, in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Tens of thousands of people from Donetsk region are returning to their rural or industrial communities close to the front line at considerable risk because they can't afford to live in safer places. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Volunteers have been driving around the Donetsk region for months since Russia’s invasion helping vulnerable people evacuate, but such efforts can end quietly in failure.

Damages from shelling on a house in Malotaranivka village, where Tamara Markova, 82-year-old resident and her son Mykola Riaskov, suffering from a disability, both returned back to after fleeing, in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Monday, July 18, 2022. Markova and Riaskov said they spent only five days as evacuees in the central city of Dnipro this month before deciding to take their chances back home. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Tamara Markova, 82-year-old resident, sits with her son Mykola Riaskov, suffering from a disability, who both returned back to their home after fleeing, sit in their home in Malotaranivka village, in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Monday, July 18, 2022. Markova and Riaskov said they spent only five days as evacuees in the central city of Dnipro this month before deciding to take their chances back home. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

In a dank home in the village of Malotaranivka on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, speckled twists of flypaper hung from the living room ceiling. Pieces of cloth were stuffed into window cracks to keep out the draft.

Tamara Markova, 82, and her son Mykola Riaskov said they spent only five days as evacuees in the central city of Dnipro this month before deciding to take their chances back home.

“We would have been separated,” Markova said.

The temporary shelter where they stayed said she would be moved to a nursing home and her son, his left side immobilized after a stroke, would go to a home for the disabled. They found that unacceptable. In their hurry to leave, they left his wheelchair behind. It was too big to take on the bus.

Now they make do. If the air raid siren sounds, Markova goes to shelter with neighbors “until the bombing stops.” Humanitarian aid is delivered once a month. Markova calls it good enough. When winter comes, the neighbors will cover their windows with plastic film for basic insulation and clean the fireplace of soot. Maybe they’ll have gas for heat, maybe not.

“It was much easier under the Soviet Union,” she said of their lack of support from the state, but she was even unhappier with Russian President Vladimir Putin and what his soldiers are doing to the communities around her.

“He’s old,” she said of Putin. “He has to be retired.”

Homesickness and uncertainty also drive returns to Donetsk. A daily evacuation train leaves Pokrovsk for relatively safer western Ukraine, but another train also arrives daily with people who have decided to come home. While the evacuation train is free, the return one is not.

Oksana Tserkovnyi took the train home with her 10-year-old daughter two days after the deadly attack on July 15 in Dnipro, where they had stayed for more than two months. While the attack was the spark to return, Tserkovnyi had found it difficult to find work. Now she plans to return to her previous job in a coal mine.

Costs in Dnipro, already full of evacuees, were another concern. “We stayed with relatives, but if we needed to rent it would have been a lot more,” Tserkovnyi said. “It starts at 6,000 hryvnia ($200) a month for a studio, and you won’t be able to find it.”

Taxi drivers who wait in Pokrovsk for the arriving train said many people give up on trying to resettle elsewhere.

“Half my work for sure is taking these people,” said one driver, Vitalii Anikieiev. “Because the money is gone.”

In mid-July, he said, he picked up a woman who was coming home from Poland after feeling out of place there. When they reached her village near the front line, there was a crater where her house had been.

“She cried,” Anikieiev said. “But she decided to stay.”

Putin chokes gas supply to Latvia as Europe faces winter energy crisis

that could see cities in darkness & hot water cut

Jacob Bentley-York

20:21, 30 Jul 2022, Updated: 0:35, 31 Jul 2022

VLADIMIR Putin has choked off Latvia's gas supply "indefinitely".  

The country is the latest European nation to be cut off as Russia continues to weaponize its energy supplies in revenge at the West's sanctions.

Russia has cut the gas supply of Latvia amid growing fears of a winter energy crisis. Credit: Reuters

Gazprom announced the decision after country refused to pay for supplies in roubles. Credit: Reuters

This week, towns and cities in Germany were plunged into darkness after Russian-state energy giant Gazprom strangled supplies by 20 per cent.

Hanover's mayor Belit Onay said the "imminent gas shortage" meant energy consumption had to immediately drop by 15 per cent.

Residents have already started taking cold showers to conserve their energy.

German breweries have also been told to stop the production of beer amid fears Oktoberfest will be cancelled.

