Russophobia - Skripal Poisoning Handling Leaves Room for Manipulation

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UK Defense ministry document reveals Skripals blood samples

could have been manipulated

By Dilyana Gaytandzhieva - Dilyana.BG

September 3, 20210

Incredible transformation: Yulia Skripal (left) following the alleged poisoning with the deadliest known nerve agent Novichok. Yulia and her father Sergei Skripal (right) before the alleged nerve agent poisoning.

New evidence has emerged of gross violations during the UK investigation into the alleged poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury on 4th March 2018. The new revelations put into question the main evidence that the Skripals were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.

The blood samples taken from the Skripals could have been tampered with so that they test positive for Novichok, newly disclosed information obtained from the UK Ministry of Defense reveals. Furthermore, documents show that Russia was not the only country in the world that could be linked to the nerve agent Novichok.

The US had covered up its own Novichok program masked as research on fourth generation nerve agents (FGAs) and muzzled the Organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons (OPCW) a decade before the Skripals attack.

Breach of chain of custody

Newly disclosed information obtained from the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) under the Freedom of Information Act questions the integrity of the main evidence that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok, namely their blood samples. The ministry is in charge of the British military laboratory DSTL Porton Down which analyzed the Skripals blood samples and reportedly identified Novichok.

“Our searches have failed to locate any information that provides the exact time that the samples were collected”, the ministry states. The information held by MOD therefore indicates that the samples were collected at some point between 16:15 on 4 March 2018 and 18:45 on 5 March 2018 (the approximate time according to MOD when the samples arrived at DSTL Porton Down). Even the time of arrival at Porton Down is indicated as “approximate”.

The lack of this information is gross violation and breach of the chain of custody. The UK NHS protocol requires that a request form accompany all specimens sent to the laboratory and clearly state the exact (not approximate) date and time of collection. This newly disclosed information questions the whole Skripals Novichok poisoning story. The fact that the chain of custody of these blood samples was broken directly suggests that they could have been manipulated and tampered with.

There is so much more on this story, some of it a little technical. There is also some reference to the Navalny poisoning. Read it at DILYANA.BG. 

Deep State > Is Biden Going to Take-on Deep State? Can You Say President Harris?

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Biden wants an end to US foreign adventures, but the multi-billion

dollar death & destruction industry still has him in its grip

3 Sep, 2021 11:03

American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division deploy to fight Taliban fighters as part of Operation Mountain Thrust to a US base near the village of Deh Afghan on June 22, 2006 in the Zabul province of Afghanistan. © John Moore/Getty Images; (inset) © AP Photo / Evan Vucci

By Glenn Diesen, Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. Follow him on Twitter @glenndiesen.

The two-decades long US occupation of Afghanistan has ended in humiliating defeat, with President Joe Biden seemingly betraying his globalist liberal-international instincts by saying Washington won't again pursue nation-building.

With Kabul falling before even American troops could get out, let alone those Afghans unfortunate enough to have put their lives on the line to support them, Biden sought to defend his unilateral withdrawal. "As we turn the page on the foreign policy that has guided our nation the last two decades, we've got to learn from our mistakes," he said. "This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries."

The US, it seems, has sworn off foreign intervention, for the time being. The change, if it holds up, couldn't be more drastic. America was at the height of its power when it invaded Afghanistan in 2001, but now, 20 years later, the age of global hegemony has evidently come to an end.

The rational response on that side of the Atlantic would be to change – to realign and readjust foreign policy priorities to match the problems it is facing in the world, maximising its security. But structural incentives – and vested interests – are firmly in favor of keeping on as normal and doing the same, meaning Washington may end up not acting in its own interests.

Is Biden a rational actor?

When the US ramped up its pursuit of foreign wars in 2001, putting ideology ahead of security, it was an era-defining 'unipolar moment,' or the achievement of 'global hegemony,' defined by unassailable American supremacy. However, it was destined to be temporary as the country depleted its resources by gradually transferring wealth from the national core to the periphery of its empire, while the perceived need to marginalise rising powers such as Russia, China and Iran would result in these countries finding a common cause in pushing back against American ambitions.

Now, facing new realities and a weakened war-chest back home, realist foreign policy thinkers have to continue two possible paths. The first, continuing to pursue hegemony and domination, ignores the reality of relative decline. American debt is spiraling out of control, the dollar is coming under pressure, socio-economic dismay is driving political polarisation and the country's allies are losing faith in its security guarantees. All the while, Washington's rivals are building an anti-hegemony movement designed to give them a place in a multi-polar world.

The second option is to adjust to the new international distribution of power by pulling back on the military posturing to restore fiscal discipline, returning NATO to the status of a status-quo organisation that does not expand or go 'out-of-area', and to negotiate a multipolar system with Eurasian powers such as Russia and China where the US can ideally assert the role as the 'first among equals'.

But while, on paper, the second seems the smarter choice, it's likely the US will continue down its current path.

Incentives for war

Institutions are commonly said to be 'sticky' in terms of persevering long after their usefulness has expired. American institutions are structured for hegemony and the defence industry does not merely pack up its things when a war is over.

