The Libyan coast guard prevented almost 400 migrants from crossing to Europe in the past two days. Meanwhile, 97 illegal migrants were arrested in Slovenia over the weekend. Also, an illegal migrant was arrested in Greece for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl.
In coronanews, as part of Phase 2 of Texas’ reopening, driver education programs, water parks, and mall food courts will be allowed to reopen under certain safety restrictions.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to acuara, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
US New Home Sales Unexpectedly Rebound in April
Following the collapse in existing home sales in April, new home sales were also expected to plummet 23.4% MoM but through the magic of seasonal adjustments, new home sales rose 0.6% MoM (following an upwardly revised 13.7% drop in March).
This is a 5-sigma beat…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A White Woman Apologizes for Calling Police to Report an ‘African American Man Threatening My Life’
CNN — A white woman has apologized for calling police on a black man bird-watching in Central Park on Monday morning after the two argued about her unleashed dog.
Amy Cooper told CNN she wanted to “publicly apologize to everyone.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amerika 2021: A Dystopian Short Story
by Servando Gonzales
This story is a work of fiction. All incidents, dialogs and characters are either fictitious or have been used in a fictitious form. They are the product of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Wherever real life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents and dialogs concerning these persons is entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of their work.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Gates Adds Pharma ‘Fact’ Checkers to Microsoft Products
NewsGuard, a self-appointed internet watchdog, is engaging in the censorship of truthful health information. This veritable thought police, which is backed by data and communications giant Publicis, is now expanding its partnership with Microsoft and will be included for all users of the Microsoft Edge browser.
[Comment: Camel’s nose — soon Edge browser will be useless for finding out truthful information. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boston Man Threw Burning American Flag on Top of Police Vehicle, Spit on Officers
Boston police arrested 40-year-old Daniel Lucey near Boston Common on Monday after he admitted to lighting an American flag on fire and throwing it on top of a police vehicle.
Police confronted the man after bystanders reported seeing him set the flag ablaze and throw it onto a prisoner transport wagon. Lucey told police he had done so as an act of protest. The wagon was unoccupied at the time.
The officers noticed that Lucey was holding several other flags, which appeared similar to ones placed near a memorial in honor of American service members who died in war.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Church Heading to Supreme Court Over in-Person Restrictions
A Southern California church is asking the Supreme Court to block Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order restricting in-person services amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The South Bay Pentecostal Church filed an emergency suit on Saturday after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a temporary restraining order against the governor, saying the restrictions on church services are a violation of its First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CDC Reverts Guidance, Says “It May be Possible” For Coronavirus to Spread on Surfaces
During the initial outbreak of coronavirus in March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned “it may be possible” to spread the virus on surfaces and objects.
Early last week, however, CDC updated its coronavirus guidance, saying the virus “does not spread easily” between surfaces.
But on Friday, CDC reverted to its original declaration, blaming edits on its website for the misunderstanding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Threatens to Close Defiant Church by “Whatever Means Are Necessary”
Chicago officials are threatening to close or demolish Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church for continuing to meet in defiance of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive order banning in-person services larger than 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady delivered a letterto the Pentecostal church, saying she has the power to stop members from worshiping by “whatever means are necessary.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Complexity of COVID-19, Your Smart Phone and the Importance of 5G
by Dr. John Ure, MD.
We humans and most animals are essentially electrical, and chemical. Having been a physician, for nearly 40 years, I have witnessed the electrical activity of the human body. If the brain is being studied we do an EEG which stands for electroencephalogram. If we are studying the heart we will be looking at an EKG which stands for electrocardiogram…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Disney to Present Reopening Plans to Orange County Wednesday
ORLANDO, Fla. — Officials from Walt Disney World will present plans for reopening Disney’s Central Florida theme parks to Orange County’s economic recovery task force on Wednesday.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said during a news conference Tuesday that Disney and SeaWorld are slated to make presentations about reopening during the 10 a.m. meeting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Closes Insider Trading Investigations Into Three Senators, Keeps Burr Probe Going
The Department of Justice is closing investigations into three US senators accused of trading stocks based on privileged coronavirus briefings right before the market tanked due to pandemic, however a fourth investigation into Sen. Richard Burr will continue, according to the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Defense attorneys for Republican Senators James Inhofe (OK) and Kelly Loeffler (GA), as well as Democrat Dianne Feinstein (CA) were notified by prosecutors on Tuesday that they are closing investigations into their trades.
All of the lawmakers denied wrongdoing — with Inhofe and Loeffler saying their financial advisers made the trades which they had no knowledge of until after the fact.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Everyone Involved in the Obamagate Scandal Ought to be Very Worried About What Nunes Just Announced
Criminal referrals are imminent in the ongoing Obamagate probe, according to Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, who says that more people are coming forward with information into the attempted coup of President Trump.
