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China passes Hong Kong security law, will go into force July 1


Al-Jazeera
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC
Hong Kong protest
© Jerome Favre/EPA
Police detain pro-democracy protesters during a rally at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, China, on June 30, 2020.
China's President Xi Jinping has signed into law a controversial national security legislation for Hong Kong that Beijing says is necessary to deal with separatism and foreign interference but critics say will outlaw dissent and destroy the autonomy promised when the territory was returned to China in 1997.

Details of the law - which comes in response to last year's often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city - are due out later on Tuesday.

The legislation will come into effect when it is gazetted in Hong Kong - bypassing the semi-autonomous territory's own legislature - and is expected to be in force by July 1, the anniversary of the former British territory's return to Chinese rule.

"We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble," said Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong's sole representative on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which approved the law on Tuesday morning. "Don't let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country," he said.

Comment: Doom and gloom? Or an overblown reaction to anything Beijing? Something had to give.
The new suite of powers radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between the city's independent judiciary and the mainland's party-controlled courts. It empowers China to set up a national security agency in the city, staffed by officials who are not bound by local laws when carrying out duties.

Details of the Law:

Crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.

Companies or groups that violate national security law will be fined and could have operations suspended.

Damaging certain transportation vehicles and equipment will be considered an act of 'terrorism'.

Anyone convicted of violating security legislation will not be allowed to stand in any Hong Kong elections.

The activities of a new national security agency and its personnel in Hong Kong will not be under the jurisdiction of local government.

Authorities can surveil and wiretap persons suspected of endangering national security.

The law will apply to permanent and non-permanent residents of Hong Kong.

The law says the management of foreign NGOs and news agencies in Hong Kong will be strengthened.


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Star of David

Palestinians to resume talks and negotiate 'minor' territorial concessions with Israel


Sputnik
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 22:54 UTC
rally
© Reuters/MohamadTorokman
Protest rally against Israeli annexation of West Bank territory, Jericho, June 27/2020
The readiness for negotiations on "minor" territorial concessions comes on condition that the plans announced by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the sovereignty over the West Bank territories are not implemented.

According to a letter sent by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the international peacemaking quartet of Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, cited by AFP, containing a counter-proposal to the US 'peace plan', Palestinians are ready to revive long-stalled peace negotiations with Israel. The letter also notes that the PA is "ready to have our state with a limited number of weapons and a powerful police force to uphold law and order".

The text also suggests "minor border changes that will have been mutually agreed, based on the borders of 4 June, 1967". The letter noted, however, that the counter-proposal would be pulled if Israel moves forward with plans to extend sovereignty over "any part of the Palestinian territory". The letter to the quartet said:
"No one has as much interest as the Palestinians in reaching a peace agreement and no one has as much to lose as the Palestinians in the absence of peace.

"If Israel declares the annexation of any part of the Palestinian territory, that will necessarily mean the annulation of all signed agreements."
Direct talks, if resumed, will break a six-year pause in negotiations between the Jewish state and the Palestinians over the territories, Jerusalem and an independent Palestinian state.

Comment: Do the Palestinians have any clout or leverage to adequately counter yet another steam-rolling Israeli land grab? Do they have any champions willing to come forward to countercheck Israel's insatiable greed?

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Star of David

Israel presents dubious 'nuclear archives' in campaign to rally US and IAEA against Iran...again

Gareth Porter
The Grayzone
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC
IAEA
© D. Calma/IAEA
IAEA Board of Governors meeting at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, June 19, 2020.
The approval by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of a June 19 resolution calling on Iran to comply fully with agency demands for cooperation marks a new stage in the long-running Israeli campaign to isolate Iran over alleged covert nuclear weapons activities.

The IAEA has demanded that Iran provide "clarifications" regarding "possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities," as well as access to two sites in question.