Defence firms finance the think tanks and research centres that provide their 'expertise' through the media and consulting policymakers. The top 50 think tanks in the US receive more than $1 billion from the US government and defence contractors, annually. Just think about that – it's equivalent to the entire yearly military budget of a rich medium-sized country like Ireland.

The largest recipient is the RAND Corporation, which advocates weakening Russia by further increasing US nuclear and conventional forces, arming Ukraine, supporting Syrian rebels, backing regime change in Belarus, exploiting tensions in the South Caucasus, promoting 'democratic uprisings' in Russia, and diminishing Russian influence from Central Asia to Moldova.

The second and third place of top-funded think tanks, which overwhelm any influence from objective academics, include the Centre for a New American Century (CNAS) and NATO lobby group The Atlantic Council. Investigations by The New York Times have made it clear that think tanks have developed a business model of selling political influence.

Even digital media platforms such as Facebook have established a partnership with think tanks like The Atlantic Council to 'protect democracy,' most likely under government pressure. Or at least due to 'encouragement' from figures close to the centre of power.

Indeed, liberal democracy has been promoted as a hegemonic norm for such a long time that an entire industry of 'nongovernmental organisations' such as Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy has emerged, which link 'democracy promotion' to NATO expansion in the post-Soviet space.

The consequence of the incentive structures is evident as media personalities have risen in the system rather than being held accountable for repeating establishment talking points about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Trump's collusion with Russia, Hunter Biden's laptop being a Russian conspiracy, Russian bounties on US troops in Afghanistan and other debunked falsehoods.

Fighting dissent

The problems in Washington were exemplified earlier this year, when Russia expert Matthew Rojansky was successfully blocked from taking the post of Russia director on the National Security Council.

Rojansky's position is that the US must scale back its foreign military activities that drain resources at a time when the US struggles with domestic challenges. He feels this waste incentivises a Russian-Chinese partnership against the US. "America's task is not to replace enmity toward Russia with a partnership," he has stated. "It is to manage the current competition in ways that protect vital US interests while minimizing risks and costs, and allowing space for selective cooperation".

Can't have someone talking about peace in the NSC; how unAmerican.

The possibility of hiring Rojansky for the position resulted in an uproar by anti-Russian activists such as Bill Browder, a former Vladimir Putin supporter now wanted for tax evasion by Moscow, and the largest Ukrainian-American organization in the US, which were ultimately successful in preventing the appointment.

So where does that leave America in a post-Afghanistan age? Well, the fighting isn't over yet – especially for the $714 billion, in annual spending, defence industry that will do almost anything to protect its survival.

It's now $750 billion! "Almost anything" might include finding a way to get rid of Biden if they can't get him under control. How would you feel about President Kamala Harris? Do you think she would have the guts to take on Deep State? I would be much happier if it was President Gabbard! I think.

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Islam - Current Day > Taliban Capture Panjshir; Criminals Among Migrants; Another NZ Terrorist Attack; ISIS Beatle Pleads Guilty in US Court

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Taliban celebrates in Kabul after claiming it has captured

Panjshir province, resulting in full control of Afghanistan

3 Sep, 2021 16:54 / Updated 1 hour ago

Taliban forces patrol in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2, 2021.

© REUTERS/Stringer

Celebratory gunfire has erupted over Kabul amid reports that the Taliban has defeated the Panjshir Valley ‘resistance’. The latter’s commander earlier rejected the claims.

Tracers streaked across the night sky on Friday evening local time, reminiscent of celebrations on Tuesday following the departure of the last US airplane from Kabul. There were different reports as to the occasion, however, with RT’s senior correspondent Murad Gazdiev hearing both talk of victory in Panjshir and the arrival of the Taliban’s leader.

Panjshir Valley, located north of Kabul and made into a separate province by the US-backed Afghan government after the Taliban was ousted in 2001, controls a key strategic road to eastern Afghanistan. As of Thursday, it was held by fighters loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of an anti-Taliban leader assassinated in 2001, who declared themselves the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA).

Among the ‘resistance’ is Amrullah Saleh, who served as vice president in the US-backed government and now styles himself the rightful president of Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the Taliban claimed to have captured key positions along the main road inside the valley, including a dozen checkpoints. The NRFA said this wasn’t true, and claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the Taliban.

Saleh sent out a statement on Friday that he was still in the valley and that the resistance was still fighting, denying rumors from Kabul that Panjshir had fallen – but said the situation was difficult and that they were under attack from the Taliban, Pakistani troops and Al-Qaeda.

He also called on the UN and the international community to condemn “war crimes” of the Taliban, saying the group had blocked humanitarian access to Panjshir and shut off power and phone lines, according to TOLO News.

A Twitter account claiming to represent the NRFA has also declared that the resistance is “strong like our mountains here,” and urged Afghans and the world media to not “fall for the Taliban propaganda that they're spreading in Kabul.” 

As late as July, the US estimated that the Taliban had no more than 80,000 fighters and that the US-equipped Afghan National Army (ANA) could hold them off for months. Instead, the Taliban swept through most of Afghanistan and took Kabul without much of a fight on August 14, with the ANA surrendering or fleeing. An enormous amount of US-made ANA equipment, weapons and ammunition fell into the Taliban's hands. 

