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The harsh reality of Mexico's migrant caravan

Central American Migrant
© Victoria Razo/AFP/Getty ImagesA Central American man taking part in the ‘Migrant Via Crucis’ caravan, which travels the length of Mexico to the US and often raises awareness of the plight of migrants.
As Donald Trump decries an 'invasion' and sends troops to the border, David Agren speaks to Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence

Swaying on a swing in a park teeming with Central American migrants in southern Mexico, Henry Juárez hardly looks like an invader ready to rush the US border - and certainly not an enemy the national guard forces being sent to the southern frontier by Donald Trump would have trouble stopping.

A slight 16-year-old with copper streaks in his hair wearing a singlet, sandals and baggy pants, he hit the perilous road through Mexico last month after seven gang-bangers burst into his home in El Salvador, put a pistol in his face and threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't make an extortion payment of $100 (£71).

"I was going to stay in my own country. I had a good job," said Juárez, who had worked for a company installing utility poles. "But they were asking me for money that I didn't have."

Attention

Several dead in Germany as van ploughs into crowd in Muenster - UPDATE

Muenster truck attack
Images on social media showed furniture strewn at the scene around the city's Kiepenkerl statue
Several people have been killed in the city of Muenster, in western Germany, after a van drove into pedestrians.

The driver of the vehicle has killed himself, police said, without providing further details. They are not looking for more suspects.

About 30 people are reported injured in the incident, which occurred near the Kiepenkerl statue in the old town. Some are said to be in a serious condition.

Police have closed the area and asked people to avoid the city centre.

Comment:

UPDATE: RT's latest on the story:
The suspect who allegedly plowed a minivan into an outdoor dining area of a café in the German city of Muenster reportedly had mental-health issues. He had no criminal record or any terrorist connections, German media report.

The man behind the incident, which left at least three people dead and several dozens injured, and who committed suicide after the attack, was a German citizen, the police confirmed without going into further detail.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung, the first news group to report about the alleged identity of the suspect, said that he was a local resident in his late forties. The man was known to have some mental problems back in 2014 and 2016, the daily added. The paper also identified him as Jens R.

The Der Spiegel weekly, citing its own sources, reported that the man was a resident of Muenster and that he worked as a graphic designer. According to the FAZ daily, the man was born in the town of Olsberg, located south-east of Muenster.

The suspect has no criminal record and has not been known to police before, the media report. He also had no known links to any extremist or radical groups. The man's motives remain unclear. The German Focus magazine reports that the suspect attempted to commit suicide not long before the incident. He shot himself immediately after Saturday's incident.

The region's interior minister, Herbert Reul, said that "nothing points to an Islamist motive" behind the incident.

It is unclear if the suspect had any accomplices. Following the incident, the police said it was verifying the information about some other suspects that got out of the car and fled the scene after the vehicle plowed into the café. Some German media, citing witnesses, have reported that two people left the minivan and fled after the incident. However, police also said that it is not currently looking for potential accomplices, adding that the danger is likely to be over.

The minivan itself was registered in Jens R's name, according to the German ZDF broadcaster. The suspect allegedly drove at high speed through the central area of the city before ramming his vehicle into the café, German media reported, adding that he even provoked panic among pedestrians at some point.

The police searched the minivan for explosives and found a "suspicious object," according to the local police spokesman, Andreas Bode. The Rheinische Post daily then reported that the police officers allegedly conducted a controlled explosion of the object. There has been no official confirmation of this report from the police, though. It also remains unclear if the object was, indeed, and explosive device.

A police special forces unit also searched the suspect's apartment for explosives, German media are also reporting. The results of the police raid have not yet been revealed so far.



Black Cat

Not 50 million, not 87 million... Zuckerberg admits data from 'most' of its 2 billion Facebook users compromised by 'malicious actors'

Zuckerberg london
© Noah Berger/Associated PressMark Zuckerberg: 'I still think that I'm going to do the best job to help run Facebook going forward.'
Buried in Facebook's announcement that Cambridge Analytica had improperly gathered data from up to 87 million users -- rather than the previously reported 50 million -- was the stunning admission that "malicious actors" exploited the social networking site's search features to collection information from "most" of its 2 billion users.

The detail was pointed out on Twitter by Wired journalist Matt Burgess, among others:

Comment:


Bizarro Earth

False alarm creates panic over 'Russian invasion' in Vadso, Norway

vadso
© UK Daily Mirror
A small Norwegian town just inside the Arctic circle and which lies close to the Russian border was jolted awake shortly before midnight on Wednesday as its Civil Defense warning system was triggered and sirens blared, causing locals to believe they were under threat of Russian invasion.

Vadso Norway is a town of only 5,000 but is positioned close enough to its neighbor that locals can see Russia on a clear day. There has long been a Norwegian military intelligence base in Vadso, which monitors the nearby Russian Murmansk naval base across the border to the East, long serving as an observation post for Severomorsk - the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet, out of which at the height of the Cold War over 200 submarines operated.

The false alarm originated when one of the town's multiple defense early alert sirens was activated - subsequently discovered to be an alarm at the town's old fire station, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. The Norwegian language broadcaster further reported panic ensuing as "anxious residents feared a war had broken out" and as local police were flooded with phone calls from residents who believed "they were under attack."

Comment: See Also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: World in Chaos: Anti-Russia Hysteria, Israel Murders Palestinians, US Leaving Syria?


Whistle

WH considers using obscure law to gut omnibus spending bill

whitehouse
© Michael Weber / Global Look Press
Conservatives who were angry with President Donald Trump and Republicans with some of the expenditures approved as part of the recently signed omnibus spending bill may soon be in a slightly better mood.

