Iraq Cancels Turkish Defence Minister Visit After Iraqi Soldiers Killed in Kurdistan Shelling

Earlier on Tuesday, the Iraqi government condemned Turkish drone strike in the country's province of Erbil that left two Iraqi servicemen killed, slamming the "repeated military violations" by Turkey as "dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter".

Iraq cancelled the visit of Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar to the country that was scheduled for 13 August, following condemnation of Turkey's drone strike in Erbil province that claimed lives of two Iraqi board guards, Iraqi Foreign Ministry's said in a statement.

The Turkish ambassador in Iraq has also been summoned to Baghdad after the attack conducted by Turkish drone.

"We are announcing the cancellation of the visit by the Turkish defense minister to Iraq, scheduled… for Thursday. The Foreign Ministry will summon the Turkish ambassador and hand him a note of protest in connection with the attack", the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iraq said at least two servicemen were killed in the drone strike against a border military vehicle in the Sidekan area. According to the Al-Sumaria TV channel, five Iraqi servicemen died, along with ten members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Iraq condemned the attack, denouncing "repeated military violations" by Turkey as "dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter".

Turkey has been fighting the PKK, that seeks the establishment of a Kurdish autonomy in Turkey and is considered a terroristic organisation by Ankara, since the early 1980s. A ceasefire signed by the PKK and Turkey in 2013 collapsed after PKK militants allegedly committed several terror attacks two years later.

Since a lot of PKK bases are situated in northern Iraq, they are regularly attacked by Ankara during its land and air operations in the region.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008111080138853-iraq-cancels-turkish-defence-minister-visit-after-iraqi-soldiers-killed-in-kurdistan-shelling/

Trump Briefs Press As McConnell Says Stimulus Talks Hit "Stalemate"

Update (1750ET): Headlines from tonight's presser are rolling in.

TRUMP: THREE VACCINE CANDIDATES NOW IN PHASE 3 TRIALS

TRUMP: DIRECTING DOJ TO STOP `ANARCHISTS'

TRUMP SAYS COLLEGE FOOTBALL SHOULD GO AHEAD

• • *

Only a few hours after Mitch McConnell kicked the legs out from under the market by announcing that stimulus talks had reached a "stalemate", President Trump will brief the press again, in what looks to be a hopefully less-eventful rerun of last night's presser.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-live-trump-briefs-press-mcconnell-says-stimulus-talks-hit-stalemate

US Court Sets Deadline for Trump to Submit DNA in Defamation Case Over Alleged Rape

A new set of deadlines has been announced in longtime Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against US President Donald Trump, now requiring Trump to submit his DNA by September, according to court documents published to social media.

“[Trump’s] deadline to respond to [Carroll’s] Second Set of Document Requests (originally January 30, 2020) is now August 14, 2020, and the date set by [Carroll’s] First Notice to Submit to Physical Examination (originally March 2, 2020) is now September 15, 2020,” noted a letter from Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan to Trump’s legal team.

“We can be flexible with respect to the location and method for obtaining [Trump’s] DNA sample in order to accommodate security needs or other issues. Please let us know if you would like to discuss.”

This comes shortly after the US Supreme Court ruled that the president was required to respond to a subpoena for his financial records. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Verna Saunders recently detailed that this ruling was “applicable to all state court proceedings in which a sitting President is involved,” according to Law & Crime.

“We are hopeful that [Trump] now recognizes, as did Judge Saunders, that Trump v. Vance leaves no doubt that his claim to presidential immunity necessarily fails,” Kaplan’s letter read.

Carroll has alleged that she and Trump had a friendly encounter at the Bergdorf Goodman luxury department store in the Manhattan borough of New York City in 1995 or 1996. However, she claims that the situation took a violent turn when Trump pushed her against the wall of a dressing room, unzipped his pants and proceeded to force himself upon her.

She detailed that there was a “colossal struggle,” but she was eventually able to push him off of her and run from the store. Carroll kept the clothes she was wearing that day and has not laundered the garments.