Panjshir Valley, AFG

7 Afghan evacuees to Germany failed security checks,

4 were previously deported as criminals – interior minister

3 Sep, 2021 13:50 / Updated 5 hours ago

People evacuated by the German Air Force from Afghanistan land in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, August 2021.

© Marc Tessensohn/Bundeswehr

Four Afghans rescued from Kabul and airlifted to Germany had been previously deported for committing crimes, the country’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer revealed, pledging to prevent an unchecked influx of migrants to Europe.

“Three of them had forged documents, and four had already been deported from Germany to Afghanistan once as criminals. These were serious crimes,” Seehofer told RND news agency, adding that the four previously deported Afghans are now in custody. 

We will do everything we can to prevent an uncontrolled influx of migrants into Europe. That is why we are closely monitoring the movement of refugees from Afghanistan and other countries in the regions, such as Syria and Iraq.

Seehofer, who previously argued that the dramatic situation in Afghanistan is not an excuse to relax EU’s migration policies, said Germany will tighten security measures and checks on the border if necessary. “Not everyone who wants to enter our country will be allowed in. As for people who will be allowed in, we must know who they are.” 

Like many other Western countries, Germany scrambled to evacuate its nationals and local helpers from Kabul after the Afghan capital was seized by the Taliban on August 15. Overall, the German Air Force brought nearly 5,400 people from Afghanistan, including citizens of at least 45 states, according to the Defense Ministry. 

The Taliban rapidly seized control of most of Afghanistan last month amid the withdrawal of US troops, which was completed on August 30. The last German soldiers, who were part of NATO’s nearly two-decade-long occupation of Afghanistan, left the country in late June.  

The UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic urged Afghanistan's neighbors this week to “keep their borders open and allow those who may be at risk to seek safety.”

UNCHR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements warned that the region could see up to 500,000 new refugees from Afghanistan by the end of this year. 

Stabbing in New Zealand supermarket was

ISIS-inspired terrorist attack – prime minister

3 Sep, 2021 05:34 / Updated 12 hours ago

© Social media

A stabbing attack in an Auckland supermarket in which multiple people were injured was an act of terrorism, New Zealand’s prime minister says. The suspect was shot dead by police.

“This afternoon, at approximately 2:40pm, a violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders in the New Lynn Countdown [supermarket] in Auckland,” Ardern said at a press conference. 

The suspect was a known threat to authorities and under constant monitoring, she added.

Ardern said the terrorist was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in the country in 2011 and became a person of national security interest from 2016. She described the attacker as an ISIS-inspired “lone wolf.”

The PM confirmed that the terrorist injured six people, three of them seriously, on a stabbing rampage inside a supermarket in New Lynn, a suburb of Auckland. The terrorist was shot and killed roughly 60 seconds later by the same police unit that was tasked with monitoring him, Ardern said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the terrorist had traveled to the supermarket from Glen Eden, another Auckland suburb, as he had done in the past – all while being “closely watched” by a surveillance team and a tactical team. He entered the store and obtained a knife there.

“When the commotion started, two police tactical operators moved to his location and engaged him. When he approached them with a knife, he was shot and killed,” Coster explained. He said police intervened as quickly as they could, preventing further injuries to shoppers.

The reality is that when you are surveilling someone on a 24/7 basis, it is not possible to be immediately next to them at all times.

Addressing potential questions about the monitoring of the terrorist, the prime minister said the government “utilized every legal and surveillance power available to us to try and keep people safe from this individual.”

The attacker’s name has not been released to the public yet, though Ardern said additional information on his identity would be shared as soon as possible.

A video circulating on social media shows frightened shoppers at the supermarket and a body lying on the floor next to a checkout counter.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the alleged attacker was a 32-year-old man who was considered a public threat for twice buying large hunting knives and possessing an Islamic State propaganda video. The paper reported last month that the man was accused of planning a lone-wolf stabbing attack, but was ultimately sentenced to one year of supervision, a punishment designed to rehabilitate low-level offenders.

Apparently, it didn't work. Radicalized Muslims need to be segregated from society, completely.

In May, a 42-year-old knifeman was detained after injuring four people inside a Countdown store in the city of Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island. The prime minister and police said at the time that the incident was not a terrorist attack.

One of the ISIS ‘Beatles’ pleads guilty in US court over

torture & execution of 4 American hostages

3 Sep, 2021 01:10 / Updated 14 hours ago

(L) Alexanda Kotey, member of an English-speaking terrorist cell dubbed The Beatles (R) Another member of the cell, known as ‘Jihadi John’, stands next to captive American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff ©  SDF via Reuters / SITE Intel Group via Reuters

A member of the notorious Islamic State terrorist cell nicknamed ‘the Beatles’ has pleaded guilty to charges of killing four American captives. He faces life in prison without parole but will be spared the death penalty.

Alexanda Kotey, 37, changed his plea at a hearing in a federal court in Virginia on Thursday, admitting to a role in the abduction and execution of two US journalists and two relief workers. He will not face the death penalty, under the terms of his extradition by the UK, which had stripped Kotey of citizenship due to his membership in the terrorist group.

Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, were captured in Syria by the US-backed Kurdish militia (5th story on link) in 2018. They were identified as members of ‘the Beatles’, a cell made up of English-speaking jihadists that pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ set up in parts of Syria and Iraq.