Nunes also says that the investigation has expanded to include the Mueller investigation team.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
When President Donald Trump fired Intelligence Community (IC) Inspector General (IG) Michael Atkinson in April, Atkinson claimed the president fired him for duly passing on the report of the Ukraine “whistleblower” to Congress — the report that led to Trump’s impeachment — and urged whistleblowers to speak out. According to Pedro Orta, a former CIA agent and whistleblower who allegedly faced multiple rounds of retaliation for attempting to expose abuse of power at a CIA base in 2015, Trump was right to fire Atkinson and the former IC IG’s posturing on whistleblowers conflicts with his record of suppressing claims of retaliation.
Orta called the source that led to Trump’s impeachment the “so-called Ukraine whistleblower” because he was not a whistleblower as defined by the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act (ICWPA) and because his report did not concern “intelligence activities,” so it did not fall under Atkinson’s authority.
“What IG Atkinson basically did was to weaponize the ICWPA law and the authorities of the IC IG to willfully target President Trump with baseless charges to seek his removal,” Orta told PJ Media. “That alone was more than enough to fire IG Atkinson.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Four Minnesota Cops Fired After Death of Unarmed Black Man
Four Minnesota police officers have been fired after the death of a black man who was taken into custody and seen on video being pinned down by his neck.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said the four officers were now “former employees”.
Footage shows the man, George Floyd, groaning and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” to the white officer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hours after Twitter slapped a CNN Fact-Check on a Tuesday tweet by President Trump claiming that mail-in-ballots will be “substantially fraudulent,” Trump lashed out — accusing Twitter of “now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election” by “saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Horowitz: The CDC Confirms Remarkably Low Coronavirus Death Rate. Where is the Media?
Most people are more likely to wind up six feet under because of almost anything else under the sun other than COVID-19.
The CDC just came out with a report that should be earth-shattering to the narrative of the political class, yet it will go into the thick pile of vital data and information about the virus that is not getting out to the public. For the first time, the CDC has attempted to offer a real estimate of the overall death rate for COVID-19, and under its most likely scenario, the number is 0.26%. Officials estimate a 0.4% fatality rate among those who are symptomatic and project a 35% rate of asymptomatic cases among those infected, which drops the overall infection fatality rate (IFR) to just 0.26% — almost exactly where Stanford researchers pegged it a month ago.
Until now, we have been ridiculed for thinking the death rate was that low, as opposed to the 3.4% estimate of the World Health Organization, which helped drive the panic and the lockdowns. Now the CDC is agreeing to the lower rate in plain ink.
Plus, ultimately we might find out that the IFR is even lower because numerous studies and hard counts of confined populations have shown a much higher percentage of asymptomatic cases. Simply adjusting for a 50% asymptomatic rate would drop their fatality rate to 0.2% — exactly the rate of fatality Dr. John Ionnidis of Stanford University projected.
More importantly, as I mentioned before, the overall death rate is meaningless because the numbers are so lopsided. Given that at least half of the deaths were in nursing homes, a back-of-the-envelope estimate would show that the infection fatality rate for non-nursing home residents would only be 0.1% or 1 in 1,000. And that includes people of all ages and all health statuses outside of nursing homes. Since nearly all of the deaths are those with comorbidities.
The CDC estimates the death rate from COVID-19 for those under 50 is 1 in 5,000 for those with symptoms, which would be 1 in 6,725 overall, but again, almost all those who die have specific comorbidities or underlying conditions. Those without them are more likely to die in a car accident. And schoolchildren, whose lives, mental health, and education we are destroying, are more likely to get struck by lightning…
| — Hat tip: acuara | [Return to headlines] |
Husband of MI Governor Allegedly Asked for Boat to be Launched Before Memorial Day Weekend
The owner of a dock company in northern Michigan said that the husband of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested his boat placed in the water before Memorial Day weekend, despite Whitmer warning residents not to rush to the region.
