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Mr. Potato

US announces drone strike on ISIS in Afghanistan after deadly Kabul attack

Idrees Ali
Reuters
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 20:17 UTC
Islamic State (IS) fighters
© Welayat Raqa / AFP
The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State attack "planner" in eastern Afghanistan, the military said on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians.

President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.

U.S. Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.

Comment: See also: Who profits from the Kabul suicide bombing?

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Pirates

Pentagon reports that 'thousands' of ISIS combatants released by Taliban

Isaac Schorr
National Review
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 20:10 UTC
ISIS flag
© Agencies
Members of Syrian Democratic Forces hold a flag of the Islamic State militants
Raqqa, Syria • October 4, 2017
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that "thousands" of prisoners affiliated with ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorosan Province) — the terrorist group responsible for yesterday's attacks at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul — had been freed from Afghan prisons in recent months as the United States moved forward with a military withdrawal.

On Friday, Fox News's Jennifer Griffin asked Kirby "how many ISIS-K prisoners were left at Bagram and believed to have been released from the prison there and why weren't they removed before the U.S. pulled out to some place like Gitmo?"

Kirby responded by conceding that "clearly, it's in the thousands" while maintaining that he did not have an exact number. Bagram Airbase fell to the Taliban on August 15, just a little over a month after U.S. forces abandoned the base in the dead of night without notifying the Afghan commander on site and even cutting the electricity to the base to aid their exodus.
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Magnify

Kremlin says allegations of persecution of free press in Russia 'deserve attention'


RT
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 20:13 UTC
Dmitry Peskov
© unknown
Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov
An open letter published Friday by nearly a dozen Russian media outlets, decrying a number of recent decisions that they believe impedes press freedom in the country, potentially merits consideration, the Kremlin has acknowledged.

On Friday, ten separate news groups published versions of a statement addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of top officials, decrying what they said was "the persecution of independent journalism in the country."

While the specific claims varied from outlet to outlet, liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta's copy of the letter urged authorities to abandon the practice of designating outlets as 'foreign agents,' to prevent "fictitious" legal cases being brought against reporters, and to investigate allegations that journalists have been beaten by police at protests.
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Mr. Potato

German university slammed for discriminating in job ad for 'anti-discrimination' counselor


RT
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 20:24 UTC
Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
© Global Look Press / Jens Kalaene
The building of the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Berlin's renowned Humboldt University has gotten in hot water after its Students Council published an ad for the position of anti-discrimination counselor. The ad was branded discriminatory as it discouraged whites from applying.

In late July, Humboldt University's Students Council (AstA) announced it was looking for a person to full the position of an "anti-discrimination" counselor to help students facing discrimination over "race, ethnicity or migrant background" starting from September 15.

The job ad never hid the fact that the counseling would be held on a "partial" basis that would be focused on the "needs and positions of a person seeking advice." It also added that the goal was to create an atmosphere "in which those affected by racist discrimination feel comfortable to share their experiences."
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Syringe

Japan suspects metallic contaminant in Moderna vaccines, issues recall of 1.6 MILLION doses

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 11:44 UTC
moderna vaccine
© Moderna
The Japanese Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that around 1.6 million doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine have been taken out of use due to contamination in some vials that 'reacts to magnets,' according to a ministry official.

"It's a substance that reacts to magnets," the official told Nikkei, adding "It could be metal."

Moderna, meanwhile, has confirmed receiving "several complaints of particulate matter" in vials distributed in Japan, but that "not safety or efficacy issues" were found related to the reports.

"The company is investigating the reports and remains committed to working transparently and expeditiously with its partner, Takeda, and regulators to address any potential concerns," a spokesperson told Nikkei, adding that a "manufacturing issue" at a plant in Spain was to blame.

After the complaints, the vaccine lot in question as well as two adjacent lots have been taken out of circulation "out of an abundance of caution," according to the spokesperson.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Thursday afternoon that he had instructed the ministry to look into the case with safety as the top priority, adding he had received reports that the withdrawal "won't have a significant impact on the country's vaccination campaign." -Nikkei
The foreign matter that 'reacts to magnets' is sure to revive speculation over the viral 'Covid-19 vaccine magnet challenge,' in which dozens of people recorded magnets sticking to their vaccine injection sites.

Comment: Japan reports deaths due to a bad batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine:
Two people have died in Japan after having received doses of the Moderna vaccine from a batch that was suspended as a precaution after some of the vials were contaminated with unknown foreign material.

The victims were men in their 30s, each of whom received their second Moderna doses from one of three manufacturing lots that were suspended on Thursday, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. An investigation into the cause of deaths is underway.
Japan's rollout of more than 1.63 million doses was halted after the vaccine's domestic distributor, Takeda, alerted the government about the foreign material discovered in 39 unused vials. All contaminated doses were manufactured at a Madrid factory run by a Spanish firm Rovi, which said that the vials in question belonged to a batch exclusively shipped to Japan.
The composition of the foreign substance was not immediately clear. However, Japan's TV channel NHK reported that some doses were contaminated with metal particles, citing Health Ministry sources.

Vaccines from the possibly contaminated lots had been sent to 863 vaccination sites across Japan.

Taro Kono, the minister in charge of the country's immunization campaign, said on Friday that more than 500,000 inoculations have been already made using the doses from the lots in question. "It doesn't appear like there are any serious safety issues at this point," Kono said.

Nevertheless, Moderna announced an investigation into the matter, and the EU's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), launched its own probe to determine if the European supply was impacted.