The duo was charged in the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Prosecutors said Kotey and Elsheikh supervised the facility where the captives were held and engaged in “a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence against hostages.”

In their initial appearance before Judge T.S. Ellis last October, Kotey pleaded not guilty. He changed that plea this week, Ellis said at a video hearing. The judge also said that Kotey had “agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with the United States and provide the government with all the information you know about any criminal activity,” including beyond what was in the indictment against him.

“Kotey has been afforded due process and, in the face of overwhelming evidence, he made the independent decision to plead guilty to his crimes. The justice, fairness, and humanity that this defendant received in the United States stand in stark contrast to the cruelty, inhumanity, and indiscriminate violence touted by the terrorist organization he espoused,” said acting US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh.

Contrary to the propaganda perpetuated by ISIS, we have given Alexanda Kotey the opportunity to face justice.

Of the remaining two ‘Beatles’, Aine Davis is in a Turkish prison after being convicted on charges of terrorism, while Mohamed Emwazi, also known as ‘Jihadi John’, was killed in a US airstrike in November 2015.

The terrorists beheaded Foley in August 2014, after US special forces attempted a rescue operation. He was the first American to be executed by the terrorist group. The video of Sotloff’s beheading was released three weeks later, on September 2. Kassig was beheaded in November that year, even though he converted to Islam in captivity. 

Mueller, who was captured in Aleppo in 2013, was reportedly given as a sex slave to IS ‘caliph’ Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The militants claimed she was killed in a February 2015 air raid on their ‘capital’, Raqqa, conducted by Jordan in retaliation for their execution of a captive Jordanian pilot. The US claimed that she was bludgeoned to death by Al-Baghdadi. The 2019 US raid that resulted in the death of al-Baghdadi was carried out by ‘Task Force 8-14’, named after Mueller’s birthday.

“Today is also a painful anniversary. Seven years ago, the world was devastated by images depicting the death of Steven Sotloff,” Parekh added. “Today, through the voices and lives of the victims, Justice spoke, and it is those words that will resonate through history.”

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Islam - Current Day > IS-K Fighters Killed; Germany's Islamists are German; Terrorist Radicalized Online; Danish Immigration Minister on Trial; Migrants; Swedish War Zone

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Forces kill 11 Islamic State-K fighters during anti-terror raid in Pakistan

By Clyde Hughes

Officials said Tuesday's raid was designed to keep IS-K from using the hideout as a planning center for future terrorist attacks. File Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA

Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Authorities in Pakistan said Tuesday that security forces killed nearly a dozen militants of the Islamic State-Khorasan terror group during a raid on their hideout.

Officials said the raid occurred in Baluchistan province and killed 11 IS-K fighters.

Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department said it acted on an intelligence report detailing the hideout's location.

Authorities said officers came under attack during the raid, as militants opened fire and tossed hand grenades during the fight.

Officials said Tuesday's raid was designed to keep IS-K from using the hideout as a planning center for future terrorist attacks. Police found a large stash of arms and explosives.

IS-K, an Afghanistan offshoot of the Islamic State terror group, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Kabul last week during the U.S. military evacuation. The attacks killed 13 Marines and nearly 200 Afghan civilians.

The group has often launched bomb attacks in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Baluchistan, which shared borders with Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan's largest province and has been the focal point of separatists demanding independence from the country.

Balochistan, PK

Most people on Germany’s Islamist watchlist hold German

or dual citizenship 

1 Sep, 2021 08:00 

FILE PHOTO: Police raid a mosque in Berlin, Germany, April 2020. © Odd Andersen / AFP

More than half of the hundreds of individuals on Germany’s Islamic extremist watchlist are the country’s own citizens, a report says, citing government data. 

The data came from the government’s response to an inquiry by the right-wing anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Out of 330 individuals listed as threats on the basis of “religious ideology” as of July 1, 186 were either exclusively German nationals or held a second citizenship in addition to the German one. 

Among 144 foreigners on the Islamist watchlist, 61 were citizens of Syria. The group also included 17 Iraqis, 13 Russians, 11 Turkish nationals, one Afghan, eight people whose nationality was unclear, and two stateless individuals. 

According to the media, police keep tabs on the so-called “dangerous individuals,” who are considered capable of committing politically motivated violence, such as terrorist acts.  

This year, authorities banned several Islamist organizations accused of funding terrorism with their donations this year. One such group was said to have glorified Islamic State and spread anti-Semitic propaganda. 

Gunman who killed four outside French Embassy in Tanzania

was 'terrorist radicalized online' – police

2 Sep, 2021 19:07

FILE PHOTO: Tanzanian security forces guard an entrance to the French embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

on August 25, 2021. ©  Reuters / Emmanuel Herman

A gunman who killed three police officers and a security guard in the diplomatic quarter of Tanzania's Dar es Salaam last week was a terrorist radicalized through the internet, police investigating the shootings have said.

The attacker, identified by officials as Hamza Mohamed, went on a rampage on August 25. He killed three police officers and a private security guard before being shot by police. Six other people were also injured in the incident, which unfolded just outside the entrance to the French Embassy.