Those demands are based on alleged Iranian documents that Israeli intelligence supposedly stole from Iran in 2018. And as The Grayzone has previously reported, their authenticity is highly questionable, and their purported theft may have never occurred.
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Dollar

Why Flynn was targeted: "He knew about the billions Brennan and company were running off the books"

Joe Hoft
The Gateway Pundit
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 10:28 UTC
brennanclapper
© Rush Limbaugh
Former CIA director John Brennan • Former director National Intelligence James Clapper
General Michael Flynn had to be removed. He knew too much. He had to be shut down and silenced. He was the primary Deep State target.

Sidney Powell was on the Vicki McKenna radio show and she dropped another bomb. Per a report from Lifezette, General Michael Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell shared the following: "He was going to audit the intel agencies because he knew about the billions Brennan and company were running off the books," Powell said, referring to former CIA Director John Brennan.

Powell began her interview noting at the 1:00 mark that when she took over the Flynn case three things were very, very troubling and egregious:
One - he was not properly informed of what the government had even disclosed to his defense lawyers prior to the plea.

Secondly, the government didn't disclose a fraction of what it should have disclosed (i.e. the whole case was made up).

And three, he was prosecuted and threatened with the prosecution of his son. That's how they coerced the guilty plea. It was just unconscionable conduct to threaten to indict him and his son the very next day and give them the Manafort treatment if he didn't enter his plea right then, and I'm convinced it's because they knew right then the press was going to explode with the Strzok-Page text messages and everything.
Then Powell drops the bomb at the 5:50 mark where she discloses that Flynn was going to audit the Intel agencies because he knew about the billions former CIA Director John Brennan was running off the books. To hear Sidney Powell's interview on 1310 News Talk, go here.
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Snakes in Suits

DNI, CIA Director decry impact of intel leaks following Russia reports

Josh Feldman
Mediaite
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 18:45 UTC
White House

The White House
The past few days have been dominated by multiple reports that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops. President Donald Trump has denied that he was briefed and tweeted Sunday night the intel agencies "did not find this info credible."

On Monday night, the Director of National Intelligence and the head of the CIA both put out statements decrying intelligence leaks.

DNI John Ratcliffe, who said Saturday that the president was not briefed "on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting," put out a new statement saying:
"U.S. and coalition force protection is a critical priority for both the president and the intelligence community. The selective leaking of any classified information disrupts the vital interagency work to collect, assess, and mitigate threats and places our forces at risk. it is also, simply put, a crime."

Comment: The MSM mouthpieces, including the Associated Press are still trying to keep the "Russian bounty" story alive:
Unfortunately for AP, even the president's most ardent critics have declined to publicly corroborate their claim. John Bolton, who was serving as national security advisor at the time, declined to comment on whether he had briefed the president on the matter in March 2019. Undeterred, AP still reported that Bolton told colleagues that he had informed Trump about the bounties - citing unnamed sources.

The New York Times, referring to its own anonymous officials, claimed last week that Trump had known about the "bounties" for foreign troops since at least March of this year. The US president has denied that he was ever briefed on the matter accusing the "Fake News NYT" of peddling "another fabricated Russia Hoax."

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday that there was "no consensus within the intelligence community" that the allegation had merit, and therefore the information was never brought to Trump's attention.

The Pentagon disclosed that it was "evaluating" the claims but so far has found "no corroborating evidence to validate" the sensational media reports. For its part, Russia has dismissed the unverified story as nonsense, pointing out that the allegation coincides with Trump's move to withdraw US forces from the 19-year occupation of Afghanistan.
Yeesh. When even arch warmonger Bolton won't back the story, it should be clear it's pure fantasy.

New York Times takes anti-Russian hysteria to new level with report on Russian 'bounty' for US troops in Afghanistan

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NPC

Cringeworthy: Democrats attack July 4 Trump rally at Mt. Rushmore as 'glorifying white supremacy,' scrub tweet amid outcry


RT
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 18:56 UTC
mount rushmore
The Democratic Party has provoked a collective eye roll on Twitter after blasting the president for an upcoming rally at Mount Rushmore, saying it would honor "white supremacy" on sacred native land. The tweet was quickly nuked.

