Society's Child

Hospital bomb may be linked to Hong Kong protesters who warned 'more to come' unless borders closed amid virus outbreak

Tony Cheung and Christy Leung
South China Morning Post
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:37 UTC

Explosion Caritas Medical Centre Hong Kong

Hong Kong police are investigating whether a bomb explosion at a public hospital on Monday is linked to anti-government protest violence, according to sources, suspecting the home-made device may have been detonated to pressure the government into closing the city's borders with mainland China in response to the deadly new coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

The incident occurred after a warning two weeks ago by Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu, who said there were "high risks of home-made bombs", following similar cases police have uncovered in recent months.

In the latest case, nobody was injured when the device went off in a men's toilet cubicle at Caritas Medical Centre in Cheung Sha Wan at about 2.30am, a spokesman for the public hospital in Kowloon said.

Comment:

Yellow Vest demonstrators from across Europe gather at Belmarsh Prison to protest Assange detention

RT
Sun, 26 Jan 2020 00:17 UTC

A group of protesters, clad in the yellow vests popularized by French demonstrators, have gathered at Belmarsh Prison to protest the detention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Assange has been held at the prison since April.

Wrapped up against the murky British January weather, demonstrators assembled outside Belmarsh on Saturday, calling on UK authorities not to extradite Assange to the US, where he faces nearly two centuries in prison.

Comment: Sputnik adds that hundreds of protesters have traveled from France, Belgium and Germany. Interviews and live feeds from Assange supporters in Mexico and Australia also were shown at the rally.

A spokeswoman from the Committe to Defend Julian Assange said that the rallies were special because of the Yellow Vests travelling "in large numbers all the way from France".

"They've shown people in this country and in Europe what it is to have a struggle", she said.

The Yellow Vests had "continuously" supported Mr Assange because his case was "absolutely critical for the defence of democratic rights", the spokeswoman added. [..]

She added that unless other journalists and parliamentarians "who have been entirely silent on his case" supported Julian Assange, it would be difficult to secure his freedom.

Russia detains Japanese citizen in Vladivostok on suspicion of spying - Foreign ministry

RT
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 12:46 UTC

A Japanese citizen has been detained in Vladivostok while trying to obtain classified material about Russia's military capabilities, officials have confirmed. He has since left the country.

The suspected spy was arrested on Saturday while trying to obtain secrets about what military assets Moscow has in the Far East, the Russian foreign ministry said. The Japanese national, who was in Russia on a journalism-related visa, was instructed to leave the country within 72 hours. He obliged and departed on Sunday.

"The Japanese diplomats accredited in Russia have been issued with a note of protest, stating that such activities are not acceptable," the ministry cautioned.

Halevi: The left has 'weaponized' Holocaust against Israel

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Sat, 25 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC

On Thursday, Yossi Klein Halevi, the author and Israel advocate, said that the left has "weaponized" the Holocaust against Israel. Speaking on i24 News on the 75th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, he said that he "frequently" hears leftwingers saying of Israel, "How can you do the same thing to Palestinians" that was done to Jews during the Holocaust.

I have never heard this charge from the left in the context of European genocide. Many critics of Israel have said that Israelis have internalized the Nazi trauma by making Palestinians into Jews, and therefore subhuman. Many on the left say that Israeli actions mimic certain Nazi persecutions of Jews; I and others have compared the Gaza blockade to the Warsaw Ghetto. But Auschwitz and the extermination? I haven't heard any rational person argue that Israel is doing the same thing to Palestinians.

Halevi is sounding the new ban on any criticism of Israel the invokes the Holocaust. Such criticism is automatically deemed antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition that has now been widely adopted in the west.

Right on time: a BBC reporter is being smeared as an antisemite for criticizing Israel for overplaying the victim card.

Comment: See also: Netanyahu exploits Holocaust to brutalize Palestinians

Islamabad: One dead in traffic crash involving US Embassy vehicle

thenews.com.pk
Sun, 26 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC

A United States Embassy vehicle was involved in a traffic crash on Sunday here at the federal capital's Faisal Avenue Chowk that left one person dead, police said.

According to the police, one of the cars involved in the crash belongs to the United States Embassy in Islamabad. The embassy car's driver was arrested and a first information report (FIR) registered at the Margalla police station.

A spokesperson for Islamabad Police said the driver is a Pakistani citizen. Action would be taken against the suspect in accordance with the law, they added.

While the deceased was not identified as of reporting time, they added, the body was shifted to a nearby hospital.

Canceled! Retired professor sues for reinstatement on Quora after being banned for affirming 'Palestine'

Benay Blend
Mondoweiss
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 20:05 UTC

rima najjar quora banned israel palestine

On December 31, 2019, attorneys for Rima Najjar, a retired professor of English literature at Al-Quds University, filed a suit against the question-answer website Quora in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, arguing the site had unlawfully banned her from posting and moderating a forum. The row centers around the use of the word "Palestine" and "Zionist," the latter of which Quora said constituted "hate speech."

Najjar joined Quora in 2016 and leading up to her ban she was one of the most viewed contributors writing about Palestinians and Zionism. According to the complaint, filed by Daniel Siegel of Siegel, Yee, Brunner, and Mehta, and Rima Kapitan, of Kapitan Law Office, Quora repeatedly subjected Najjar to several temporary bans and "collapsed" or withdrew her answers from the main list of answers to a question, before implementing a permanent ban. The temporary bans followed complaints from other users.

Initially, Najjar attempted to resolve the matter directly with Quora, but to no avail.