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Vader

Judge blocks Florida governor DeSantis's order banning mask mandates

Terry Spencer and Curt Anderson
AP
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 07:29 UTC
Florida, student with mask
© AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, file photo, students sit in an Algebra class at Barbara Coleman Senior High School on the first day of school, in Miami Lakes, Fla. Florida school districts can legally require their students to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a judge ruled Friday, Aug, 27, saying Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order banning such mandates.
Florida school districts can legally require their students to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a judge ruled Friday, saying Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order banning such mandates.

Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper agreed with a group of parents who claimed in a lawsuit that DeSantis' order is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. The governor's order gave parents the sole right to decide if their child wears a mask at school.

Cooper said DeSantis' order "is without legal authority."

His decision came after a four-day virtual hearing, and after 10 Florida school boards voted to defy DeSantis and impose mask requirements with no parental opt-out. Districts that have done so include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and others. Cooper's ruling will not go into effect until it is put into writing, which the judge asked the parents' lawyers to complete by Monday.

Comment: People are lied to, manipulated, and bullied to comply with the global totalitarian trend to force people to wear masks, despite no real scientific evidence that will support the decision. On contrary, a lot of scientific research tells us that forcing children to wear masks can be very dangerous.

See also:

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Stock Down

83% of UK department stores closed since their collapse began in 2016

Emma Simpson
BBC
Sat, 28 Aug 2021 13:43 UTC
debenhams
© Getty
The UK has lost 83% of its main department stores in the five years since the collapse of the BHS chain.

The figure highlights the extent of the upheaval in the High Street as the Covid pandemic sped up changes in shopping habits.


Comment: The relatively harmless coronavirus didn't contribute to this, government restrictions enforced by threats of arrest and fines did.


The data, compiled by commercial property information firm CoStar Group, also reveals that more than two-thirds of these shops remain unoccupied.

Comment: It's true that online shopping and a variety of other factors have contributed to the decline in department stores, but evidence for the long suffering economy can be seen in everything from the rise of slum landlords to soaring unemployment, and, in some areas, even life expectancy has begun to decline:

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Brick Wall

Court orders Poland, Latvia to provide aid to migrants on Belarus border


Deutsche Welle
Sat, 28 Aug 2021 13:42 UTC
Poland border migrants

The European Court of Human Rights says both Latvia and Poland must provide care for the migrants
Dozens of Iraqi Kurds and Afghans have sought the help of the European Court of Human Rights over asylum claims. The EU has blamed Belarus for the recent build up of migrants on its border.


Comment: Rather curious that this is suddenly an issue just following Belarus' pivot to Russia: Bribe money? EU gives countries bordering Belarus 'handout' to deal with 'flood' of refugees fleeing through Eastern European nation


The European Court of Human Rights says both Latvia and Poland must provide care for the migrants

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday requested that Poland and Latvia provide aid for dozens of Afghan and Iraqi migrants stranded on the EU border with Belarus.


Comment: Migrants must be allowed in and catered to whilst actual EU citizens aren't allowed to go to hospitals, cafes or supermarkets without showing injection IDs.


A group of migrants has been stuck on the borders of the two EU countries for around 14 days, with security forces preventing them from entering and making asylum claims.

Comment: This manufactured issue is capable of serving numerous agendas: it smears Belarus, it enables the entry of even more migrants into Europe, along with establishing another route in, and it puts additional pressure on Poland that has defied the nefarious LGBT and migrant policies; there are likely other ways this serves the establishment, too.

In their attitude towards Russia, Poland and Latvia have certainly shown their allegiance to the West, however the countries and their citizens are now going to get a real chance to experience what it's like to be a part of the EU behemoth; and one suspects that the little money thrown to the leaders and bureaucrats won't placate the citizens who have to suffer a flood of migrants: Also check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Attention

Lockdowns, panic buying, low supply: Beef prices surge to unprecedented levels

Jon Condon
Beef Central
Wed, 25 Aug 2021 16:44 UTC
australian beef

AUSTRALIAN beef exporters are riding a surge in demand and price for lean manufacturing beef - most typically used to produce hamburgers.
As Beef Central's home page dashboard graph shows, quotes for 90CL cow meat destined for the US market have hit a 20-month high, reported on Friday at 825.6c/kg in Aussie currency terms. That's up another 34c/kg over the past month, and continues an almost unbroken price rise sequence since the start of the year.

It's part of the reason why some export processor grids are currently offering an unprecedented 655c/kg carcase weight for heavy cows in Queensland, and as much as 680c/kg in southern states.

Trade sources spoken to for this report suggest that similar equivalent prices are being seen for meat trade into other trim markets, especially Japan, Korea and China.

Comment: Whether it be avoidable and man-made crises or natural disasters and outbreaks, it seems the food supply as a whole, not just beef, is under threat, with even major suppliers warning of probable food shortages to occur starting this year. As we can see above and in the links below, for some, they've already started; they've just yet to bite:

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Info

China bans celebrity rankings in bid to 'rectify chaos in the fan community'

Helen Davidson
The Guardian
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:51 UTC
chinese celebrities
© VCG/Getty Images
China has cracked down on celebrity rankings in a bid to ‘clean up’ fan culture.
Authorities increase regulation of fame and fan culture that they say will tackle online bullying and protect children.

Chinese authorities have banned online lists ranking celebrities by popularity, as regulators continue a drive to "clean up" fame and fandom culture.

According to regulations published in state media, all existing lists that rank Chinese stars must also be removed from the internet.

Comment: See also: CIA turned our celebrities into 'sissy pants', says Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

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