see Syria update in notes
Belgians first? Nationalist party doubles support as European spring continues
An Ipsos poll shows that nationalism is on the rise in Belgium as Flemish nationalist party “Vlaams Belang” doubled its support.
Vlaams Belang, a party with Flemish national interests, has grown from 5.5 to 12 per cent in the polls. The party is heavily opposed against Islamisation, mass migration and globalisation.
But there’s more good news for conservative Belgium as the N-VA party has also gained support in the polls. The former government party, which opposes mass migration as well, increased its support by two per cent.
The N-VA was ‘forced’ to leave the Belgian coalition earlier this month, after the Prime Minister decided to sign the UN Migration Pact and the party could not live with that.
A lot of Belgians did not agree with their Prime Minister and saw him as ‘a traitor’ for agreeing with the pact and visiting the UN conference in Morocco.
After terror attacks in Brussels and other migration related problems, more Belgians seem to have shifted to the right.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/belgians-first-nationalist-party-doubles-support-as-european-spring-continues/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/#axzz5ZIsNHGe8
Chinese Scientists Reportedly Lost Track of Gene-Edited Patients
China is finally looking into its scientists’ human gene-editing trials — but some patients are already out of view.
According a newly published Wall Street Journal story, Chinese scientists using CRISPR technology provided by the startup Anhui Kedgene Biotechnology have lost touch with at least some of the late-stage cancer patients whose DNA they altered.
That means no one knows for sure how the editing may have affected the patients in the longer term — and according to experts, that lack of follow-up could affect CRISPR research far beyond China’s borders.
In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration recommends that researchers follow up with patients involved in gene therapy trials for 15 years. No such recommendation exists in China, however, and Chinese CRISPR researchers’ lack of extended follow-up could prove disastrous as the nascent technology finds its footing.
Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of CRISPR, told The WSJ that gene-editing trials “hinge upon rigorous trial design and follow-ups.” Jennifer Doudna, another CRISPR inventor, said it’s “vital” that researchers conduct long-term monitoring of gene-edited patients.
“Since we do not fully understand the human genome and are still developing knowledge of CRISPR-Cas technology, we need to monitor the intended and unintended consequences over the lifespan of patients,” Doudna told The WSJ.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/gene-editing-patients-missing-china
New Knowledge Brags About Avoiding Media, Affecting Vote in Leaked Internal Doc
The internal report from the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge is the gift that keeps on giving. Friday’s offering? A leaked internal document revealing how the company bragged about evading detection despite its operations’ “impact” on “voting outcomes.”
The New York Times first revealed the company's efforts to sway a special Senate election in Alabama in 2017 with a black ops disinformation campaign involving messaging aimed at splitting the Republican vote and a self-professed "false flag" operation involving Twitter accounts designed to give the appearance of being Russian bots following the Republican candidate Roy Moore en masse.
That was just the beginning, though. What has followed since is a slow drip of near-daily updates, beginning with the revelation that one of the actors behind the influence operation, New Knowledge CEO Jonathon Morgan, also helped create the discredited "Hamilton 68 Dashboard," blamed "Russian trolls" for meddling in the Alabama race — which he was actively meddling in — and was then banned from Facebook for, you guessed it, meddling.
Journalist Dan Cohen exposed how New Knowledge "sometimes mistakes real people who post anti-imperialist arguments about US foreign policy for Kremlin trolls." Then, reporter Aaron Mate revealed that the Russian meddling report that New Knowledge delivered to the US Senate last week was no "bombshell," as the media had made it out to be, but in fact revealed a "small, amateurish" campaign by Russian LLC the Internet Research Agency, which is accused by US special counsel Robert Mueller of using social media to influence the 2016 presidential election. (Mueller, of course, is investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to affect the election.) New Knowledge also claims to have modeled its Alabama project on IRA tactics.
"This whole thing is a set-up. It's a frame-up," Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear host Brian Becker said. "It's a covert operation. It wasn't an experiment to imitate Russian tactics — these were their tactics."
https://sputniknews.com/us/201812281071079929-New-Knowledge-Brags-Affecting-Vote/
Israeli Settlers Raise Tents in Jordan Valley, Sparking Fears of New Settlement
Human rights activists have reported that Israeli settlers have pitched tents in the northern Jordan Valley east of the Palestinian Bedouin community of al-Malih. Locals fear the camp, which houses only shepherds now, is the precursor to a future permanent settlement.
The Palestine News Network reported Thursday that the tent encampment had been set up east of Khallet Makhoul, which the Applied Research Institute — Jerusalem (ARIJ) notes is part of the larger community of al-Malih on the Allon Road (Route 578), home to roughly 1,000 Bedouin Palestinians.
Human rights activist and former al-Malih Mayor Arif Daraghmeh told PNN about the camp, noting that locals fear "that these tents will become a new settlement." The outlet noted that a similar pattern has preceded the establishment of other official settlements.
Although United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 states that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, the Knesset continues to approve new ones, with around 20 having been established in the Jordan Valley so far, PNN noted. Nearby al-Malih are the Israeli settlements of Maskiyot and Rotem.
ARIJ notes that the region is classified as "Area C" according to the Oslo II Interim Agreement of 1995, meaning it falls under full Israeli control.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812281071078821-Israeli-Settlers-Jordan-Valley-Fears-Settlement/