Joseph Lawler of the Washington Examiner reports congressional conservatives want Trump to use the 1974 Impoundment Act to rescind some spending authorized by the $1.3 trillion government appropriations bill, and White House officials are reportedly considering doing so.

The measure referred to by the Examiner is officially known as the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. For the most part, the act established the Congressional Budget Office and gave Congress more control over the budget process.

Comment: Sounds like Trump's got a bit of signer's remorse. If he didn't like what was in the omnibus bill, why did he sign off on it in the first place?

See also:


Pistol

Parkland student Kyle Kashuv says Clarence Thomas assured him 2nd Amendment 'won't be touched'

Clarence Thomas
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisSupreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas sits as he is introduced during an event at the Library of Congress, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, in Washington.
A survivor of the Parkland school shooting said he was assured by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Thursday night that the Second Amendment is safe.

Kyle Kashuv, who's been snubbed by other Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students because of his support for gun rights and appearances on Fox News Channel, tweeted a picture of himself with Justice Thomas.

"An honor discussing #2A and the Constitution with Justice Clarence Thomas. He told me about some of the cases he dissented on and how #2A won't be touched," Mr. Kashuv tweeted.

Comment: For more on Kyle Kashuv, the anti-David Hogg, see:


Snakes in Suits

Two Erdogan supporters sentenced over Washington protest attacks

Erdogan and bodyguards
© YouTube/VOA NewsPresident Erdogan and body guards outside the Turkish Ambassador's residence in Washington D.C.
Two Turkish-American supporters of Turkey's president were sentenced to prison on Thursday for their roles in attacking peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., in 2017.

Eyup Yildirim and Sinan Narin were sentenced by a superior court judge to 12 months and one day in jail and three years of supervised release on charges of assault with significant bodily injury over the May 16, 2017, attacks. Both received credit for time served in jail. They were arrested last June and pleaded guilty to charges in December.

Yildirim and Narin were caught on video taking part in a brutal melee against a small group of protesters outside of the Turkish ambassador's residence at Washington's Dupont Circle. The onslaught occurred as a group of supporters of Turkey's authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were arguing with about two dozen Kurdish, Armenian and Yazidi protesters stationed across the street from the ambassador's residence.

Video footage shows the Erdogan supporters, including Yildirim and Narin, blitzed the protesters, punching and kicking many of them. Some members of Erdogan's security detail were spotted taking part in the assault.

Comment: See also:


Eye 2

Gaza massacre: Israeli leaders should be prosecuted for war crimes in International Criminal Court

A Palestinian man wears a gas mask
© Photo: Abbas Momani / AFP / Getty ImagesA Palestinian man wears a gas mask as he walks in the smoke during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 6, 2018. Clashes erupted on the Gaza-Israel border Friday, a week after Israeli forces killed 19 Palestinians at similar demonstrations
On March 30, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers shot 773 unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, killing 17 and wounding 1,400. Twenty remain in critical condition. The protesters were marching to demand the internationally mandated right of return of refugees to their cities and villages in what now constitutes Israel.

The Israeli leaders who ordered the massacre were in clear violation of international law. They should be prosecuted for war crimes.

Premeditated Use of Deadly Force Against Peaceful Protesters

The use of deadly force against the peaceful protesters was premeditated. The IDF deployed 100 snipers to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, where 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinians had gathered for the Great March of Return. In a damning tweet, later deleted, the IDF wrote, "Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed."

Attention

Fort Campbell: Two soldiers killed in helicopter crash during training exercises

fort campbell
© U.S. Army
Two soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a training exercise at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, officials said Saturday.

The soldiers were members of the 101st Airborne Division. The crash happened Friday night and involved an Army AH-64E Apache helicopter.

The names of the deceased will not be released until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification is complete, officials said.

The crew was conducting routine training at the time of the accident. There were no other casualties. Fort Campbell Fire and Emergency Services members responded to the crash scene.

Attention

IDF shoot 500 protesters, 6 journalists, kill 9 - in one day - MSM actually notices

Yaser Murtaja
Photo of Yaser Murtaja after he was shot, posted by Liam O'Hare, April 6, 2018.
On the second Friday of the Gaza protests yesterday, Israeli snipers shot nearly 500 Palestinians at the Gaza border, killing nine (per AP), and bringing the death total in two Fridays to 31. The international headlines feature the shootings of six Palestinian journalists, including one who was killed, 30-year-old Yasser Murtaja, even though he wore a flak jacket clearly marked PRESS.

This is the only story today. For Reuters, for AFP, for the AP; for the Washington Post too. (Journalists have self interest.) "Palestinian journalist in vest marked 'PRESS' shot dead by Israeli troops in Gaza," is the the Post's headline. Reporter Loveday Morris waits many paragraphs to provide the Israeli defense of its soldiers' actions: blaming Hamas for turning the fence into a war zone.


Comment: "You made us shoot your journalists."


One of the wounded journalists was Khalia Aazara, photo below posted by journalist Saad Abedine, who says that 780 in all were injured yesterday.The Palestinian health ministry said 491 Palestinians were shot.

Comment: Imagine if this had been Putin's government and army. "Russian dictator Putin's army opens fire on peaceful protesters and journalists! 500 shot in one day! One journalist murdered!" In fact, if ANY other country had done this, it would be front-page news for days if not weeks. But Israel gets a pass. That's what happens when identity politics takes over a nation and victim-status is brought up to the level of an absolute.