OMG! Oktoberfest cancelled? There will be riots in the streets!

Elsewhere, Spanish residents have been urged take off unnecessary clothing like ties at work to cool down.

And Belgium will reverse its phase-out of nuclear energy, while the Netherlands and Austria are switching to coal-fired power plants.

Because it is far more important for NATO and America to move the weapons inventory than to save the planet from destruction.

Putin has lashed out after European leaders banded together in fury at the war in Ukraine.

Experts say the tyrant believes the policies may act as leverage in negotiations given the huge reliance Europe has on Russian gas and energy.

Gas giant Gazprom announced today that Latvia’s supplies would be cut off after the country refused to pay for supplies in roubles.

In a statement, the company said it was halting its gas deliveries to the country because it broke “terms for extraction of gas.”

Edijs Saicans, deputy state secretary on energy policy at the Latvian Economy Ministry, said Russian gas imports will be banned from January 1, 2023.

“We do not see any major impacts from such a move,” he said defiantly.

Defiantly, and, would you believe, stupidly?

Gazprom has already cut off gas supplies to Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Bulgaria because the countries would not pay in their local currency as required by the supplier.

On Tuesday, EU countries reportedly agreed on emergency regulation to curb their gas use this winter as Putin continues to slash supplies.

The European Commission had previously warned that complying with Putin's order could breach EU sanctions on Moscow.

It has urged companies to keep paying in the currency agreed in their contracts with Gazprom despite the ongoing restrictions.

The news comes amid fresh reports that Putin’s men could be on the ropes after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s brave troops wiped out two Russian ammunition depots.

The Directorate for Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian army confirmed Ukraine hit two ammunition depots in Ilovaisk (Donetsk Oblast) and Brylivka belonging to Russia in the early hours of Friday morning.

Footage shared on social media show enormous flames erupting and thick, dark plumes of smoke filling the Ukrainian night sky.

Bits and Bites from around the World > Pendleton Raccoon; The Line in the Sand - Apocalyptic?

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Saudi mega-city project begins with The Line, a 105-mile-long

'civilizational revolution'

By Doug Cunningham

   

This is an artist's rendering of The Line, the first piece of a Saudi government-funded mega-city being developed by a development project called NEOM. Photo courtesy of NEOM

July 27 (UPI) -- A futuristic Saudi walled city project called The Line is intended to provide an ideal climate year-round in vertically layered communities run entirely on renewable energy.

It will cost billions of dollars and will be a tall, narrow city 105 miles long, with an open interior enclosed by a mirrored façade, according to a statement from the Saudi government development project NEOM.

In a statement, NEOM calls The Line "a civilizational revolution that puts humans first, providing an unprecedented urban living experience while preserving the surrounding nature." It will have no roads or cars and cost hundreds of billions of dollars to build.

"At The Line's launch last year, we committed to a civilizational revolution that puts humans first based on a radical change in urban planning," Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a statement.

"The designs revealed today for the city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability.

The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live."

The Line is being designed and created by NEOM, a development project of Saudi Vision 2030. The Line will be the first section.

NEOM is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Crown Prince bin Salman is the chairman of the board of NEOM.

"NEOM will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways," bin Salman said in the Saudi NEOM statement.

"NEOM remains one of the most important projects of Saudi Vision 2030, and our commitment to delivering The Line on behalf of the nation remains resolute."

The Line will be roughly 656 feet wide, 106 miles long and 1,640 feet above sea level. According to the Saudi government it eventually will accommodate 9 million residents.

"It's ideal climate all year round will ensure that residents can enjoy surrounding nature when traveling on foot," the Saudi NEOM statement said.

"Residents will have access to all facilities in The Line within a five-minute walk, in addition to high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes."

NEOM's statement said The Line is to be built by a team of "world-renowned architects and engineers" to develop "this revolutionary concept for the city of the future."

So, the question is, will God see this as a type of Babel Tower (Genesis 11:1–9), or as an attempt to create a man-made New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22)? If either is true, we can expect a very strong response from the Lord. 

2030 is approximately the year in which I expect the Lord to bring an end to the Great Tribulation and return to rule the Earth in Person. Which, of course, means that the Great Tribulation will start, approximately, next year, 2023. Do you think we're ready?

Some believe Sharm el-Sheikh is approximately where Moses lead the children of Israel across the Red Sea. Chariots and parts of chariots have been found at the bottom of the Sea in this area.