While Trump has boasted that he has “one of the great memories of all-time,” when it comes to Carroll, he has argued that he has never even met the former Elle magazine writer.

“I have no idea who this woman is,” he told reporters at the White House on June 20, 2019, as reported by the Associated Press.

“I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book - that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section,” he also said in a statement obtained by CNBC. He further told The Hill in an exclusive interview that “she’s not my type” and that “it never happened.”

Carroll’s suit was filed soon thereafter.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202008111080137857-us-court-sets-deadline-for-trump-to-submit-dna-in-defamation-case-over-alleged-rape-/

Facebook’s COO Responds After Nearly 130 NGOs Put Platform On Notice For Unchecked Jew-Hatred

Nearly 130 Nongovernmental organizations signed onto a letter sent Friday to chiding Facebook’s Board of Directors and requesting that the platform adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and include it in its hate speech policy.

The letter comes amid a rise in antisemitism in America and across the globe. It often rears its ugly head on social media, where users have the freedom and audience to spew hatred. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse as antisemites seize a global crisis to promote conspiracies blaming Jews for a virus that emanated from Wuhan, China.

Friday’s letter, signed by prominent advocacy groups like StopAntisemitism.org, Students Supporting Israel, and Foundation for Defense of Democracies, pointed to Facebook’s Director of Content Policy Stakeholder Engagement Peter Stern, who recently “admitted that Facebook does not have a policy aimed at combatting online antisemitism”…. and “that Facebook does not embrace the full adoption of the IHRA working definition because the definition recognizes that modern manifestations of antisemitism relate to Israel.”

Facebook did not respond to this reporter’s request for comment. However, the platform did respond to the signatories of the letter who asked the platform, “Will Facebook join the ranks of the historians, advocates, activists, lawmakers, and leaders who compiled the IHRA working definition? Will Facebook take responsibility and move toward removing the scourge of antisemitism from today’s most important online public square?”

https://saraacarter.com/facebooks-coo-responds-after-nearly-130-ngos-put-platform-on-notice-for-unchecked-jew-hatred/

'Looting is reparations': BLM protesters gather outside Chicago PD in support of looters who ransacked city Sunday night, as organizer claims 'anything they wanted to take, they can take because these businesses have insurance'

Black Lives Matter Chicago held a protest Monday night in which they defended looting as a form of 'reparations'

Drawbridges into Chicago were raised Monday night and freeway exits closed as downtown was locked down

Precautions were being taken to avoid a second night of chaos, following riots and looting in the early hours

SWAT teams were seen patrolling the streets of the Illinois city on Monday afternoon

Protests and looting erupted when a false rumor spread that police had shot and killed a child on Sunday

Police in fact had shot and injured a 20-year-old man, who ran from them, turning to fire his gun at officers

Latrell Allen has been charged with attempted murder after the shooting on Sunday which sparked the riots

Chicago's Magnificent Mile was hit by looters after hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police

People then started organizing on Twitter and Facebook to loot downtown in a caravan of vehicles

The violence coincided with the sixth anniversary of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the looting had nothing to do with peaceful protest over police brutality

She denied that the decision not to prosecute looters during George Floyd riots had spurred on looters now

Black Lives Matter Chicago said early Monday's looting of stores was a form of 'reparations' as the group held a protest Monday night in support of the more than 100 people arrested after an evening of violence.

Downtown Chicago was otherwise quiet after authorities cut off access, with drawbridges leading into the city pulled up and freeway exits blocked after riots sparked by a false rumor of a child shot by police.

At least 13 police officers were injured as the violence claimed an estimated $65 million in property damage.

Ariel Atkins, a BLM organizer, called the looting 'reparations'.

'I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats,' Atkins said. 'That makes sure that person has clothes.

'Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance.'

More

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8614105/Chicago-goes-lockdown-bridges-raised-freeway-exits-closed-restrict-access-downtown.html