Amnesty Uncovers "Repeated War Crimes" By Both Taliban & US Forces During Afghan Collapse

An explosive new report has been released by the prominent human rights watchdog group Amnesty International on Wednesday alleging widespread war crimes committed by various parties during the final stages of the Afghan conflict just before the US initiated its hasty and chaotic withdrawal from Kabul in August.

The report documents "extensive civilian suffering" just prior to the government of President Ashraf Ghani collapsing, citing "repeated war crimes" committed by the Taliban, and also US and Afghan national forces against civilians. "Homes, hospitals, schools and shops were turned into crime scenes as people were repeatedly killed and injured," it said.

"The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that 1,659 civilians were killed and another 3,524 injured in the first six months of 2021, an increase of 47% from the prior year," Amnesty documented. "Our new evidence shows that, far from the seamless transition of power that the Taliban claimed happened, the people of Afghanistan have once again paid with their lives."

During the summer-long Taliban offensive across rural parts of the country, and as the hardline Islamist group began capturing larger and larger districts as they made their way to Kabul, mass casualty crimes were reported committed against ethnic and religious minorities, including against those perceived as national government sympathizers.

According to one of the eyewitness accounts gathered by Amnesty in Bazarak town of Panjshir province:

"They kept us underground. When we were asking for medical treatment of the wounded, the Taliban were saying, 'Let them die'… There was no food and water, and no support to the wounded. They had brutal relations with us. When we were asking for water, they were saying, 'Die of thirst'." Torture and cruel and inhuman treatment of captives constitute war crimes.

While the Taliban's better known record of human rights abuses has long been scrutinized, Amnesty focuses much of its reporting on US and its allied national Afghan army partners' war crimes. The allegations come the same week the Pentagon exonerated itself from any wrongdoing over the Kabul drone strike in August which killed ten civilians, including seven children, which US officials initially lied about - claiming it was against a carefully vetted ISIS-K target. No US personnel will be punished or so much as demoted or reprimanded, after an internal Defense Department review of the deadly attack.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/amnesty-report-uncovers-war-crimes-both-taliban-us-forces-during-afghan-collapse

'Closer Than Allies': Xi & Putin Hail China-Russia Cooperation To Counter US "Interference"

Just before Wednesday's Putin-Xi virtual summit, the Kremlin described that the meeting among allies is essential as at this moment "We see very, very aggressive rhetoric on the NATO and US side, and this requires discussion between us and the Chinese." China's Foreign Ministry had said the meeting would "further enhance the high-level mutual trust between the two sides."

As expected, both leaders emphasized the need to resist "interference" in their countries' internal affairs from the West and in particular the United States. "A new model of cooperation has been formed between our countries, based among other things on such principles as not interfering in internal affairs [of each other], respect for each other’s interests, determination to turn the shared border into a belt of eternal peace and good neighborliness," Putin told his Chinese counterpart.

In the discussion which lasted from 4:07 p.m. to 5:21 p.m. Beijing time, Xi responded by affirming that the Russian president "strongly supported China’s efforts to protect key national interests and firmly opposed attempts to drive a wedge between our countries." Bloomberg characterized the tone of the meeting as between two leaders that are 'closer than allies': "Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed relations with Russia as better than an alliance in a video call with President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin, as the two leaders made a show of solidarity amid rising tensions with the West."

Calling Putin "an old friend," Xi described relations with Russia as going beyond that of traditional allies and partners, saying, "Such a figurative expression very accurately reflects the essence of what is happening now in relations between our two countries." He said the Russian president had "firmly supported China in defending its core interests and opposed attempts to divide China and Russia," according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The summit comes a week after the Biden-Putin virtual summit, wherein the Russian leader pressed for dialogue to put in place a plan for legal guarantees that NATO would not expand further eastward near Russia's border. On Wednesday China's Xi declared formal support for this central security concern of Russia's:

Putin won support from Xi for his push to obtain binding security guarantees for Russia from the West, a Kremlin official said, according to Reuters.

Russia wants the United States and NATO to guarantee the military alliance will not expand further eastward or deploy weapons systems in Ukraine and other countries on Russia’s border.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/closer-allies-xi-putin-hail-china-russia-cooperation-counter-us-interference

95% Vaccinated NFL Sets Single Day Record With 37 New Covid Cases – Quickly Mandates Experimental Booster For All Coaches and Staff By End of Month

On Monday, the NFL reported a whopping 37 new cases of Covid-19 among its personnel, which prompted the league to quickly issue an update to its Covid protocols that requires all coaches and staff to receive the experimental booster shot by the end of December.

The number of new cases is the most that have been recorded by the league since the beginning of the outbreak.

Clearly, the first two jabs of vaccine didn’t do what they were supposed to in limiting the spread of the virus, especially considering that virtually everyone involved in NFL operations is fully vaccinated – including 95% of all players, and over 99% of coaches and staff.

Nevertheless, the NFL is sticking to the public health regime’s propaganda and mandating that its employees must take their third shot.