NorthShore Dock LLC and its owner, Tad Dowker, alleged that Whitmer’s husband Marc Mallory had asked for his boat to be lowered into the water by the holiday weekend.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kissinger’s “Red China Gambit” Is Killing America
by Cliff Kincaid
Gary Allen described the Red Chinese as “unquestionably the bloodiest mass murderers in human history,” adding, “Red China practiced a smiling and beguiling diplomacy toward the West, while serving as the world’s major pusher of drugs.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation allowing several services and activities to open under Phase 2 of the state’s plan to reopen after mass closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the proclamation, the following can reopen with limited occupancy and/or regulations:
- Water parks (beginning May 29) — occupancy must be limited to 25% and areas with video arcades must remain closed
- Recreational sports programs for adults (May 31) — Games and competitions cannot begin until June 15
- Driver education programs — operations can resume immediately
- Food court dining areas within shopping malls — operations can resume immediately, but malls are encouraged to designate one or more individuals to ensure health and safety practices like customers maintaining six-feet of distance, cleaning and disinfecting of tables, etc.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Massive Crowds Descend on Beaches for Memorial Day Weekend, Concerning Some Health Experts
Despite social-distancing warnings, crowds swarmed beaches and vacation hotspots over the long Memorial Day weekend, as months of stay-at-home orders gave way to the unofficial start of the summer season.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 100,000 Americans Have Succumbed to COVID-19: Live Updates
Update (1604ET): As Bloomberg confirms that US cases climbed just 1.1% over the past 24 hours with fewer than 20k cases reported for a second day, the slowest climb since March, as the outbreak across the US continues to slow (despite what the New York Times would have readers believe)…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An MSNBC reporter was in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Monday reporting on crowds of people not wearing face masks when a passerby informed the live TV audience that, while the reporter had a mask on, the cameraman did not.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York, Texas See Fewest Coronavirus Deaths Since March
Both New York and Texas saw the fewest coronavirus deaths this week since the outbreak began in March.
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters the state tallied just 73 fatalities linked to coronavirus over the past 24 hours.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NFL Plans ‘To Have Full Stadiums’ In September, August, League Official Says
The NFL is planning for the best-case scenario when the season returns this fall and, according to one league official, this includes packed stadiums.
Executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said Friday that the league is planning “to have full stadiums until the medical community tells us otherwise,” according to an NBC Sports report.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NHL’s Plan for Return … 24-Team Playoff!!!
The NHL is planning to come back in a BIG way … so says commish Gary Bettman, who just announced the league is looking to return this summer with an insane 24-team playoff!!!
The 67-year-old just revealed the plans … outlining hockey’s steps to resume play after it suspended action back in March over the coronavirus pandemic.
Bettman says the league is working on finalizing details … but right now, the plan is for the regular season to be ruled officially over — with only the top-12 teams in each conference returning to action for postseason play this summer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Around 42% of coronavirus deaths have been in nursing homes, according to analysis done by The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
The foundation focused on deaths both in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Minnesota had the highest percentage of deaths occurring in a nursing home or assisted living facility at 81%.
Just 1.6% of the population lives in nursing homes or residential care facilities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYSE Trading Floor Reopens for 1st Time in 2 Months
The iconic bell at the New York Stock Exchange was rung for the first time in two months, signaling the opening of trading on the floor of 11 Wall Street.
In an effort to “respect the sacrifices of frontline workers and the city at large,” the NYSE is operating under adjusted rules, including fewer traders on the floor, temperature checks upon entry, six-foot social distancing requirements, mandated mask-wearing, and all traders are asked to avoid public transportation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pence Says White House is “Not Going to Tolerate” Social Media Censorship of Conservatives
In an exclusive interview Friday, Vice President Mike Pence told Breitbart that the Trump administration is adamantly opposed to censorship of conservatives by social media and big tech companies.
“Well, the president has made it very clear that we are not going to tolerate censorship on the Internet and social media against conservatives,” Pence said. “We’re just not going to tolerate it.”
Pence did not elaborate on how the Trump administration plans to combat the suppression of conservative voices, but “people familiar with the matter” said the White House is considering the formation of a commission that would investigate claims of anti-conservative bias, the Wall Street Journal reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Fires Back After New York Times Accuses Military of Celebrating White Supremacy
A Pentagon spokesman fired back at the New York Times editorial board for its decision to publish a weekend editorial accusing the U.S. military of “celebrating” white supremacy.
On Sunday, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman took to Twitter to blast the Times not just for the content of its editorial, but its decision to publish it on Memorial Day weekend.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Petition Calls for Investigation Into Twitter Censorship After Hiring of Li Fei-Fei
By Keoni Everington, of the Taiwan News
A White House petition was created last week after news broke that the Twitter accounts of Chinese dissidents started to disappear after a controversial Chinese-American artificial intelligence (AI) expert was hired to serve on the company’s board.
On May 11, Twitter announced in a press release that it was hiring Li Fei-Fei, an AI expert and former vice president of Google, to its board of directors as a “new independent director” with immediate effect. Li quit Google in 2018 after a trail of leaked internal emails revealed that she appeared to be more concerned about the public relations damage to Google’s image if news broke about the company’s work on Project Maven than the ethical issues raised by over 3,000 Google employees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pittsburgh War Memorial Marked With Communist Graffiti on Memorial Day
Pittsburgh’s World War I statue, The Doughboy, was vandalized with red communist graffiti early Memorial Day morning.