Corruption is Everywhere > Spies tried to force me to take anti-Russia stance – Serbian minister; Timoshenko outs 'scam of the century'; Pr Charles and Bin Laden money

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Spies tried to force me to take anti-Russia stance – Serbian minister

Serbian interior minister claims foreign spies have been pressing him

into taking anti-Russia stance

FILE PHOTO. Aleksandar Vulin. © Global Look Press / MOD Russia

A major foreign intelligence service has been pressing Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin over his attitude towards Russia and China, the official revealed on Saturday. The minister expects a large media campaign against him to kick off next week.

“One of the largest intelligence services in the world, if not the largest, told me that my stance was unacceptable and that if I do not change [it] and do not abandon the policy that I am pursuing ... then I will not be a member of the government and they will do absolutely everything to smear me,” Vulin told media outlet Pink.

A media campaign against him is expected to begin next week, Vulin claimed. Despite the pressure, the minister said he refused to cooperate in any way with the foreign spies. “I haven’t worked and won’t work for anyone except for the Serbian people, the Serbian state, and I won’t be completely loyal to anyone, except for the president of all Serbs, Aleksandar Vucic,” the minister said.

The condition was that I start working for this foreign intelligence service. I will not, even at the cost of my own life.

The minister also urged the country’s president to keep Serbia neutral, as well as to maintain good relations with Russia and China, regardless of external pressure.

Top Serbian officials have repeatedly said the country faced mounting foreign pressure amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Belgrade, however, has refused to join any anti-Russian sanctions or other hostile acts by the collective West, maintaining that Serbia will continue pursuing its own interests, while keeping its long-standing ties with Moscow.

Vulin has taken a particularly strong position amid the ongoing crisis. Early in July, the minister said the US and the EU have been openly pressing Serbia into becoming “a NATO foot soldier” in order to become “someone who wants to engage in a conflict with Russia.”

“We are very clear: We will not engage in a conflict with Russia, we will not engage in other people’s wars, we will not be someone else’s foot soldiers,” he declared back then.

Ukrainian MP reveals ‘scam of the century’

Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz gas company has sought to embezzle $8 billion,

Yulia Timoshenko claims

FILE PHOTO: Yulia Timoshenko, an Ukrainian MP and the head of the 'Fatherland' party.

©  Global Look Press / Dimitrios Karvountzis

Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz gas company is supposedly running a massive embezzlement scheme as it seeks to get billions of dollars from the government for alleged gas purchases even though Ukraine presumably does not need additional gas for the winter, Yulia Timoshenko, an MP and the head of the ‘Fatherland’ party, claimed on Monday.

According to Timoshenko, the lawmakers were about to pass several bills that would grant Naftogaz additional funding for gas purchases ahead of the winter. One of them would grant the company “compensation” from the budget that was worth 150 billion hryvnas ($4.08 billion) to purchase an additional six billion cubic meters of natural gas abroad.

 The government planned to use international financial aid provided to Ukraine by Western nations for that “compensation,” Timoshenko’s party wrote in a statement last week. According to Timoshenko herself, Naftogaz also sought to request another 150 billion hryvnas ($4.08 billion) from the budget to increase its authorized share capital and then use the money to buy the gas. 

Timoshenko, who also served as Ukraine’s prime minister between 2007 and 2010, also argued that this additional gas purchase for the upcoming winter heating season was not needed at all. According to the MP, Ukraine already produces and stores enough gas for the winter and might even get up to seven billion excessive cubic meters of gas during the upcoming heating season.

On Monday, Timoshenko claimed that Naftogaz was still planning the “scam of the century” by embezzling up to 264 billion hryvnas ($7.18 billion) and “sending them to offshores.” She also called on the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky to organize a meeting between his administration officials, MPs, and independent experts, as well as diplomats from the G7 nations to discuss the situation.

“Could the president not be aware? Are you not aware of the ‘scam of the century’ that Naftogaz is currently implementing?” she wondered in her post.

