Taliban spokesperson compares 'draconian' burqa demands to mask requirements in fiery Piers Morgan interview

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen has defended the regime's "draconian" measures designed to suppress women after he faced a grilling from Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan over the group's demand for Afghan women to cover up.

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen has defended its burqa demands on women after he faced a grilling from Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan over the regime's "draconian" measures.

Mr Shaheen was asked about the Taliban's requirement for women to wear a hijab - to which he defended by comparing the requirements to COVID-19 mask mandates.

Morgan cited the Taliban's promise to respect the freedom and safety of women when the group took control of Afghanistan in August, but asked why they were still required to undergo such measures "designed to suppress women".

"What you are saying you have gotten from media reports which are not correct," Mr Shaheen told Morgan.

"They are safe, secure, there's no problem with it. About the veil, it is not only in Afghanistan, all over in the Islamic world. You may have it also in the UK, Muslim women are wearing also in UK.

"About the 'only opening the eyes', many are using the mask, there is no problem, it is the same as a mask. The mask is not draconian but the veil is draconian?"

The Taliban on Saturday ordered all women in Afghanistan to wear a hijab - a long black veil covering the person from head to toe.

If they get caught without a hijab, the women's male "guardian" would receive a warning and be imprisoned for repeated offenses.

https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/taliban-spokesperson-compares-draconian-burqa-demands-to-mask-requirements-in-fiery-piers-morgan-interview/news-story/3488f989a489dd5ee1f723d6af6c5f55

Los Angeles postpones its public school vaccine mandate until summer 2023

The administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) postponed a statewide school vaccine mandate last month.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has postponed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students ages 12 and older from taking effect until next year.

The move follows the city's Board of Education voting Tuesday night to delay the previously mandated start until at least July 1, 2023.

"Today’s vote shows that we are a science-based school district, and the health and safety protocols we adopt are influenced by the expert advice of our medical partners and public health officials," said district Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho in a statement.

Last year, California announced all schoolchildren would need to receive the coronavirus vaccine. At the time, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, estimated that the requirement would go into effect ahead of the 2022-2023 school year, which means this summer.

Last month, however, the state government put a hold on the mandate until at least summer 2023 because school officials worried they would not be able to implement the mandate in time. The Los Angeles school district is now on track with the rest of the state in its delay.

"Due to the high vaccination rates among students 12 and older, low transmission rates in our schools and our nation-leading safety measures, we have preserved in-person learning in the safest possible environment," said Carvalho, acknowledging that students do best when learning in an environment with their peers.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/los-angeles-postpones-its-public-school-vaccine-mandate-until-summer

Pro-Abortion House Democrats March on Senate Chanting “My Body, My Decision!”

A large group of pro-abortion House Democrats marched on the Senate Wednesday as the upper chamber prepared to vote on a bill legalizing abortion, the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act. The bill is doomed to fail in the Senate but is being voted on to rally Democrats for the mid-term elections in the wake of the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade that would return abortion matters to the states.

Excerpt from Vox explainer on the WHPA:

The Women’s Health Protection Act would enshrine into federal law the right to access and perform an abortion, and it would supersede state laws on the issue. It would effectively neutralize laws in 19 states that have sought to severely curb access to abortion or ban it altogether.

Specifically, the act would bar six-week and 20-week bans on abortions. It would also prohibit policies, like ultrasound requirements and waiting periods, that attempt to make it more burdensome to obtain an abortion. The legislation’s text makes it clear that it’s a direct response to what the bill’s sponsors say are more than 500 state and local laws limiting abortion access implemented in some way since 2011.

Such restrictions have disproportionately harmed low-income people — particularly Black and Hispanic people — who are already less likely to have health care coverage for abortions, and who face more obstacles accessing alternative options if their states erect barriers.

While the WHPA would provide sweeping abortion protections, it wouldn’t supersede laws addressing insurance coverage for abortions. There have been strict limits on Medicaid coverage of abortions because of the Hyde Amendment’s restrictions on the use of federal funding for such health care. Democrats had hoped to get rid of the rule, which typically hitches a ride on appropriations legislation, but couldn’t get the Republican votes they needed to do so.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/pro-abortion-house-democrats-march-senate-chanting-body-decision/

Multi-jurisdiction operation ends in dozens of arrests across Valley

Phoenix police said operations like this are conducted routinely in an effort to reduce the demand for child sex trafficking and exploitation of children.

PHOENIX — A multi-jurisdiction law enforcement operation targeting suspects seeking illegal sex acts online resulted in the arrests of 29 people across the Valley, authorities said Monday.

The Phoenix Police Department Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit recently partnered with police departments in Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale and Surprise, as well as the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the FBI, Arizona Attorney Generals Office and Homeland Security Investigations, for Operation April Fools.