Pittsburgh residents woke Monday to find the memorial defaced with red hammer and sickle symbols, representing communism, and the words “June 19, 1986. Glory to the Day of Heroism.” The graffiti seemingly refers to a battle waged between the Peruvian state and the People’s Guerilla Army in Peru on that date.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Psychiatrists Wrote 86% More Prescriptions for Psychotropic Drugs During Lockdown Months
Psychiatrists wrote 86% more prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants, during the lockdown months of March and April compared to January and February, it has been revealed.
“Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and sleep aids have risen during the pandemic, prompting doctors to warn about the possibility of long-term addiction abuse of the drugs,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ronan Farrow Tried to Kill New York Magazine Story on Woody Allen’s Wife, Daphne Merkin Claims
Every Ronan Farrow story features a predictable villain, who unleashes lawyers to harass and heckle reporters off a story. But in 2018 that villain was Farrow himself, according to journalist Daphne Merkin.
Farrow and his family directed a pressure campaign toward top brass at New York magazine in the days before they published Merkin’s lengthy profile of Soon-Yi Previn, the wife of Woody Allen and adoptive daughter of Allen’s ex Mia Farrow, Merkin — who has never spoken publicly about the conflict — told The Post.
“I wasn’t used to this level of fear … fear of Ronan, of being sued, of the power of Mia and Ronan, simply culturally, their power on Twitter,” Merkin said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Six Flags Reopening 1st Theme Park on June 5
Six Flags announced on Tuesday it would be reopening its first theme park on June 5 with limited capacity.
Trevor Leonard, general manager of Frontier City Six Flags in Oklahoma City, told NBC’s “Today” show that the reopening of the park is “pretty exciting,” although “things are going to look a little different.”
The park will implement several safety guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus:
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study: Lockdown “Will Destroy at Least Seven Times More Years of Human Life” Than it Saves
A study has found that the “stay at home” lockdown order in the United States will “destroy at least seven times more years of human life” than it saves and that this number is “likely” to be more than 90 times greater.
As we have repeatedly highlighted, the untold cost of the lockdown in terms of untreated serious illnesses and the impact on mental health will not be fully known for years, but discussion around the issue has been limited in the mainstream media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Snake Oil of Social Distancing, Face Masks and Contact Tracing
by Kelleigh Nelson
Behind the mask of America’s freedom lie millions of Marxist/Leninist politicians. We’ve been sold the “snake oil” by WHO’s globalist comrades Fauci, Birx and Redfield, appointed by Coronavirus Task Force Chair, VP Mike Pence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Insists it’s Open Season for Churches
Meanwhile, out in California, the president’s message seemed to have hit its mark. Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who’s been a thorn in every congregation’s side, finally backed off his hardline policy and paved the way for houses of worship to start welcoming people in small numbers. That’s a major victory for the state’s pastors — 1,200 of whom had already politely informed him they were moving ahead anyway. For now, the state’s health department is asking for just 25 percent of the buildings’ capacity — or 100 people, whichever is lower. If counties choose, they can impose stricter rules. But at least for now, Newsom is changing his tune.
| — Hat tip: acuara | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Shares “Dancing Pallbearers” Meme to Mock Biden’s “You Ain’t Black” Comment
President Trump shared the popular “dancing pallbearers” video meme on Tuesday, mocking Joe Biden’s recent gaffe in which he told African-American voters that if they had a hard time choosing between the two candidates then “you ain’t black.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Says it is “Deeply Sorry” About Trump Tweets on Joe Scarborough, Plans Policy Changes
Twitter said it is working on policy changes after the husband of a former aide to MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough called for the platform to delete disparaging tweets from President Trump.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Witness Says He Saw Bill Clinton on ‘Pedo Island’ With Epstein
A former worker on Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island claims that he saw Bill Clinton there in an explosive new Netflix documentary.
The claims run contrary to denials by Clinton that he ever visited the island, which was reportedly the site of multiple sexual assaults of underage women by the convicted pedophile Epstein and his elite guests.
The claims are made by Steve Scully, a 70-year-old phone and internet specialist worker who was present on the island of Little Saint James, as part of Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, which features testimony from witnesses and victims of Epstein’s sordid activities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube Caught Censoring Comments Deemed ‘Offensive’ To the Communist Party
Since the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in the US, Alphabet’s YouTube has been repeatedly criticized for deleting popular videos questioning the wisdom of “lockdowns”, Dr. Fauci or other “science-backed” conventional wisdom — or simply using the outbreak as an excuse to censor more conservative content, something that has been a priority for YouTube since long before this all started.