"Our investigations have revealed that Hamza Mohamed was a person who had a secret life with all indicators of terrorism," the director of criminal investigations, Camillus Wambura, told journalists on Thursday.

Wambura said Mohamed was one of the "type of terrorists who are ready to die for their religion," but did not identify any religion associated with the attacker. The gunman also communicated with "other people who live in countries with terrorism-related acts but mainly he was learning through radical social media pages," he added.

He was also ready to kill for his religion. That narrows down the field considerably.

The director of criminal investigations also said that the assailant "spent much of his time" browsing the internet to "learn" about the terrorist attacks launched by Islamic State and Al-Shabaab, another terrorist group, active in East Africa and Yemen. A local group, which also bears the name Al-Shabaab, is active in Mozambique, which borders Tanzania.

Tanzania's Police Inspector-General Simon Sirro earlier suggested that the attack might be linked to the government's decision to send troops to neighboring Mozambique, where Islamist insurgents are fighting the army.

Denmark’s former hardline immigration minister on trial

in rarely used court over separating asylum-seeker couples

2 Sep, 2021 18:01

FILE PHOTO: Denmark's former immigration minister, Inger Stojberg.

©  Reuters /Scanpix / Mathias Loevgreen Bojesen

Denmark’s former immigration minister Inger Stojberg has gone on trial in the nation’s rarely used Impeachment Court. The “hardline” ex-minister is accused of illegally separating asylum-seeker couples where wives were underage.

Stojberg appeared before the court on Thursday as the special judicial body convened for the first time in 26 years. The court, which only tries former or current government members, is expected to decide the former minister’s fate and rule on whether she violated the European Convention on Human Rights. 

At issue in the historic trial is Stojberg’s decision to initiate separation of “cohabiting couples” of asylum seekers back in 2016. She also stands accused of “lying-to or misleading” the relevant parliamentary committees while informing them about her decision.

Stojberg, an immigration and integration minister between 2015 and 2019, said the move was motivated by a goal to stop forced child marriages – and the measure only applied to couples where one of the partners was underage.

A total of 32 couples were to be separated under the minister’s order and 23 of them were indeed split up before the policy was stopped several months later.

Addressing the Danish MPs back in February when the lawmakers voted to put her on trial, Stojberg argued it was “the only political and humane thing” to do in such cases. 

“Imagine arriving in a country like Denmark, a country of equality, as a young girl victim of a forced marriage, and you discover that, instead of giving you the possibility to break free of your forced marriage, the state forces you to stay together in an asylum reception center,” she said.

Most of the young women in the separated couples were aged between 15 and 17 and they consented to their marriages. The men were aged between 15 and 32. In some cases, the young women were pregnant, or had already had children. The legal age of marriage in Denmark is 18.

The MPs were apparently not convinced by Stojberg’s arguments in February, since 139 lawmakers out of 179 voted in support of the trial, while 30 opposed and 10 were absent.

Considered an immigration “hardliner,” Stojberg, who was a minister under the previous Liberal-led government, spearheaded many controversial initiatives aimed at tightening the nation’s asylum and immigration policy.

She pushed for a law that allowed the Danish authorities to confiscate valuables from new arrivals to finance their stay in Denmark. She also spearheaded the tightening of the Danish asylum law that limited the number of social services provided to asylum seekers – and was behind an ad campaign published in Lebanese newspapers that discouraged people from applying for asylum in Denmark. 

In 2018, Stojberg, who has insisted the country should make itself as unattractive as possible to asylum seekers, advocated sending them to live on a remote island to send a clear message that they were “unwanted.”

The measure was not implemented back in 2018 but the nation’s current Social Democratic government, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, returned to the idea in May 2021, though a different island has been proposed.

Since its creation in 1849, the Impeachment Court has ruled on just five cases and only two ministers were found guilty in its history. Stojberg’s case would also be the third one the court has heard since 1910. 

Last time the court convened was in 1995. At that time, the former justice minister Erik Ninn-Hansen was found guilty of three charges of abuse of power. Ninn-Hansen was convicted over illegally suspending family reunification for Sri-Lankan refugees in 1987 and 1988.

He was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence. Now, Stojberg could face a fine or up to two years in prison if found guilty. 

This would appear to be a political trial more than a human rights trial.

Tajikistan sounds alarm over impending Afghan refugee crisis,

warns of stream of desperate people after fall of Kabul to Taliban

2 Sep, 2021 17:29

Refugees fleeing the Afghan Civil War in 1993 stand at the border with Tajikistan.

© Roger JOB/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

By Rachel Lloyd

The government of Tajikistan has called on the international community for help managing a sharp spike in the number of people seeking asylum from neighboring Afghanistan, after US forces pulled out of the Central Asian nation.

Speaking on Thursday, Tajikistan’s minister of internal affairs, Ramazon Rahimov, explained that the country was running out of resources to help displaced people crossing the border. “Tajikistan does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of refugees and asylum seekers,” he said.

In July, the deputy head of the Tajikistan Emergency Situations Committee, Emomali Ibrokhimzoda, pledged that the nation was ready to take in 100,000 asylum seekers and would be working with international organizations to help prepare. Since then, the government has put aside approximately 70 hectares of land along the Afghan border for displaced people.