Authorities said undercover detectives during the operation placed ads on websites commonly sought out by those seeking illegal sex acts.

https://ktar.com/story/5050741/multi-jurisdiction-operation-ends-in-dozens-of-arrests-across-valley/

Dr Strange actress faces jail after she and her Taekwondo 'master' husband plied girl, 13, with rum and sexually abused her 'once or twice a month' over three years

Zara Phythian, 36, today found guilty of sexually abusing a girl over three years

Phythian starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in 2016 film Doctor Strange

She was jointly charged with husband Victor Marke, 59, of abusing the victim

The girl had claimed abuse started when she was 13 between 2005 and 2008

Separately, Marke was found guilty of abusing another girl in 2002 and 2003

Dr Strange actress Zara Phythian is facing jail after she and her Taekwondo 'master' plied a 13-year-old girl with rum and sexually abused her 'one or twice a month' over three years.

Phythian, 36, who starred in the 2016 Marvel superhero film Doctor Strange, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton, was today found guilty of sexually abusing a girl over three years, starting when she was 13.

She and husband Victor Marke, 59, were jointly charged with 14 historical counts of sexual activity with the girl.

The pair plied the teenager with Captain Morgan dark rum as part of a three-year reign of terror.

A court heard the pair abused their victim 'once or twice a month' from 2005 to 2008 and that she was abused at least 20 times on different occasions.

Alongside the joint charge, Pythian's husband was separately charged with four counts of indecently assaulting another girl, aged 15 at the time, between 2002 and 2003.

The couple had denied all the charges, but a jury found them guilty following a 12-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

They held hands tightly in the dock as the sentences were announced. Phythian had a look of horror on her face as her first guilty verdict was delivered.

She wept as the jury foreman delivered the verdicts, while Marke put an arm around her shoulder.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10805321/Dr-Strange-actress-Zara-Phythian-faces-jail-husband-GUILTY-sexually-abusing-girl.html

NIH director confirms agency hid early COVID genes at request of Chinese scientists

National Institutes of Health acting director Lawrence Tabak confirmed to lawmakers Wednesday that US health officials concealed early genomic sequences of COVID-19 at the request of Chinese scientists — but insisted the data remains on file.

Tabak told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the NIH “eliminated from public view” the data from the pandemic epicenter in Wuhan, China, before adding that researchers can still access it via an archaic “tape drive.”

Vanity Fair recently reported that the information was hidden in response to a request from Chinese scientists, despite potentially resolving whether the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or passed naturally from animals to humans.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) asked Tabek to explain why US officials would comply with such a request.

“There’s no question that the communication that we had about the sequence archive — Sequence Read Archive — could have been improved. I freely admit that,” Tabek said. “If I may, the archive never deleted the sequence, it just did not make it available for interrogation.”

“So wait, you have the information still?” Beutler followed up.

“We have the information … Anybody who submits to the Sequence Read Archive is allowed to ask for it to be removed,” Tabak explained. “And that investigator did do that. But we never erase it.”

“So you don’t have the information anymore?” Beutler asked.

“We do. We never erase the information. We keep it,” Tabak clarified.

“So they were able to withdraw public viewing of it?” the congresswoman followed up.

“That’s correct,” he said.

“OK, so researchers can apply to the NIH and get the information from you?” Beutler asked.

“In the way that it was originally eliminated from public view, it was withdrawn, and that’s the most difficult for people to access,” Tabak replied. “The error that was made, and we found this out after a review of all of our processes, was it should have been suppressed. The distinction being that if it’s withdrawn, it is kept archivally on a tape drive — old technology, but that’s how it’s done. But when it is withdrawn, it can still be accessed by accession number, and so researchers are able to access that information.”

https://nypost.com/2022/05/11/nih-director-tabak-confirms-agency-hid-covid-genes-per-chinese/

>>16255869

KEK

Bill Clinton’s Special Advisor and Jeffrey Epstein Handler Who Flew on Lolita Express Dies at 59

Another Clinton advisor is dead.

Mark Middleton, Bill Clinton’s special advisor from Little Rock, Arkansas who connected the former president to deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has died at the age of 59 on Saturday.

“The Middleton family has lost an inspiring and dedicated leader, as well as a son, brother, husband, and father,” a Facebook post said. “Mark leaves behind a company that he helped build from the ground up alongside his family and was proud to run for the last 25 years.”

“In earlier days, Middleton’s fundraising skills helped land him a job in the White House. He was finance director for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, and later special assistant to Clinton under chief of staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty.” Arkansas Business reported.

The cause of death was not disclosed.

The Daily Mail reported:

One of Bill Clinton’s former special advisors who helped cement his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has died at the age of 59, becoming the latest associate of the former President to die young.

Mark Middleton’s family said that he passed away on Saturday in a statement which did not reveal the cause of death.

The father-of-two lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and local law enforcement and the county coroner told DailyMail.com that they were not investigating the death and did not respond to it.

The Middleton family did not reply to requests for comment.

Middleton had for decades run an air conditioning business in Little Rock but in the 1990s he was a special advisor to Clinton and finance director on his Presidential campaign.

During that time Middleton admitted Epstein to the Clinton White House on seven of the at least 17 times the late pedophile visited.

Middleton also flew on Epstein’s plane and appears to have acted as a conduit between the two men.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/bill-clintons-special-advisor-jeffrey-epstein-handler-flew-lolita-express-dies-59/