YouTube, like Facebook and Twitter, insists it doesn’t delete conservative content, though a handful of Congressional hearings have been held to investigate these allegations, and President Trump is reportedly looking into the creation of a panel to combat censorship of conservatives on these popular platforms.
But while YouTube’s political motivation to target conservatives is fairly obvious — a large cross-section of the contemporary American left is staunchly pro-censorship when it comes to ideas they don’t agree with or believe to be “offensive” — the company’s motives in this latest scandal hint at a more sinister political agenda for Alphabet and its peers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Intelligence to Review Huawei 5G Involvement Following U.S. Sanctions
The technical body that makes assessments on threats to British security will undertake a review of Huawei’s involvement in the building the UK’s 5G network, following the Trump administration imposing sanctions on the Chinese tech giant.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of the signals intelligence service the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), revealed on Sunday that it was conducting the review after the U.S. imposed sanctions which restricts Huawei from using American software and technology to design its semiconductors. The U.S. cited security concerns and the flouting of American regulations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Shops Plan to ‘Quarantine’ Shoes and Books Touched by Customers
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that all ‘non-essential’ shops can reopen in England on June 15th, with retailers planning on quarantining items touched by customers.
“I want people to be confident that they can shop safely, provided they follow the social distancing rules for all premises,” Prime Minister Johnson said, outlining that shops will be obliged also to enforce new hygiene standards.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU on Brink of Surrendering Massive Fishing Demands After UK Refused to Back Down: Report
Brussels sources have signalled that the European Union may be planning to back down on their fishing demands following the chief British negotiator saying the UK would not accept the bloc’s “low-quality” trade deal offer.
Under the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), European fishermen have access to more than 60 per cent of the landings coming from the UK’s territorial waters; to date, Brussels has demanded continued access in exchange for a free trade agreement (FTA).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Experts Sound Warning of Biological Terror in Wake of Coronavirus
Security experts from the Council of Europe have warned of the possibility of biological terror in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, saying the outbreak has revealed societal vulnerabilities.
Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism experts said that terrorist groups could be incentivised to look into creating and deploying biological weapons after seeing the dramatic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Determination to End Free Speech
On May 13, the French parliament adopted a law that requires online platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat[1] to remove reported “hateful content” within 24 hours and “terrorist content” within one hour. Failure to do so could result in exorbitant fines of up to €1.25 million or 4% of the platform’s global revenue in cases of repeated failure to remove the content.
The scope of online content deemed “hateful” under what is known as the “Avia law” (after the lawmaker who proposed it) is, as is common in European hate speech laws, very broadly demarcated and includes “incitement to hatred, or discriminatory insult, on the grounds of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Vigilante Lock Picker Opens Parks Across Paris at Night
A vigilante lock picker known only by the name “Jose” has been unlocking park sacross Paris, France, and reopening them to the public in the middle of the night.
Although parks have been reopened in France’s “green zones” — regions where the infection rate is low — parks in the “red zone,” such as Paris, are still closed due to restrictive lockdown measures.
The parks which Jose targets are mostly located in Paris’ lower-income neighborhoods.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary: Two Murdered in Budapest, Right Wing Honours the Victims
One man, 21, and a boy, 16, were murdered in Budapest early Friday morning. Some Hungarian Right-wing groups are honouring the victims.
The murders took place at approximately 3:30 AM Friday after a fight broke out between two groups of people near Deak Square, a popular meeting place in Budapest’s city centre, according to the police report. The two who had been stabbed died of their injuries. What provoked the fight remains unclear.
Police detained several suspects as they fled the scene. One of those who has been taken into custody has been charged with homicide and assault with a deadly weapon, and two others have been charged with being accessories to murder.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Government Hands Back Special Coronavirus Mandate to Parliament Today
The Hungarian government will today submit to a motion to parliament to hand back the extraordinary powers given for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga to make a Facebook post once again refuting liberal allegations that the cabinet of Viktor Orban wanted to keep the powers permanently.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prince Charles Issues Warning on the Arts
The Prince of Wales has raised concerns about how orchestras and theatres will survive the coronavirus crisis.
Many theatres and concert halls are struggling after closing their doors during lockdown, with no clear indication of when shows might resume,
Prince Charles said it was important to “find a way of keeping these orchestras and other arts bodies going”.
The prince, who is patron of dozens of arts institutions, noted they were of “enormous importance” to the economy.