However, the country now says it does not have the ability to support the large number of people on its own, and Rahimov has called out to the international community. “Not a single international organization in 20 years has provided us with practical help in creating infrastructure to take in refugees and asylum seekers,” he said. The nation, which is the poorest in Central Asia, is now trying to appeal for assistance from the world to alleviate the problem.

Regional leaders have remained cautious of the situation, over fears of potential security threats from Afghanistan in the form of Islamist militants and terrorists disguised as refugees. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have already closed their borders to citizens of the Taliban-controlled country.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that the security of his country and surrounding ones comes first. When the West proposed placing those fleeing from the Taliban in Central Asian countries before they obtained visas, he slammed the idea, asking how safety could be guaranteed.

Tajikistan and Afghanistan share a 1,344 km border. According to the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, the situation is currently calm and controlled since the Taliban came to power.

Around 15,000 men, women, and children have been granted asylum by Tajikistan over the past two decades. There are currently 80 families on neutral territory seeking entry into the country.

Poland’s president declares state of emergency in regions

bordering Belarus over migration surge

2 Sep, 2021 14:07

FILE PHOTO. ©  Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Polish President Andrzej Duda has imposed a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus for the first time in the nation’s post-Communist history. The move was prompted by a sharp increase in migrant arrivals.

“The president decided to… introduce a state of emergency in the areas designated by the Council of Ministers,” Duda’s spokesman, Blazej Spychalski, told a press conference on Thursday. The state of emergency would stay in force for at least 30 days.

“The situation on the border with Belarus is difficult and dangerous,” Spychalski said. “Today, we as Poland, being responsible for our own borders, but also for the borders of the European Union, must take measures to ensure the security of Poland and the European Union.”

On Tuesday, the government formally asked Duda to impose the state of emergency in some areas of Poland’s eastern Podlaskie and Lubelskie regions that border Belarus. The order would apply to a total of 183 municipalities directly adjacent to the border and would form a three-kilometer-deep zone along the border with Belarus, the Polish media reported.

It is otherwise not exactly clear what measures the state of emergency would entail. Poland has never introduced such measures in its post-Communist history, and avoided imposing one even during the most difficult periods of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite some calls on the government to do so.

The measure is yet to be approved by the lower house of the Polish parliament – the Sejm. It is scheduled to convene on the matter on Friday or Monday, according to Polish media reports.

The MPs can potentially repeal the decision. Poland’s Law and Justice party, which supports the government and holds most seats in parliament, would need just 11 additional votes to block any such attempts, but most opposition parties have not yet taken a public stance on the issue. The Left Party was the only one so far to say it would oppose the move and seek to repeal it.

The move comes amid a surge in illegal migration that Poland and some Baltic states have been facing over recent months. Thousands of migrants believed to be traveling from the Middle East have crossed or attempted to cross into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland from neighboring Belarus over that period.

The Polish border guards said on Wednesday that August alone saw a total of 3,500 attempts by migrants to enter Poland from Belarus. The guards thwarted 2,500 of such attempts.

The EU previously accused Belarus of engaging in a “direct attack” on the bloc and trying to “instrumentalize human beings for political purposes” by pushing migrants toward the borders of member states. Vilnius also accused Minsk of flying in migrants from abroad and shuttling them to the border as a form of warfare.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refuted the accusations and said instead that his administration would no longer try to stop migrants from crossing into the EU after its members imposed sanctions against Belarus over the disputed 2020 presidential election.

The developments already prompted Warsaw to send troops to build a 2.5 meters tall razor-wire barrier designed to stretch for most of the 150-kilometer (93-mile) border with Belarus.

Poland and Latvia, meanwhile, faced a reprimand from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which demanded the two nations assist migrants who cross over their borders with Belarus. The court took such a decision in late August following appeals from 32 Afghan and 41 Iraqi nationals stuck at the frontiers.

‘War zone’: Sweden rocked by two overnight explosions,

and politician points to gang-crime

2 Sep, 2021 12:45

FILE PHOTO. © Michael Campanella/Getty Images

A Swedish MP has said his country is starting to look like a war zone after a city and town saw explosions during the night, with one death reported, amid a gang-crime epidemic in the once-peaceful nation.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, police in Sweden were called to a residential estate in the town of Varnamo where a man was found severely injured after a reported explosion. He was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries. The explosive charge was so powerful that it was heard in large parts of the town, police told reporters.

The Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet, citing police sources, said the deceased man had accidentally blown himself up. It is believed he was carrying a bomb and intended to threaten or scare “witnesses.”

The individual in question had connections to a motorbike gang, Johan Borg, operational coordinator for the Varnamo police, told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. Other emergency service personnel were also called to the scene of the explosion. 

Meanwhile, the city of Helsingborg was also shaken by an explosion in the early hours on Thursday morning, although the events are not thought to be linked. A property had its windows and doors blown out and considerable damage was caused to a house opposite.

Bomb experts were called to the scene, but it is understood that there aren’t any suspects so far. Residents told local media that there was a strong smell of gunpowder following the explosion. The explosions come amid escalating gang-violence and an epidemic of crime.

Swedish MP Johan Forssell said on Twitter that Sweden was resembling a “war zone,” adding that the country needs to get rid of criminal gangs and restore security. 