The lawmaker said that the Ukrainian MPs are set to discuss the relevant bills later in July. Last week, her party said it had blocked bills to supposedly prevent embezzlement by Naftogaz. RT could not independently verify Timoshenko’s claims related to the Naftogaz activities. Neither the Ukrainian presidential office nor the company itself have commented on the issue yet. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ukrainian media reported that Naftogaz creditors had rejected the company’s request for a two-year debt payment freeze. Naftogaz made the proposal earlier this month, citing “significant economic and business decline in Ukraine” caused by the ongoing conflict with Russia.

Naftogaz is Ukraine’s largest state-owned oil and gas company and a major source of income, accounting for almost 17% of the country’s total state budget revenue last year.

Prince Charles agreed to take £1million from Bin Laden family 

for his charity despite objections from advisers

Charles said to have accepted funds from two half-brothers of Osama Bin Laden

Agreement made following private meeting between Charles and Bakr Bin Laden

The payment came despite protestations from his advisers to return the money

Charles reportedly warned of reputational damage if it became known to public

By JAMIE PHILLIPS FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 15:57 EDT, 30 July 2022 | UPDATED: 16:01 EDT, 30 July 2022

The rest of this article can be found at Daily Mail.

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Covid-19 > Two New Studies Try to Whitewash Wuhan Lab's Guilt of Creation of Covid-19

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COVID-19's origins were at Wuhan market in China, two new studies suggest

By HealthDay News

   

Markets in Wuhan, China, sell fresh meat in the open air, often offering live animals for slaughter.

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Two new studies strongly suggest that COVID-19 most likely began with a jump to humans from animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China.

It's not clear from what type of animal the virus jumped to a human, but the first animal-to-human transmission appears to have happened around Nov. 18, 2019, one study found.

According to the researchers, the Wuhan market contained a wide range of live wild animals, with badgers, birds, muskrats, snakes and other species sold for food.

Two strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, already were present at the market by the fall of 2019, the studies found.

I wonder how they determined that?

"While I'm hesitant to call it proof, what we presented is the most comprehensive explanation for the SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity at the outset of the pandemic," study co-author Joel Wertheim, an associate adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, said in a university news release.

"There are really no other good explanations for both of these strains being at the market except for multiple jumps into humans."

The two studies first were posted online in February as preprints, but they've now undergone peer review and were published Tuesday in the journal Science.

Other theories about how the virus began in humans include the "Chinese lab leak" hypothesis widely circulated on the internet. The World Health Organization has recommended that scientists continue research on that and other theories.

But the researchers behind the two new studies believe their findings deliver convincing evidence on the virus' origins.

"It's a real thing," said Michael Worobey, a co-author of the first study and department head of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, told CNN. "It's just not plausible that this virus was introduced any other way than through the wildlife trade."

Seriously! Can this idea be anything other than a Deep State propaganda project? When you have a virology lab working on making the Coronavirus "gain-of-function" abilities which would make it easier to infect humans and animals, just down the street from where 2 new strains of Covid appeared, how can you possibly draw the conclusion that the two facts are not connected?

Coronavirus: Chinese CDC Now Says The Wuhan Wet Market Wasn't The Origin of The Virus

Man-Made Coronavirus Leaked from Wuhan Lab - Ex-MI6 Boss

Covid-19 > FBI Inquiry into Wuhan Lab as Possible Source of Covid -19

Coronavirus: Dossier Lays Out Case Against China Bat Virus Program; Designer Virus

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Mexican Mayor Marries Alligator; Starving Lions Eat their own Tail; Frogs Married in India

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Mexican mayor marries an alligator, in century-old ritual

to pray for abundance

‘Alligator bride’ is believed to be a deity representing mother earth

Published:  July 01, 2022 12:19

Reuters

  

Image Credit: YouTube screen grab

Mexico: A small town Mexican mayor married his alligator bride in a colorful ceremony as traditional music rang out and revelers danced while imploring the indigenous leader to seal the nuptials with a kiss.

San Pedro Huamelula Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa obliged more than once during Thursday's wedding, bending down to plant his lips on the small alligator's snout, which had been tied shut presumably to avoid unwanted biting.

The ritual marriage likely dates back centuries to pre-Hispanic times among Oaxaca state's Chontal and Huave indigenous communities, like a prayer pleading for nature's bounty.

"We ask nature for enough rain, for enough food, that we have fish in the river," said Sosa, mayor of the small fishing village on Oaxaca's steamy Pacific coast. Oaxaca, located in Mexico's poor south, is arguably the country's richest in indigenous culture and home to many groups that have stubbornly maintained their languages and traditions.

