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Israeli occupation forces kill young Palestinian woman - 24th this year

Yuma Patel
Mondoweiss
Fri, 07 Aug 2020 17:48 UTC
jenin idf
© ODAY DAIBES/APA IMAGES
ISRAELI FORCES ON PATROL NEAR THE WEST BANK CITY OF JENIN IN MAY 2020.
A young Palestinian woman was pronounced dead on Friday afternoon after she succumbed to wounds sustained by Israeli military gunfire early Friday morning before dawn.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that 23-year-old Dalia Samoudi died of a gunshot wound to her chest that punctured her aorta, liver, and pancreas, leaving her in critical condition.

After undergoing several surgeries, doctors were unable to save her, and she passed away.

Local media reported that Samoudi was injured during a violent Israeli search and arrest raid in the city of Jenin in the early hours of Friday morning.

According to reports from Wafa, the official news agency of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli forces raided the al-Jaberiyyat neighborhood of Jenin where they "interrogated and threatened to re-arrest a former prisoner after breaking into his house."

In response to the army's raid, local youth clashed with the soldiers and reportedly attempted to block the army's passage further into the city, causing the soldiers to open fire on protesters.

Palestinian media said Israeli forces fired tear gas, sound bomb, and live ammunition during the raid.
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X

Chinese firms that fail US accounting standards to be delisted from stock exchange as of 2022


Reuters
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 17:09 UTC
Masked people in Shanghai
© Reuters / Aly Song
People wearing protective face masks in Shanghai, China March 10, 2020
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said companies from China and other countries that do not comply with accounting standards will be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges as of the end of 2021.

Mnuchin and other officials recommended the move to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week to ensure that Chinese firms are held to the same standards as U.S. companies, prompting China to call for frank dialogue.

Mnuchin told a White House briefing the SEC was expected to adopt the recommendations. "As of the end of next year ... they all have to comply with the same exact accounting, or they will be delisted on the exchanges," he said.

The recommendation is part of a push by the Trump administration to correct what it calls major imbalances in ties between the world's two largest economies. Tensions between the two countries have flared in past months over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Hong Kong and human rights.
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Radar

Explosions hit US coalition supply convoys in Iraq

Aref Mohammed
Reuters
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 11:35 UTC
Iraqi
© Reuters / Thaier al-Sudani
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi security forces at a checkpoint into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq
At least two explosions have hit convoys supplying U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq in the last 24 hours, security sources said, the first on Monday evening near the southern border with Kuwait and the second on Tuesday north of Baghdad.

The explosions, which caused no casualties but did some material damage, are the latest in a string of such incidents in recent weeks. An attack in southern Iraq on Sunday hit a convoy carrying supplies to coalition forces, the military said.

Several thousand U.S. forces are still based in Iraq, leading a coalition whose mission is to fight Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants.

Those forces are also a target for Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, which the United States blames for regular rocket attacks on bases hosting the coalition, and on other U.S. targets such as Washington's embassy in Baghdad.

Comment: See also:

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Laptop

China targeting U.S. election infrastructure with cyberattacks, says O'Brien

Christopher Bing
Reuters
Sun, 09 Aug 2020 18:57 UTC
White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien
Chinese government-linked hackers have been targeting U.S. election infrastructure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said on Sunday, indicating a more active level of alleged Chinese interference.

O'Brien's comments appeared to go beyond a statement released on Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which said China "has been expanding its influence efforts," and that Russia was already trying to undercut Democratic candidate Joe Biden. But did not specifically accuse Beijing of hacking attempts against U.S. election-related systems.

"They'd like to see the President lose," O'Brien said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "China - like Russia, like Iran - they've engaged in cyberattacks and phishing and that sort of thing with respect to our election infrastructure, with respect to websites and that sort of thing."

Comment: Last election it was supposedly Russian hackers trying to get Trump elected. Now it's Chinese hackers trying to prevent Trump from getting re-elected.

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Sheriff

'We are coming for you,' Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot warns 'criminals and vigilantes' after a night of mass looting, unrest

Shelby Talcott
Daily Caller
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 11:28 UTC
lori lightfoot chicago mayor
© Screenshot Twitter Mayor Lori Lightfoot, @chicagosmayor
Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemned a night of mass looting during a press conference Monday morning, warning "criminals and vigilantes" that "we are coming for you."

Looters and rioters descended on the streets of Chicago early Monday morning after a man was reportedly hit during a shootout involving officers, according to Newsweek. Lightfoot addressed the chaos Monday morning, calling out criminals and noting that the behavior was not protected under the First Amendment.

"These individuals engaged in what can only be described as brazen and extensive criminal looting and destruction," Lightfoot said. "And to be clear, this had nothing to do with legitimate, protected First Amendment expression."

Comment: See also:

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Chess

Belarus on the brink? Unloved in Moscow, a pariah again in the West & facing protests at home, Lukashenko is running out of road


RT
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:03 UTC
Lukashenko
© AP Photo/Sergei Grits; REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
Alexander Lukashenko will likely ride out the gathering storm across Belarus. However, he cannot remain the president forever. Which means Russia needs to work out a realistic long term strategy toward its closest ally.

There is little that Russia's leaders like less than political instability. The 2016 Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation uses the word 'stability' no fewer than 24 times, and the term has appeared regularly in the speeches of Russia's President Vladimir Putin throughout the 21 years he has been either president or prime minister. Given a choice between revolution and the status quo, the preference of most Russians runs firmly in favor of the latter.