The overnight events come after Stockholm politician Irene Svenonius wrote to the government on Monday demanding crisis talks about Sweden’s dire gang-crime issues. She said that more than 70 shootings have taken place in the Stockholm region during the first seven months of the year, adding that 16 people have been killed and innocent children have been injured by stray bullets.

She claimed that the Swedish capital is no longer recognizable. Svenonius also made a number of demands of the government, including ensuring that migrants in Sweden are taught the language and have a chance to succeed.

Her reference to migrants can be taken as confirming that the gangs involved are migrant gangs. There is a statistical connection between the increased numbers of Muslim migrants and criminal gangs in Sweden.

Military Madness > Collateral Damage from US Drone - 'Righteous'; USA Outfits Taliban Army; Military Budget Increased!??!

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UNICEF says SEVEN children were killed in Kabul drone strike

that US said targeted ISIS-K terrorists

30 Aug, 2021 18:07

FILE PHOTO. Kabul, Afghanistan. © Reuters / Omar Sobhani

At least seven children were killed in a Kabul drone strike, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan told reporters. The Pentagon had said the strike eliminated an “imminent threat” by ISIS-K terrorists to the ongoing airlift.

“We have confirmation from open sources that seven children were killed” in the incident, Herve De Lys, UNICEF’s envoy to Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday. “We don’t know who is behind the strike,” he added.

The apparent ignorance from De Lys was puzzling, since the same open sources that reported the deaths clearly attributed the strike to the US – the New York Times, for example.

The US military also said it had carried out the drone strike, saying it was done in self-defense against an “imminent” threat by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). The group claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing at the gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), which claimed the lives of 14 US military members and around 170 Afghans. 

“We are not in a position to dispute it right now,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday, when asked about reports of civilian casualties in the strike. 

US Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said on Sunday that CENTCOM was “aware” of reported civilian casualties and was still “assessing” the outcome of the strike, which he said targeted a car bomb belonging to ISIS-K. Survivors of the drone strike, however, said it killed multiple members of an Afghan family, all civilians. 

“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban said. “We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” he added.

De Lys said UNICEF is continuing its mission in Afghanistan, even though many outside agencies have picked up and left following the Taliban takeover, as some 10 million children remain at risk and at least 200,000 have been displaced.

“It is clearly a child protection crisis in a country that is already one of the worst places on earth to be a child,” he told reporters.

Thanks to US abandoning weapons in Afghanistan,

Taliban fighters now better armed than Ukrainian Army

– Russia’s defense minister

30 Aug, 2021 15:21

FILE PHOTO. Taliban fighters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. © AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

Russia’s defense minister has claimed that the US left behind more than 100 Javelin portable anti-tank missile systems in Afghanistan. Sergey Shoigu now believes that the militant group is better equipped than the Ukrainian Army.

He told the YouTube channel Solovyov Live that the terrorists’ considerable cache of weapons, and vehicles, is a massive risk for Afghanistan.

“Javelins are supplied to Ukraine from the United States,” Shoigu said. “I don’t remember how many, a few dozen, or so.”

This means that the Taliban now has more of them than the Ukrainian Army.

The Javelin is a portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile that uses automatic infrared guidance. It has been used extensively in the war in Afghanistan, as well as in Iran, Syria, and Libya.

According to Shoigu, the large number of weapons now in the possession of the Taliban is a huge threat.

As well as Javelins, the militant group now has access to Black Hawk helicopters, Hercules planes, and thousands of Humvees, amongst other vehicles. They also have thousands of guns and a whole host of other firearms.

Last week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby admitted that the US administration has no idea of the inventory taken by the Taliban.

“Obviously, we don’t want to see any weapons or systems fall into the hands of people that would use them in such a way to harm our interests or those of our partners and allies,” he said.

Soooooo, why did they?

The US has provided at least $1.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since 2014, providing weapons, vehicles, and other technological support. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced an extra boost worth $125 million, including two patrol boats.

When they stand before Jesus in Judgement, I hope America's Generals have a better definition of 'Righteous' than the one they present here.

‘Righteous’ drone strike in Kabul killed ‘at least one’ ISIS-K terrorist,

Pentagon says amid reports of 7 dead CHILDREN

1 Sep, 2021 22:19 / Updated 14 hours ago

Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley speaks at the Pentagon, September 1, 2021.

©  REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The US drone strike in Kabul that allegedly killed seven children was “righteous,” followed proper procedures, and eliminated “at least one” person who was a “facilitator” for ISIS-K terrorists, the top US military officer said.

Sunday’s strike had targeted a vehicle in Kabul, which the US Central Command said represented an “imminent” threat to the evacuation efforts ongoing at Hamid Karzai International Airport at the time.

Local media and the Taliban, however, said that 10 civilians were killed as a result – seven of them children.

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley repeated the claim by CENTCOM that “secondary explosions” were evidence that the vehicle was intended to attack the airport.

Or, perhaps the vehicle had a gas tank!

“At this point, we think that the procedures were correctly followed, and it was a righteous strike,” he told reporters, adding that “at least one” person who was killed was a “facilitator” for the terrorist group Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). It was ISIS-K that claimed responsibility for last Thursday’s suicide bombing outside the airport, which killed an estimated 200 Afghans and 13 US troops. 