Oaxaca, located in Mexico's poor south, is arguably the country's richest in indigenous culture and home to many groups that have stubbornly maintained their languages and traditions.

The age-old ritual in San Pedro Huamelula, now mixed with Catholic spirituality, involves dressing the alligator or caiman in a white wedding dress plus other colorful garments.

The seven-year-old reptile, referred to as a little princess, is believed to be a deity representing mother earth, and her marriage to the local leader symbolizes the joining of humans with the divine. As trumpets blared and drums provided a festive beat, locals carried the alligator bride in their arms through village streets as men fanned it with their hats.

"It gives me so much happiness and makes me proud of my roots," said Elia Edith Aguilar, known as the godmother who organized the wedding. She said that she feels privileged to be entrusted with carrying out the ceremony, and noted she spent a lot of time fretting over what the bride would wear.

"It's a very beautiful tradition," she added with a smile.

Yeah, the bride is just lovely!

San Pedro Huamelula, MX

Horror as starving lions forced to eat their own TAILS at zoo

where ‘remains of hundreds of big cats found’

Olivia Burke

18:06, 9 Jul 2022

A PRIDE of starving lions were forced to eat their own TAILS at a horror zoo where they were kept in torturous conditions.

Footage of the gaunt animals at the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation in Tlalpan, Mexico City, has sparked international outrage.

The lions at the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation resorted to chewing their own tails

Animals at the hellish zoo were so weak they could barely stand

The remains of hundreds of big cats have also allegedly been discovered dumped in a mass grave at the disgraced wildlife refuge.

The majestic creatures were seen looking frail and depressed as they forlornly paced around their cramped metal cages.

Mexican actor Arturo Islas Allende, 35, helped publicise the untold agony of the lions, branding their treatment "a holocaust".

He also accused the owner of the foundation, Eduardo Mauricio Moises Serio, of illegally selling and breeding lion, tiger, jaguar and leopard cubs.

Harrowing video shows the emaciated lions collapsing in their small cages in the blistering heat, while others sport agonising sores over their bodies.

The constant lack of food and nutrition has saw some of the animals gnaw at their own tails in sheer desperation.

A former employee at the hellish zoo, activist Yael Ruiz, first reported the foundation to the authorities after working there for two years.

She says the big cats began eating their tails "out of anxiety" after being forced to live in monstrous conditions.

Arturo complained he just "doesn't understand how for so long, no one has done anything" to put a stop to the suffering of the animals.

He said: "The place is now under the control of the authorities, the owner is a fugitive from justice, he has not appeared anywhere.

"We have just had a meeting with the Mexico City authorities so veterinarians can start rescuing the emaciated animals. The foundation did not have the correct papers or legal permits, the reality is it was completely clandestine."

Horrified inspectors have since reportedly found pits with what they believe are the bones and remains of more than 200 big cats.

Arturo continued: "There are pits with the bones of buried animals.

"The foundation said they had 400 felines, yesterday a count was carried out with the authorities and only between 180 and 190 are accounted for, less than half of them."

There are pits with the bones of buried animals.

Arturo Islas Allende

The actor also claimed that employees have not been paid for months before the evil owner scarpered.

He added: "The owner also did not pay the rent and has outstanding bills of around MXN 1 million (£40,612).

"The foundation received millions of dollars in donations that did not reach the animals and is linked to tax evasion.

"The breeding of cubs was ongoing.

"The reality is, the foundation placed animals in the hands of buyers and, over time, they became a problem for the customers and we (were?) sent back to the same cages."

Animal rights groups have slammed the horrific treatment of the lions at the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation.

The refuge, which ironically claims to rescue animals from harsh conditions at breeding centres and circuses, has been reported to the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA).

One animal rights group - AZCARM - accused the foundation owner of "abandoning and mistreating hundreds of big cats".

The surviving lions will undergo a medical evaluation and are expected to be rehomed at other zoos in the Mexican capital.

The investigation continues.

India: Frogs married in Gorakhpur to appease rain god

The 'wedding' was held on Tuesday night with all rituals

Published:  July 20, 2022 07:47

IANS

  

The people at the wedding had a tough time keeping the frog couple in place

Image Credit: Twitter@ANI

Gorakhpur: A group of people organised a wedding of frogs to appease the rain god, Lord Indra.