“It’s absolutely crucial that they can come back twice as enthusiastic as before,” he said in an interview with Classic FM.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Elite German University Accused of ‘Serving’ Chinese Communist Regime
The Freie Universität Berlin (FU), one of Germany’s most elite universities, has been accused of engaging in a special relationship with a Chinese state university and closely cooperating with Beijing, a German newspaper reports.
The Berlin university, founded in West Berlin in the early days of the Cold War, has maintained a close relationship with Beijing-based Peking University (PKU) and has engaged with the Chinese institution on a number of projects, including the founding of a branch of the Confucius Institute in 2006, the first in Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study: Heat-Sensitive Coronavirus Will Drop Decisively in Summer
ROME — The Wuhan coronavirus will suffer a significant decline in activity as temperatures rise this summer, according to an Italian report published Tuesday on the relationship between the virus and temperature.
“Like all coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 is influenced in a decisive manner by the climate,” said Mario Bacco, a researcher at Meleam, which specializes in occupational medicine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: New Counter-Psyops Agency to Monitor Dissenting Opinions
The Swedish government is creating a new agency intended to monitor and counter psychological operations (psyops) directed against the country — not only from other countries, but from within Sweden as well.
The new Psychological Defence Authority will be tasked with safeguarding “the free forming of opinion” in Sweden against psyops, and will be offering people a “different image” of the country than the one that the “opponent” wants to convey, according to a report by Samhällsnytt.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Brexit Proxy Wars: Remain-Supporting Junior Minister Resigns From Boris Government
The latest proxy-battle over Brexit has seen a junior minister resign from Boris Johnson’s government, as Remainers move against the prime minister’s enforcer-in-chief Dominic Cummings.
Douglas Ross, Boris Johnson’s junior minister for Scotland, resigned on Tuesday morning, citing his opposition to Boris Johnson’s Brexit-focussed enforcer Dominic Cummings in his public letter to the prime minister.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Farage: Remainers Want Cummings Out as Excuse to Delay Brexit
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said that Remainers want the prime minister’s adviser, Dominic Cummings, fired, in order to have an excuse to extend the transition period.
“It is clear that there are many — not all, but many, in the Remain camp particularly — who would like to see the back of him, who think Cummings going now may well aid them in getting us to extend beyond the end of this year,” Mr Farage said during his LBC show on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A leftist podcaster who writes for the Guardian has tweeted his desire to physically attack a Conservative MP in front of his children.
Andy Dawson, who writes for major left-wing newspapers the Guardian and the Mirror and also co-hosts a podcast called Athletico Mince, was responding to a tweet by Sarah Vine, wife of Michael Gove MP.
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India Expands Use of HCQ to Prevent Coronavirus Based on Three Studies
India will continue using hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a preventative measure against COVID-19, after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) declared on Tuesday that the drug was found to be very effective with minimal side effects for prophylaxis.
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13 Years of Bat Coronavirus Research — What Could Go Wrong?
Evidence shows scientists in Wuhan have been doing ‘Gain-of-Function’ research since 2007 to recombine bat and other coronaviruses by genetically modifying a key part to make them more deadly and infectious to humans. Did faulty biosecurity allow SARS-CoV-2 to escape from the lab?
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Shi Zhengli, the deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology also known as China’s ‘bat woman’, has said called for more international corporation when fighting deadly viruses.
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China Threatens UK After Reconsidering Huawei 5G Deal, Says UK Will “Pay a Price”
At a juncture where several reputable cybersecurity organizations have clearly pointed out the imminent threat and ethical implications of joining hands with Chinese telecom giant Huawei, countries such as the UK are planning on cutting back on their partnership with the company. The latest reports released by the UK government have made it clear that the country will reduce the role of Huawei to zero percent by 2023.
After finding out that the UK is planning on sidelining the Chinese giant, the news outlet China Daily, widely regarded as the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, has published an editorial that says “UK will pay price if it carries out a decision to exclude Huawei” and that the country will meet “retaliatory responses from Beijing”.
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Coronavirus ‘Cover-Up’ Is China’s Chernobyl: White House National Security Adviser
The White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien has compared China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak to the Soviet Union’s cover-up of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
“They unleashed a virus on the world that’s destroyed trillions of dollars in American economic wealth that we’re having to spend to keep our economy alive, to keep Americans afloat during this virus,” O’Brien said in an NBC interview.
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French Intelligence Warned of ‘Catastrophic Leak’ From Wuhan Lab
Eleven years before the joint construction of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, French intelligence services warned Paris that China’s reputation for poor bio-security could lead to a ‘catastrophic leak,’ according to the Daily Mail.
In 2004, the EU’s chief brexit negotiator, Michael Barnier, ignored those warnings — signing off on the lab’s construction when he was the French foreign minister.