“Were the others killed? Yes. Who are they? We don’t know,” Milley said, adding there would be an investigation.

Initially, CENTCOM said that there were “no indications” of civilian casualties from the “self-defense” strike. After local reports identified the victims by name, however, CENTCOM spokesman Captain Bill Urban said they would be “deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life.” He maintained that the casualties were caused not by the US drone, but by the explosion of the vehicle itself, however.

Which exploded because of the US drone attack!

“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban said on Sunday.

Question: Were there 3 adults and 7 children in the car or were many of them standing near the explosion? If they were all in the car, how much room would there be for bombs?

Asked about the civilian casualties on Monday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that they’re “not in a position to dispute it right now.”

Shortly afterwards, the last US planes took off from Kabul, ending the two-week airlift that President Joe Biden would describe on Tuesday as “an extraordinary success.”

Astonishing! Expensive Afghan war ends and military budget goes up! I guess they have to replace the billions of dollars of military equipment that they left for the Taliban.

As Afghan war ends, House approves $24bn bump for Pentagon budget

2 Sep, 2021 08:56

FILE PHOTO. Afghan armed men in Panjshir province. ©Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP

Just after the US military’s wasteful Afghanistan mission came to a close, House legislators marked almost $24 billion in extra defense spending supposedly needed to maintain America’s competitive edge against Russia and China.

The House Armed Services Committee held a marathon session on Wednesday to markup the spending under the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Lawmakers from both parties joined forces to defy President Joe Biden’s intention to keep the Pentagon budget at $715 billion for next year, essentially keeping it at the same level as last year. Instead, an extra $23.9 billion was set to be poured into weapons procurement, research and other areas.

The financial boost was proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the ranking Republican member on the committee, who welcomed the passage of his proposal as a snub to Biden from his own party.

“The bipartisan adoption of my amendment sends a clear signal: the president’s budget submission was wholly inadequate to keep pace with a rising China and a re-emerging Russia,” he said.

“I hope this bipartisan, and now bicameral, move is understood by the Biden-Harris administration,” the Republican lawmaker added, referring to last month’s approval of a similar increase in defense spending by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The increase of topline spending to $740 billion was passed against the objections of Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith of Washington. The Democrat argued that the extra money would disincentivize the Pentagon from curbing wastefulness.

The DoD needs to “do a better job of acquisition and procurement, do a better job of anticipating what the threats are now versus what they were 30 years ago,” he said.

If we give them another $23.9 billion, it takes the pressure off. It makes it easier for them to just keep doing what they’ve been doing.

Fourteen Democrats broke party ranks to vote with the GOP on Rogers’ amendment, securing passage 42-17. The cross-aisle supporters represent districts relying on military spending or have served in the military themselves. Provided the House and Senate Appropriations panels sign off on the budget increase, the additional funding will go primarily into shipbuilding, research and military construction.

The House markup session took place just after the US Afghanistan mission was formally ended this week. The pullout left over $6 billion in unspent funds in Pentagon coffers, which were allocated previously for the now-disbanded Afghan Security Forces. Those included some $600 million left unspent since FY2020, $2.3 billion from the current year and $3.3 billion requested for FY2022 and approved in June.

Afghanistan was prominent on the floor, with some of the proposed amendments directed at things like prohibiting US funding of the Taliban and demanding quarterly briefings from the Biden administration on the national security situation. There was also some wrangling over Republican attempts to hold the Democratic president accountable for the humiliatingly hasty and chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan. Chairman Smith pushed back against such voices, arguing that “if we’re going to honestly look at Afghanistan, we need to look at all 20 years.”

The two parties may clash on assigning the blame for the Afghanistan exit and other visible foreign policy blunders. But the bipartisan consensus on grading the Pentagon’s spending wishes remains as strong as ever, despite the department’s notorious inability to pass an audit and explain what the taxpayers are getting out of it.

China Clamps Down on Epidemic of Online Gaming

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In 2019, China restricted online gaming to 1.5 hours per day. Now they have significantly reduced that. A lot of teenage boys will be very upset with this news.

China limits video gaming time to 3 hours per week

By Zarrin Ahmed

A man plays a video game on his mobile phone in Beijing on Saturday. Online games in China are extremely popular

among young people and children, with many people being gaming addicted. Photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA-EFE

Aug. 30 (UPI) -- China announced Monday that children will only be allowed to play video games for 1 hour on Fridays, weekends, and holidays.

Gaming platforms can only offer online gaming to minors between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on those days, according to the National Press and Publication Administration (NAAP). The new restrictions limit a previous rule that allowed children to play video games for 1.5 hours per day.

A majority of parents expressed their concern over minors' indulging in online gaming, which led to the previous restriction enacted in 2019, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

"Recently, many parents have reported that some teenagers' indulging in online games have seriously affected their normal study life and physical and mental health, and even caused a series of social problems," Xinhua stated in a Monday press release.

Along with the time slots, China will implement a real-name verification system where users will present their identification. Regulation of the new measures will also go into effect.

The NAAP urged families, schools, and social sectors to assume the responsibility of guardianship and provide environments conducive to "the healthy growth of minors."