The 'wedding' was held on Tuesday night with all rituals.

Radhakant Verma, who organised the event, said, "It is a time-tested belief that frog weddings are held to bring in rains. We have had a long dry spell and farmers, in particular, are upset over the delay in sowing paddy."

The people at the wedding had a tough time keeping the frog couple in place and scores of people witnessed the event when all mantras and shlokas were chanted by a group of priests.

The guests were later treated to dinner by the organisers.

The Media is the Message > Trust in News falling precipitously; Are Forbes and Mother Jones Deep State?

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Canadians Increasingly Losing Trust in Media, Study Finds

Only 29 percent of respondents indicated that the media is free from undue political influence, compared to 39 percent in 2017

By Isaac Teo June 18, 2022

A study on how people globally engage with the news found that Canadians are increasingly losing trust in the media.

A report released Wednesday by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that Canadians who place their trust in the news fell from 58 percent to 42 percent over the last four years.

The study is based on an online survey of 93,432 people, conducted in 46 countries at the end of January and beginning of February by YouGov, a UK-based market research company, on behalf of the institute.

USA last

Canada ranked 18th in overall trust out of the 46 countries surveyed, which include Australia at 20, the UK at 36, and the United States taking the last spot.

“Large numbers of people see the media as subject to undue political influence, and only a small minority believe most news organizations put what’s best for society ahead of their own commercial interest,” wrote Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of Reuters Institute, in the report.

Among the Canadian respondents, only 29 percent indicated that the media is free from undue political influence, compared to 39 percent in 2017. And a majority of 73 percent believe the media is not exempt from undue business influence, an increase of 9 percentage points since 2017.

The report added that dissatisfaction with the governments and pandemic fatigue may have contributed to the negative attitudes toward the media, and the perceptions that media outlets have not been critical enough of official sources such as public health authorities.

A February study by marketing consultancy firm Edelman Canada found that 61 percent of Canadians believe journalists and reporters purposely try to mislead them “by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations,” with business leaders (60 percent) and government (58 percent) not far behind.

In addition, less than half of Canadians view government leaders and CEOs as trustworthy, at 43 percent and 36 percent, respectively, said the Edelman report, which is based on an online survey with over 1,500 Canadians during the period of Nov. 1–24, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Reuters report noted people around the world were increasingly avoiding news that affected their mood negatively (36 percent), and those that focused too much on politics and COVID-19 (43 percent).

In Australia, 41 percent of the respondents said they selectively avoided the news, a jump from 30 percent in 2017. In the UK, the response nearly doubled, from 24 percent in 2017 to 46 percent in 2022. The increase in the United States was more moderate, with 42 percent avoiding the news, compared to 38 percent in 2017.

The difference in the US is probably due to the fact that it has an alternative to the left-wing BS that comes out of most global media. Right-wing BS might not be any better, but, at least it's a place to go when you are tired of the woke stuff.

To win public trust again, media could try to provide factual information and to “simplify language and better explain or contextualise complex stories,” the report suggested.

“The need for reliable information, careful context, and considered debate has rarely been greater, but so too has the desire for stories that inspire and give hope of a better tomorrow,” the authors said.

They completely missed the point here. The point is that almost all news media are made up of people with either a right or left-wing bent. Their reporting presents, for nearly all outlets, the liberal perspective as if it were the God-given truth, and anything the rings of conservatism is presented as being absurd. 

===========================================================================================

This is how Deep State works in the media!

Tulsi Gabbard Latest To Push Russian-Backed Conspiracy

About U.S.-Backed Biological Labs In Ukraine

Derek Saul, Forbes Staff

Mar 13, 2022,03:30pm EDT

TOPLINE Former presidential candidate and Congress member Tulsi Gabbard shared false information Sunday about U.S. involvement in Ukraine biological laboratories Sunday, giving credence to an unfounded Russian-backed conspiracy theory the U.S. has warned could serve as justification for Russia to use biological and chemical weapons against Ukraine.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) shared misleading information Sunday that supported a ... [+] GETTY IMAGES

In a two-minute video posted to her Twitter Sunday morning, Gabbard said there are 25 to 30 American-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine and called for an immediate ceasefire at the laboratories as they could spread dangerous pathogens.