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Security Tight as Hong Kong Set to Debate China National Anthem Bill
HONG KONG (Reuters) — Hundreds of riot police took up posts in and around Hong Kong’s financial district on Wednesday ahead of a debate at the city’s Legislative Council over a bill that would criminalise disrespect of China’s national anthem.
Protests have returned to the streets of the Chinese-ruled city after Beijing last week proposed national security laws that drew global condemnation amid fears they will curb the freedoms enjoyed in the global financial centre.
Protesters used bins and other debris to block some roads and police warned commuters to expect delays.
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Senator Raises the Alarm on TikTok Spying “To Serve Their Bosses in Beijing”
The alarm has been raised on TikTok once again, this time by the Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who accused the Chinese social network of excessively tracking its users’ activity.
The current relationship between China and the United States is not the best. Thanks to corona, tensions between the two nations have increased. This time, Hawley has reopened the debate that TikTok is being used by the Chinese government to spy on people, especially American citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Support for China Falls Dramatically in European, Indian Polls
A soon to be released international survey finds that when the COVID-19 virus finally burns itself out its biggest victim may be the very country that launched the pandemic —China.
Bluster, bullying, and propaganda launched by China’s leadership to subdue international criticism of their handling of COVID-19 is only stoking the anger among nations as diverse as the U.K., Germany and India, according to data revealed during a comprehensive poll conducted by the firm McLaughlin & Associates.
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As the chief executive of the Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative company, Jean Dong, 33, had a big part to play in securing the deal.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A new species of cockatoo has been discovered in Western Australia.
A large genetic study discovered the new subspecies of a red-tailed black cockatoo after mistaking it for an inland species.
Researchers from the Australian Museum, University of Sydney, CSIRO and the University of Edinburgh made the find in the Wheatbelt, east of Perth.
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Anti-vaxxer couple Anthony and Kate Golle, from northern New South Wales, have quickly built a following of more than 38,000 after setting up an online campaign page only a month ago.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The Bachelor’s Abbie Chatfield is on a mission to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding sexuality.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Transgender woman Ashley Winter, 29, and Kerry Te Amo, 26, were in September found guilty by a jury of murdering Dimetrius Pairama in south Auckland in July, 2018.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Hilliar (left), 54, and his bride-to-be Alida Fouche (right), 42, died painfully after making a powerful brew from pineapples after drinking just one bottle of it each.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Venezuela Sends Large Fighter Jet Escort for Tankers as Iran’s Flag Flies Over Caracas
To pretty much everyone’s surprise it appears the five Iranian gasoline tankers will be able to offload their fuel to Venezuela without incident, despite US threats to thwart what Washington sees as illicit sanctions-busting. It remains that the return trip could be a different story, however.
Dramatic video emerged early this week showing the first couple of tankers’ arrivals within Venezuelan coastal waters, accompanied by what appeared a large Venezuelan military escort, as Maduro officials promised.
First tanker to successfully arrive, the Fortune, docked by Monday, while all are now reported in Caribbean waters, with the second vessel soon to reportedly to dock as well, already safely within Venezuela’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Algerian Asylum Seeker Arrested for Homicide
Austrian police over the weekend arrested an Algerian asylum seeker who is suspected of having committed a murder in his home country.
On Saturday morning, two Algerian citizens, aged 23 and 26, were stopped by police for a routine inspection as they walked on the Pyhrn motorway in Leibnitz. Suspicions were raised when the two men failed to present any form of identification but mentioned that they had applied for asylum through the local government, regional news outlet Mein Viertel reports.
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Denmark: Minister Who Rescued Migrant Child Brides May Face Criminal Charges For It
Inger Støjberg, Denmark’s former Minister for Immigration, Integration, and Housing, is now possibly facing criminal charges for having rescued migrant child brides from their older husbands when they came to the country.
Støjberg served as Immigration Minister from 2015 until 2019, during the peak of the so-called “migrant crisis.” During that time she was noted for her tough stance on illegal migration and her demand that migrants respect Danish cultural values, which earned her the hatred of the Danish Left.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Illegal Migrant Arrested for Sexually Assaulting 6-Year-Old Girl
An illegal Afghan migrant has been arrested in Thessaloniki for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl.
According to the girl’s mother, the Afghan, 19, was staying in the apartment where the girl lives with her family, in Ampelokipi. The assault took place there, according to a report by Greek news portal The Toc. The mother then filed a complaint with the juvenile protection sub-directorate in Thessaloniki.
In their subsequent investigation, the police also determined that the migrant was staying in Greece illegally. He is being charged with this as well.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Audit Shows Astonishing Growth Among Pro-Migration NGOs
The first round of audits carried out by Greece’s National Transparency Authority on pro-migration NGOs operating in the country revealed astonishing growth among some of them.