Immediately after finding out about the dozens of new cases, the NFL issued a leaguewide memo to all 32 teams that said the organization is going to follow the CDC’s baseless recommendation and require that all non-player personnel take the booster no later than December 27th.

The memo asked teams to provide booster shots to all eligible staff “as soon as possible.”

Although the players are 95% vaccinated, they are protected by their union – the NFLPA – and therefore are not subject to the same mandates that coaches or other staff members are.

From the NFL memo:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with our experts have advised that the most effective method for players and staff to prevent contracting and transmitting COVID-19 is to be vaccinated. Indeed, our own data has shown that unvaccinated players have contracted the virus and lost time as close contacts at a much greater rate than vaccinated players.

On November 29, the CDC issued a study showing that the effectiveness of the approved COVID-19 vaccines may decrease over time and has recommended that all eligible vaccinated individuals over the age of 18 should receive a third booster shot. Given the increased prevalence of the virus in our communities, our experts have recommended that we implement the CDC’s recommendation.

In accordance with the CDC recommendation, all Tier 1 and Tier 2 staff who have been previously vaccinated and are eligible under the CDC guidelines, must receive a booster shot no later than December 27.”

The NFL’s knee-jerk reaction to this spike in Covid cases comes as the media and public health officials are manufacturing hysteria over the new Omicron variant, but even the CDC admits that the vast majority of Omicron patients are vaccinated – and that many have even had the booster already.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/12/95-vaccinated-nfl-sets-single-day-record-37-new-covid-cases-quickly-mandates-experimental-booster-coaches-staff-end-month/

Kamala Harris Shamelessly Takes Credit for Trump Program

On Tuesday, Kamala Harris joined Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at a Treasury Department event, during which she tried to credit the Biden administration for a program that actually happened under Trump.

Harris, in an attempt to prove that the Biden administration is a friend to small businesses, took credit for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was part of the CARES Act that Trump signed in March of 2020.

“What we did at the beginning with the American Rescue Plan, in addition to the Child Tax Credit, was about recognizing that part of the economic lifeblood of all communities are small businesses. That they are not only part of the economic lifeblood, if you connect a thriving economy with a thriving community, and understand that our Small business leaders are also civic leaders. They are also community leaders,” she said. “And what we did with the PPP program, and also what we did to recognize how previous outreaches, particularly to minority and women-owned businesses, have not worked, and so let’s do a better job of engaging them, and the long-term goal there was that through what we did to better engage in a rescue approach would be what we would do to engage in terms of a continuing investment approach.”

Was Harris unaware that PPP was not a Biden administration accomplishment? She should know, as she was in the Senate when it passed. Harris’ allies might even argue that she simply meant she was there when it passed, but, in this context, she was clearly trying to toot the Biden administration’s horn, and her citing PPP suggests she was trying to assume credit for a program created by Trump’s signature, not Biden’s.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2021/12/15/watch-kamala-harris-shamelessly-takes-credit-for-trump-program-n1541847

‘Terrifying’: Senate candidate’s billboards banned for fear of retaliation by CCP

Senate candidate Drew Pavlou, a strident critic of the CCP, has said an advertising company is refusing to run material, which is critical of the Chinese government for fear of retaliation.

Mr Pavlou says he found out after being phoned by a salesman from Bishopp Outdoor Advertising.

The Institute of Public Affairs’ Gideon Rozner said this story, if true, is “the biggest story in Australia right now”.

“If the Chinese Communist Party controls what we can put on billboards, then how far and deep does this go?” Mr Rozner told Sky News host James Morrow.

“Every Australian should be terrified of this level of political interference.”

https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/terrifying-senate-candidates-billboards-banned-for-fear-of-retaliation-by-ccp/video/8083d44c90e31300a5c28582d5b42ba1

'That was a moment': Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath's press conference interrupted by spider

There's been more than one unwelcome gatecrasher at a political press conference during the pandemic, but Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath today kept her cool when faced with arguably the most disturbing one yet.

Ms D'Ath was speaking about the need for businesses to comply with vaccine orders when she broke off mid-sentence and looked down.

"Okay, can somebody please get that spider off?" she said.

A curious huntsman spider had apparently approached the minister while she was talking and made its presence known.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard quickly used a sheaf of papers to try to usher the eight-legged intruder away.

"This shows how controlled I can be," Ms D'Ath joked.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-updates-queensland-spider-interrupts-press-conference-health-minister-yvette-dath/797ff834-9d41-461d-aeae-edbc4e9afe23

like HRC flies

Report Uncovers Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei’s Large Catalog of Surveillance Products

Documents recovered by The Washington Post reveal that Chinese Telecom giant Huawei has marketed its technologies to aid in population and corporate surveillance. One product has touted its success in China’s far west Xinjiang region, where Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur people has garnered international condemnation.

A review of more than 100 Huawei marketing presentations reveals that the company has developed and pitched technologies to the Chinese government that can identify individuals by voice, monitor targeted individuals and supervise the prisoner labor schedules.

The review highlighted five PowerPoint slides that marketed Huawei technologies designed for public surveillance: voice recording analysis, prison and detention center monitoring, location tracking, Xinjiang surveillance, and corporate monitoring.