Gabbard’s concern about the spread of pathogens is supported by fact—the World Health Organization called for Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens this week to prevent the spread of disease if a laboratory is attacked—but there’s no evidence of the U.S. supporting biological labs in Ukraine and the U.S. has consistently denied doing so.

Military Madness > China wants answers on USA's Biolabs in Ukraine;

Russia has revealed details behind the sponsorship of the secretive research

Russia claims US tested experimental drugs on Ukrainian soldiers

Hunter Biden DID help secure millions in funding for US contractor in 

Ukraine specializing in deadly pathogen research, laptop emails reveal

Gabbard’s comments notably give apparent credibility to a particularly dangerous Russian-backed conspiracy theory.

This week, Russia spread a conspiracy about the U.S. developing biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine laboratories, a false claim that the White House and NATO have warned could be justification for a Russian attack of its own.

The theory became popular on Alex Jones’ InfoWars platform and on social media several weeks ago, and since was co-opted by Russian and Chinese state-run media.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“As we have said all along, Russia is inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine. The United States does not own or operate any chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price Thursday.

"Does not own or operate" leaves a hell of a lot of wiggle room for financing two dozen bio-labs.

SURPRISING FACT

Elena Branson, charged Tuesday by American authorities for allegedly acting as a Russian agent, made donations to only one American politician, according to election filings by the Daily Beast: Gabbard.

TANGENT

The Kremlin sent a memo to state-run Russian media calling on outlets to use as much footage of Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson sharing his controversial stances supporting Russia and criticizing the U.S. and NATO as possible, according to Russian government agency documents obtained by Mother Jones and published Sunday. Aside from former President Donald Trump, Carlson and Gabbard have emerged as perhaps the two most prominent Russian sympathizers in the U.S.

"Russian sympathizers" is what Deep State media calls anyone who dare speak the truth. You don't have to be a Russian sympathizer to know that the USA and NATO have been working since 2014 to force Russia into attacking Ukraine. If you can't see that it's because you're not looking. Choose to look for the truth!

Islam - Current Day > Malay Man gets beat up and then arrested; Al Qaeda moving into Togo; Violence against Gaza Women

..

Malaysia: Muslim mob bloodies delivery rider

accused of insulting Islam, then he is arrested

“Delivery rider to be remanded for allegedly insulting Islam,” 

by Austin Camoens, 

The Star, July 17, 2022:

Sepang OCPD Asst Comm Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said the 39-year-old suspect, a widower, would be taken to the Sepang Court Complex on Monday (July 18) morning to obtain a remand order.

“Based on our investigations the suspect does not have a prior record. A urine test also conducted on the suspect also came back negative,” he said in a statement on Sunday (July 17)….

The case was classified as causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion and misuse of network facilities.

The first is an offence under Section 298A of the Penal Code while the second is a crime under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

Videos and pictures of a man with a bloodied mouth and nose have been circulated on social media and WhatsApp….

Togo: Muslims murder at least 12 civilians

in overnight jihad raids on villages

JUL 18, 2022 9:00 AM 

BY ROBERT SPENCER

On Jihad Watch, which has been operating daily since 2003, Togo was mentioned once in 2017. That was it until last Wednesday and today. The jihadis who have been operating in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria for years are now expanding their operations. They see that the West is weak and suicidal. There is nothing to stop them.

“At Least 12 Killed in Raids on Northern Togo Villages,” 

Reuters, 

July 15, 2022:

LOME, TOGO — Armed men killed at least 12 civilians in overnight raids on villages in northern Togo, where Islamist militants have staged several attacks, two local activists and a medical source said Friday.

Spared until recently by the jihadi violence that has ravaged its northern neighbors for the better part of the past decade, Togo has over the past two months experienced a spate of attacks.

They are part of a broader spillover of militant violence into coastal West African countries from the landlocked Sahel region. Benin and Ivory Coast have also been targeted in the past year by militants believed to belong to an al-Qaida affiliate.

The overnight raids were the deadliest to hit Togo to date, topping an ambush in May that killed eight soldiers. The al-Qaida-linked Jamaa Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which is based in Mali, claimed responsibility for that attack.

A local rights activist, who asked to not be named for security reasons, said suspected jihadis killed 10 civilians in the village of Sougtangou and 10 in Blamonga, both of which are near the border with Burkina Faso.