The main goals of the project are to bring order to the anarchic landscape which NGOs operate in and to examine whether the services provided by the NGOs is proportional to the money that they’re receiving, Proto Thema reports.
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Italy Senate Panel Votes Down Salvini Probe Over Stranded Migrants
ROME (REUTERS) — AN Italian Senate committee on Tuesday rejected a request by magistrates to investigate Matteo Salvini, head of the rightwing League party, for refusing a migrant rescue boat permission to land last year when he was interior minister.
Salvini refused to allow a ship carrying over 100 migrants rescued at sea to land in Italy in August last year, while serving in the previous coalition government.
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Libya Stops Nearly 400 Migrants Attempting to Cross to Europe: IOM
TUNIS (Reuters) — Libya’s coastguard has stopped nearly 400 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in five boats in the past two days, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday.
That brings to more than 1,000 the number of people who have attempted the crossing this month despite the closure of Libya’s international borders because of the coronavirus.
[Comment: Article dated May 25, 2020.]
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Poland: Police Apprehend Illegal Migrants Hiding in Fruit Truck
Two illegal migrants from Afghanistan who stowed themselves away in the back of a fruit truck from Greece were apprehended by police near the Polish-Slovak border in Barwinek.
The pair of Afghan migrants paid 4,000 euros each for the journey, Polish broadcaster TVP Info reports. The Polish truck driver alerted police to the situation after hearing strange noises coming from the back of his trailer which was packed full of Greek watermelons.
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Priti Patel has launched a major push for controversial new powers designed to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The Home Secretary has told Border Force chiefs to examine whether they have the legal authority to turn migrant boats around in the Channel — and send them back to France.
If this proves impossible under current law, she is said to be drawing up plans for specific new legislation allowing UK patrol boats to turn back the vessels.
A major tightening of asylum law is also on the drawing board, which will force claimants to lodge all their arguments at the beginning of a case.
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Romania: Sri Lankan Workers Left Stranded at Airport
A large group of Sri Lankan workers who had lost their jobs as a result of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown were left stranded at the airport in Bucharest on Sunday while trying to go home.
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Slovenia: Authorities Arrested 97 Illegal Migrants Over the Weekend
Slovenian authorities over the weekend apprehended 97 illegal migrants, mostly in the area surrounding Koper, a stretch of land which separates Croatia and Italy.
From Friday to Monday, officers in the Koper Police Administration arrested a total of 46 migrants, 17 of which were returned to Italy. The nationalities of the apprehended migrants was not reported.
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UK: Channel Migrants: Boats and Kayak Carrying 80 People Intercepted
Six boats and a kayak carrying 80 migrants have been intercepted off the Kent coast.
The Home Office said 65 men and 15 women had crossed the English Channel on Tuesday in small boats.
A spokesman said the migrants travelled from France and were taken to Dover, where they were medically assessed.
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News Media is “Decidedly Liberal, “ Says Former President of CBS News
A former president of CBS News said he believes today’s media is “decidedly liberal,”not objective .
Van Gordon Sauter, who led CBS News from 1982 to 1983 and in 1986, wrote a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece that described the entrenched liberal beliefs of most of the news media. Specifically, he mentioned “the highly influential daily newspapers in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Boston,” “the three broadcast network divisions,” and “two of the three leading cable news sources” as constant in their fearful, hateful opposition to President Trump.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Some Facebook Users Find Commenting the Single Word “Coronavirus” Results in Auto-Censorship
Some Facebook users are reporting that the social networking platform is deleting comments containing the word “coronavirus.” What is not clear as of this writing though is whether this censorship about the virus is true across the Facebook platform for all users or only for a select group of users in the comment section.
The new censorship scheme surprised many Facebook users who noticed something wrong about their comments on Facebook posts and got in touch to let us know about it. Though, on investigation, the problem seems more widespread.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WHO Suspends Hydroxychloroquine Tests After Report Links it to Higher Death Rate
After a paper published last week in the journal Lancet showed coronavirus patients who took hydroxychloroquine faced a higher risk of death, the World Health Organization has announced a “temporary pause” on its global clinical trial of the anti-malarial drug.
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https://twitter.com/OmarjSakr/status/1265422813759852545
After Australia
https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/after-australia/
Prince Chuck need not worry much longer about orchestras and the arts in general. Once Islam finishes conquering the UK, all such activities will be banned for being “unIslamic.”
https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1265754061737021441
The NHS everyone! Better get outside and clap for them like a seal and raise an NHS flag over your church less you be ostracized. Oh how I wish England wasn’t so Socialist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPfLphtiIBc
This explains a lot about England.