The Dems' latest hot take on Monday night stood for only moments before it was sent down the memory hole, though by then it had already been preserved for eternity on an internet archive site. The hot-button tweet said President Donald Trump had "disrespected Native communities," and would do so again by holding his July 4th rally at Mount Rushmore, which it deemed "sacred" to some Native American tribes.


The now-deleted post sent critics into a fury, interpreting the message to say that both the iconic American monument and Independence Day itself are celebrations of racism. Among those to wade into the fray were Trump's own campaign team, as well as the GOP's national spokesperson, Elizabeth Harrington, who put a challenge to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
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Eye 2

Another voice gone: YouTube perma-bans Stefan Molyneux, reports '5x spike' in removals after launching crackdown on 'supremacist content'


RT
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 18:20 UTC
youtube censored
YouTube intellectual Stefan Molyneux has seen his channel of 14 years and thousands of videos deleted, with the platform citing "hate speech" as a number of online venues take aim at conservative and right-wing personalities.

Molyneux - the host of Freedomain Radio, billed as "the world's number one philosophy show" - was booted off YouTube on Monday over its policies regulating "hate speech," according to a company statement. His termination came amid a broader social media purge throughout the day, which saw prominent Trump-related accounts banned on Reddit and Twitch, as well as other right-wingers scrubbed from YouTube for good.

"We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies," a YouTube spokesperson told The Verge about Monday's bans, adding that a policy change last year has driven a surge of similar deletions.

Comment: It appears that YouTube has upped the pace, and has moved from smaller outlets to those with huge followings. Social media platforms cannot be stripped of their 230 protections soon enough. Those who are banned due to arbitrary political opinions should have the right to sue these platforms on freedom of speech grounds

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Light Sabers

'No doubt' India was behind attack on Karachi Stock Exchange, claims Pakistan's PM Khan


RT
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 18:22 UTC
Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi
© REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi
India is the prime suspect behind a terrorist attack that targeted Pakistan's Karachi Stock Exchange, Prime Minister Imran Khan has alleged. New Delhi has strongly denied having any role in the incident.

Speaking before the National Assembly on Tuesday, Khan asserted that the gunmen who stormed the facility were linked to Pakistan's longtime rival.

"We have no doubt this was done by India," he stated as cited by local media, adding that the three security guards who lost their lives in the attack were "heroes" and "thwarted a major incident, which was planned by India to destabilize us."
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Mr. Potato

Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu: NATO ally France working to ramp up Russian presence in Libya


Daily Sabah
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 18:15 UTC
Çavuşoğlu
© AP Photo
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu speaks at a joint news conference with Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjart after their talks, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, June 30, 2020.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Tuesday that although NATO sees Moscow as a threat, NATO member France is trying to increase the Russian presence in Libya.


Comment: That would be better than a Turkish presence.


"France supports a pirate, a coupist," he added, pointing to Paris' support for putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who is also backed by Russia.


Comment: He's also the leader of the Libyan National Army, which is supported by Libya's population, unlike the so-called official Libyan government, which only controls a small fraction of the country, is illegitimate, composed of murderers and terrorists, and with which Turkey is in league.


"All of our bilateral relations are within the framework of transparent agreements," Çavuşoğlu said.

Turkey enjoys good relations with Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), which is recognized by the United Nations and most of the world as the only legitimate administration in the North African country.

Comment: See also:

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Wolf

Ex-president Poroshenko ducks questioning by Ukraine's State Bureau Of Investigations


RFE/RL
Tue, 30 Jun 2020 17:48 UTC
Petro Poroshenko

Petro Poroshenko
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has failed to show at the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) for questioning.

The DBR planned to question Poroshenko on June 30 in a case about his alleged illegal appointment of Serhiy Semochko to the post of the deputy chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Poroshenko's lawyer, Ihor Holovan, told journalists that his client did not show up at the DBR because the summons for questioning had been made via the DBR's website, which is illegal since Poroshenko should have been served the subpoena personally.

Comment: Rather rich of the U.S. embassy, considering it was/is one of the epicenters of Ukraine's corruption:

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