This may explain Putin's response to Sunday's presidential election in Belarus. According to official figures (which many disbelieve), incumbent President Lukashenko won nearly 80 percent of the vote. Following the announcement of this result, violent protests broke out in cities across Belarus, with opposition activists complaining that the results had been falsified.
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Snakes in Suits

Italian MPs received coronavirus relief payments meant for self-employed

Angela Giuffrida
The Guardian
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 14:01 UTC
Maio
© Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
The foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, said the five deputies should come forward and confess.
The Italian government is seeking to discover the identities of five deputies who are alleged to have received a relief payment intended to support the self-employed during the coronavirus lockdown.

A report in the newspaper La Repubblica on Sunday also revealed that 2,000 regional and local politicians applied to receive the bonus, which ranged between €600 (£540) and €1,000, from INPS, Italy's social security and pensions agency.

The revelation has provoked outrage in Italy, with leaders of all parties calling for the identities of the parliamentarians, who are protected by a privacy law, to be made public and for them to resign.

It is suspected that three of the parliamentarians are with the far-right League party, one is with the Five Star Movement (M5S), ruling nationally alongside the Democratic party, and one is a member of Italia Viva, the party set up last year by the former prime minister Matteo Renzi.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Why an Israeli newspaper wanted to 'flatten' a city of millions - Beirut

Asa Winstanley
Global Research
Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:00 UTC
Moshe Yaalon
© Reuters
Former Israeli DM Moshe Yaalon
Earlier this month Haaretz, Israel's influential liberal daily, published a blood-curdling article. It openly argued for war crimes on a massive scale against the civilian population of a neighbouring Arab state.

"Should Israel Flatten Beirut to Destroy Hezbollah's Missiles?" the article's headline mused. It was written by Amitai Etzioni, a professor of international relations at George Washington University. He was also a member of the Palmach, a unit in one pre-state Zionist terrorist group, a forerunner of the Israeli military. He participated in the Nakba (or Catastrophe), Israel's 1948 ethnic cleansing of some 750,000 Palestinians.

After criticism by the journalist Belén Fernández, Etzioni later got Haaretz to edit the online version of the story, so that it now has a slightly less aggressive headline (but not before copies of the original were made).

But the substance of the article is still the same: this esteemed professor advocates the use of a weapon that "flattens all buildings within a considerable range" on Beirut, a city of some 2 million people. "There are going to be civilian casualties," he threatens;

Comment: Yaalon was brash enough to spread his venom, but at the end of the day, Israel is prepared to do all he said...and more.

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Caesar

Alexandr Lukashenko, a president with scruples

John Goss
OffGuardian
Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:00 UTC
Alexandr Lukashenko
© picture-alliance/dpa/BelTA/N. Petrov
Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenko
One day at the beginning of April this year I had an awakening. It dawned on me that Russia had been leaned upon to change its policy regarding COVID-19. By that time the virus had spread through the UK like wildfire and was reaching its peak whereas in Russia there had been few infections and very few deaths.

It disturbed me that Russia Today (RT), a favoured TV channel, had changed course. It had always been a safe harbour in which to dock alternative viewpoints and seek solace from the lies and dogma of our own major news broadcasters. With the exception of events of 9/11 Russia Today seemed to offer a refreshing and often incisively critical insight into world affairs, throwing new light on the Skripal affair and the alleged chemical attacks in Syria, among other worthy reporting.

When the viral spread of SARS-COV-2 hit the west, forcing lockdowns and facial masks, RT was praising Russia's efforts in controlling the spread and keeping deaths to a minimum. By all measures it looked like Russia had bucked the trend and everything was under control. Suddenly all that changed. News readers, regular anchors and reporters were pushing a totally different message. In essence the coronavirus rhetoric had gone east. Accompanying footage suddenly contained repetitive images of people wearing masks and RT's UK viewers were being advised to follow the guidelines on lockdown for our own safety and the safety of others. I might just as well have been watching the BBC.

Comment: It did appear that Russia changed Covid horses in mid-stream and questions arose regarding its abrupt turn. With its a-typical response to Covid-19 indoctrination and protocols, Belarus increased our understanding of the 'pandemic' along with the nature and agenda of the forces behind it.

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Clipboard

China slaps sanctions on 11 US lawmakers, citizens, in retaliation against the Trump administration

Tim Pearce
The Daily Wire
Mon, 10 Aug 2020 00:00 UTC
Lijian
© Reuters
China's FM spokesman Zhao Lijian,
China is imposing new sanctions on 11 U.S. citizens, including a handful of lawmakers, in retaliation for the action the U.S. took against Hong Kong officials last week.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced the new sanctions on Monday during a daily press briefing, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new sanctions will hit five GOP lawmakers who are considered hawks on China and have been critical of Beijing's actions in Hong Kong: Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey.

Also included in the list of sanctioned Americans are Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth, National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman, and Freedom House President Michael Abramowitz.

"In response to the erroneous actions of the U.S., China has decided to impose sanctions today on those individuals who behaved badly on Hong Kong-related issues," Lijian said at the press briefing. He did not specify the actions that would be taken. No Trump administration officials are being targeted.

China has previously issued sanctions on Cruz and Rubio for calling attention to Beijing's oppression of Uyghers and other ethnic minorities in the country's Xinjiang region.

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on at least 11 Hong Kong officials that have been working closely with Beijing to reform and restructure Hong Kong's government and laws.

Comment: Sanctions are OK for the US to do, but not China.

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