Comment: Professor Najjar's experience is far from unique:

Terror havens: More than 80 radical protesters wanted by Hong Kong police have taken refuge beyond their reach in Taiwan

Clifford Lo
South China Morning Post
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:34 UTC

Comment: ...which is why Beijing wanted a mutual extradition treaty with Hong Kong in the freaking first place! But nooo, we all have to go through this song and dance about 'muh freedoms' and 'k-k-k-kommunism' just so the US Empire can get its parting digs in on the way down.

The unemployed Hong Kong 'democrats' who did this have found safe haven in Taiwan

More than 80 radical protesters suspected of hurling petrol bombs during anti-government demonstrations, storming the city's legislature and physically attacking ideological opponents, have fled Hong Kong to Taiwan, police sources have told the Post.

Police realised they had escaped when officers went to their homes to arrest them after establishing their identities.

"Most are in their 20s and 30s and unemployed. Only a few are students," one source said.

Comment: Take note, 'new right' supporters of this color revolution; you're supporting the SJWs and criminal minds you vehemently oppose at home...

As there was no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, there was nothing more police could do.

"They have been placed on the list of people wanted by police, and they will face arrest if they return to the city," he said.

Comment: Right-leaning Americans foam about Antifa being 'terrorists', yet support HK democrazis acting the same way. Surely, if one group is 'terrorist', the other is too?

Visitors, staff stopped attempted theft of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral

Sputnik
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 18:46 UTC

The ongoing trial revealed on Monday statements from prosecutors and attendees at the iconic cathedral, where an important document on democracy was vandalised by the defendant.

Mark Royden, 47, from Kent, attempted to steal a copy of the Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, but was thwarted by visitors and personnel, a local court heard on Monday.

The defendant triggered a fire alarm before attempting to to smash glass protecting the 800-year-old document at the Wiltshire-based cathedral in October 2018. But passersby, including a stonemason and American tourists, managed to tackle him before he could damage the artefact.

Priest gets 60 days in jail for bubble-wrapping boy

Ed White
ABC News
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 12:19 UTC

A Michigan priest accused of wrapping a teenager in bubble wrap was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail for attempted false imprisonment.

The Rev. Brian Stanley appeared in Allegan County court, two months after pleading guilty in a deal with the attorney general's office. He was initially charged with false imprisonment.

Stanley was accused of wrapping a boy in bubble wrap and tape in 2013 in a janitor's room at St. Margaret Church. The boy's eyes and mouth were also covered while he was left alone for an hour, according to the attorney general's office.

Stanley was supposed to be counseling the boy.

Taliban claims it shot down US Air Force electronic warfare plane in Afghanistan - 'High-ranking CIA officers onboard' - No survivors

Michael Safi & Akhtar Mohammad Makoii
The Guardian
Mon, 27 Jan 2020 17:56 UTC

The US Air Force 'low visibility' insignia on the charred fuselage of a CIA plane shot down by 'the Taliban' today

A Taliban spokesman claims the group has shot down a US military aircraft over eastern Afghanistan.

The US military said on Monday it was investigating reports of a crash in Taliban-controlled territory.

Footage purportedly taken from the snowy wreckage site showed the US air force insignia on the charred fuselage.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement posted online: "An American invader aircraft has been shot down. Lots of officers have been killed."

He claimed high-ranking CIA officers had been onboard the plane. Neither the footage nor his claims could be verified.

Comment: Defence Blog reports that the plane

"was probably E-11A aircraft assigned to 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron. Wreck of a plane crashed today in Afghanistan looks like to be a U.S. Air Force Bombardier Global 6000 / E-11A "BACN" (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node)."

BACN is award-winning DoD 'network centric warfare' technology, the creme de la creme of US electronic warfare technology...

Aerotime Hub reports that the plane is

"used by the United States Air Force as a communication relay plane. The tail number reads 358, which could correspond to 11-9358, delivered to the USAF in March 2013. The aircraft has been flying with the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, stationed at Kandahar Air Base, southern Afghanistan."

Question: how in heck did the Taliban shoot down that particular plane? They don't have the tech, much less the necessary intel...

(Probable) answer: they didn't. At least, they didn't without help from neighboring state actors with the means and the motive...

Update 19:30 CET

The Taliban is claiming a second scalp today: a helicopter shot down in Paktika province:

Translation:

"Tonight after the incident in Ghazni, an enemy military helicopter was shot down near Sharan, the capital of the Paktika province, it was completely destroyed. All people on board died."

Update 20:00 CET

Local media reports that some documents were recovered:

Meanwhile, all General David Goldfein, the Air Force's chief of staff, could say about the incident at a press briefing was:

"It appears we have lost an aircraft..."

No sh*t, Sherlock!

Update 20:15 CET

Ah, finally, a more complete statement from the Pentagon...

Translation: they're going to 'eat' this attack too. Which they would do, given that global perception of invincibility is more important to dollar supremacy than the fact of such.

That's 21st century covert wars for you!

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Robert F. Kennedy talks about what is in his book about Fauci: [Link]

parzival

Society's Child

Hospital bomb may be linked to Hong Kong protesters who warned 'more to come' unless borders closed amid virus outbreak

Yellow Vest demonstrators from across Europe gather at Belmarsh Prison to protest Assange detention

Russia detains Japanese citizen in Vladivostok on suspicion of spying - Foreign ministry

Halevi: The left has 'weaponized' Holocaust against Israel

Islamabad: One dead in traffic crash involving US Embassy vehicle

Canceled! Retired professor sues for reinstatement on Quora after being banned for affirming 'Palestine'

Terror havens: More than 80 radical protesters wanted by Hong Kong police have taken refuge beyond their reach in Taiwan

Visitors, staff stopped attempted theft of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral

Priest gets 60 days in jail for bubble-wrapping boy

Taliban claims it shot down US Air Force electronic warfare plane in Afghanistan - 'High-ranking CIA officers onboard' - No survivors

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