Another local activist said suspected jihadis had killed at least 12 civilians and a medical source said the death toll was at least 14. They also spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons….

The army said Thursday that it had killed a group of civilians, all teenagers, last Saturday night in an airstrike after mistaking them for jihadis.

Gaza's women and girls see no escape from violence

Issued on: 24/07/2022 - 04:04

rfi

Palestinians Suleiman and Nazmiya Baraka display a picture of their daughter Istabraq, who was killed by her husband last year in the Gaza Strip SAID KHATIB AFP

Abassan (Territoires palestiniens) (AFP) – Seventeen-year-old Istabraq Baraka fell pregnant soon after her wedding in the Gaza Strip. Three months later her husband killed her.

"She died from a severe beating, which caused bleeding on the brain and lungs and broken ribs," said her mother Nazmiya.

Sitting with her husband Suleiman in a garden in Abassan, near the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian territory, the 53-year-old talks at lightning speed about last year's killing of one of her two daughters, as well as the loss of an unborn grandchild.

Istabraq's father wipes tears away with the corner of a red-and-white keffiyeh wrapped around his head.

He laments the slow pace of legal proceedings since his daughter's husband handed himself in to the police shortly after the killing.

"The perpetrator admitted his crime, a year and a month until now and nothing's happened," said the 70-year-old.

Femicide is on the rise in Gaza, according to figures from the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, a Palestinian civil society group.

The organisation registered six killings and suspicious deaths related to domestic violence in 2019, a figure which rose to 19 the following year.

UN Women said the situation worsened at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which resulted in the "lockdown of survivors of violence with their abusers".

Ayah Alwakil, a lawyer from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said women can consider violence from their husbands normal behaviour in Gaza's patriarchal society, which has been controlled by the Hamas Islamist group since 2007.

Suleiman and Nazmiya Baraka walk in their garden SAID KHATIB AFP

Beautiful garden!

"Some women don't know their rights and some others are afraid of going to court, for lack of family support," she added.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said 38 percent of women in Gaza faced physical or psychological violence from their husbands in 2019, but Alwakil estimated the true figure to be far higher.

Tied up, left to die

Men convicted of killing their wives can be jailed or face the death penalty. But the sentence is reduced if they commit a so-called "honour killing", in which a relative is murdered because they are deemed to have brought shame to the family.

UN Women says such "outdated and discriminatory laws" impede justice.

Additionally, those seeking to escape domestic violence risk losing their children. If a wife obtains a divorce, custody passes to the ex-husband once a daughter turns 11 or a son reaches nine.

Noha Khaziq, 31, stayed with her abusive husband because they had four children.

He killed her in February.

"Her husband tied her up and left her at home so that she couldn't escape and get out. When he returned she was dead," said her brother Abdelaziz, who shares his sister's green eyes.

"We feel satisfied with the death sentence ruling against the husband, five months after the heinous crime, but we demand the sentence be enforced quickly," said the 28-year-old.

The Khaziq family has not seen Noha's children since she was killed, because custody was granted to their father's relatives.

'Not on women's side'

Fifteen years since the Israeli-led blockade of Gaza began, it is almost impossible for women fleeing violence to leave the Palestinian enclave.

In a territory home to 2.3 million residents, around 40 women are staying in only two specialised refuges.

When AFP visited one of them, a woman with bruises covering one side of her face sat in a corner. She was about to return to her husband, rather than risk losing access to her children.

"The law is not on women's side all the time in the Gaza Strip," said Aziza Elkahlout, a spokeswoman for the social development ministry which runs one of the refuges.

More than a year since his daughter was murdered, Suleiman Baraka demands that the wheels of justice be speeded up for cases of femicide SAID KHATIB AFP

"We thought of opening the safe house because of the injustice women are exposed to," she added, blaming the Israeli blockade for Gaza's dire living conditions.

But such reasoning is inadequate for Suleiman Baraka, who says the authorities are partly responsible for his daughter's killing.

"The government helps the offender because it doesn't take any immediate decisions," said Istabraq's father.

He is reminded of his daughter every time he reaches for his phone, whose screen shows a photo of him with his two girls.

More than a year since Istabraq was killed, he warned that delays in reaching justice only "encourage criminals".

© 2022 AFP