A slide was found that details a Huawei voice recording analysis management platform. The display shows how the service would take a target’s voice and run it through a voiceprint recognition engine to identify instances of the targeted person’s communications.

The system was co-developed by Huawei and artificial-intelligence iFlytek. iFlytek was placed on a sanctions list by the US Commerce Department in October 2019 for human rights violations against Uyghurs, after it was discovered that the company had forced Uyghurs to make voice recordings.

The slide says the service is for national security and defense.

Huawei also created a marketing presentation for their prison and detention center monitoring systems. Created in collaboration with Hewei, the Huawei and Hewei Smart Prison Unified Platform integrates surveillance technology such as cameras and software to manage detainees.

A slide details its successful implementation in prisons in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi province, and the Xinjiang region.

Huawei touts it smart-location tracking services as able to track targets through electronic means, license plate identification, facial recognition, and a target’s relationship network to allow authorities centralized trailing.

The tracking services are thought to already be in use by the public security department of Guangdong. The province is home to approximately 126 million people.

The report did not find Huawei directly touting its role in the surveillance of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, although it found examples of the ‘One Person One File’ facial recognition method being used in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, to capture supposed criminals.

https://sputniknews.com/20211216/report-uncovers-chinese-telecom-giant-huaweis-large-catalog-of-surveillance-products-1091557190.html

Taxpayer money is for public benefit not for buying votes

This week’s critically important investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald into the distribution of $2.8 billion of public money over the past three years, found that this distribution has “grossly favoured Coalition seats” and the “system under which billions of dollars of grants are handed out to communities across Australia is irretrievably broken”.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/taxpayer-money-is-for-public-benefit-not-for-buying-votes-20211215-p59hnf.html

European princess defies Covid-19 rules with birthday bash

A heir to the Dutch throne has reportedly hosted a crowded party on her family’s palace grounds at the time the Dutch are urged to receive no more than 4 people a day. The report saw the royals going into a damage control mode.

Dutch Princess Amalia has come under fire for inviting at least two dozen guests to her 18th birthday party as the authorities urged the public to follow strict Covid-19 protocols that include keeping social distance of at least 1.5 meters and receiving no more than 4 visitors a day at your home.

The birthday bash was reportedly organized “last-minute” and saw the princess and her guests enjoying the festivities in the palace garden where two tents had been set up. The Telegraaf reported, citing sources, that about “a hundred” guests ended up coming to the party. The palace, however, told the Dutch government that only 21 invitations were sent out and that not everyone showed up.

Although the party apparently took place outside, the report has prompted accusations of double standards.

Defending the party, the palace insisted that all those present were vaccinated, had tested negative for Covid-19, and were supposed to keep a prescribed physical distance during the event.

“The assumption was that they would keep an acceptable distance,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told lawmakers in a letter on the birthday extravaganza on Wednesday.

Rutte noted that Princess Amalia’s father, Dutch King Willem-Alexander, regretted the decision to host the party in the first place. The king reportedly told Rutte that “it was not such a good idea” to go ahead with the full-fledged celebration.

It’s not the first time the Dutch royal family stirs controversy for contradicting the government’s coronavirus messaging. Last October, King Willem-Alexander was forced to apologize for “betraying people’s trust” after the royals went on a holiday to Greece as regular citizens were urged to stay put at home.

"Even though the trip was in line with the regulations, it was very unwise not to take into account the impact of the new restrictions on our society,” he said at the time.

https://www.rt.com/news/543339-coronavirus-princess-party-violation/

>>15200091

Trim it daisy

U.S. Ramps Up Fentanyl Counterattack on Chinese Mainland, as DEA Faces Troubles at Home

U.S. drug agents are expanding operations in China – six years after America’s largest trading partner and global rival emerged as the main source of chemicals used to make highly lethal fentanyl. It’s now claiming 65,000 American lives a year.

The small crew of about a dozen Drug Enforcement Administration agents, including those in new outposts in Shanghai and Guangzhou, is nearly double the number in 2018. They face what seems like mission impossible: collaborating with Chinese agents to try to bust traffickers hidden somewhere in a sprawling export supply chain that’s linked to 160,000 companies.

“It’s such a massive chemical industry, and then there are layer upon layer of traders, brokers and freight forwarders,” says Russ Holske, the DEA’s director for the Far East, who set up the new offices in China before he retired. “It’s a daunting challenge.”

The DEA’s predicament in China is part of a larger one at the beleaguered agency, whose mission is to break up major drug trafficking rings worldwide. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that’s mostly made in Mexico with Chinese chemicals, is the deadliest illicit drug ever sold. It’s behind the record number of overdose deaths that keeps growing each year. But the DEA is facing this menace after suffering a series of blows that has left it a smaller and less aggressive and effective outfit, according to several former special agents, high-ranking officials and agency documents.

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/12/14/us_drug_agents_ramp_up_fentanyl_counterattack_on_chinese_mainland_-_as_dea_faces_its_own_troubles_at_home_807483.html