Australia to Start Policing Facebook’s and Google’s Algorithms

Australia’s antitrust watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has announced that it plans to set up an office that is dedicated to nothing else other than policing the algorithms tech giants like Facebook and Google use to generate their income, reports Reuters.

This is part of reforms designed to rein in the U.S. technology giants, potentially setting a precedent for global lawmakers.

The move tightens the regulatory screws on the online platforms, which have governments from the United States to Europe scrambling to address concerns ranging from antitrust issues to the spread of “fake news” and hate speech.

The new algorithm policing office is just one of 23 recommendations from the ACCC proposing how the Australian government can better regulate American tech giants. The idea behind policing the technology companies’ algorithms is so that regulators have a better idea of how companies match advertisements to users.

The news comes just weeks after the FTC hit Facebook with a $5 billion fine for privacy breaches stemming from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Responding to the ACCC reports announcing the proposal, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, “These companies are among the most powerful and valuable in the world. They need to be held to account and their activities need to be more transparent.”

“At the heart of this important ACCC report is a focus on delivering better consumer and commercial outcomes,” Frydenberg said. “And ensuring a viable media landscape, because news and journalism is a public good.”

The report found that more than 98% of online searches on mobile devices in Australia are with Google. Among Australia’s population of 25 million, Facebook has 17 million users who use it on average 30 minutes a day.

Facebook had largely been trusted to regulate itself and keep its 2.4 billion users’ interests at heart. That was before Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, fake news and the scandal over improper use of personal data of as many as 87 million users by data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, which was affiliated with President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Regulators in Australia, Europe and the U.S. took notice. Facebook now faces the prospect of not only billions of dollars in additional fines, but also new restrictions around the world.

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/07/australia-to-start-policing-facebooks-and-googles-algorithms.html

FITTON: BIG Truth: Mueller was an absentee landlord as special counsel. His right hand guy was a paid Clinton world lawyer and Andrew Weissmann, the anti-Trump activist, did the hiring. Judicial Watch has the docs and testimony.

www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-doj-documents-showing-andrew-weissmann-leading-hiring-effort-for-mueller-special-counsel/

BREAKING: So I just figured out Aaron Zelbey, who was inserted as "witness" last minute to help Mueller tomorrow, was almost certainly paid by Clintons to represent their aide in email scandal investigation. @JudicialWatch obtained the testimony on this: t.co/CcGR9aNW5M pic.twitter.com/pFJCx2cbcm

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) July 24, 2019

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/fitton-big-truth-mueller-was-an-absentee-landlord-as-special-counsel-his-right-hand-guy-was-a-paid-clinton-world-lawyer-and-andrew-weissmann-the-anti-trump-activist-did-the-hiring-judicial-watch/

One America News Sends Cease and Desist Notices to MSNBC, Rachel Maddow and Daily Beast, Warns of Lawsuits if They Fail to Comply

One America News has sent Cease and Desist notices and demands for retraction to Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, The Daily Beast and its reporter Kevin Poulson over their claims that the network is a “paid Russian propaganda operation.”

The notices to retract warned that if they do not comply with the conditions sent to them by August 15, 2019, they “will recommend that our client pursue all legal avenues to protect its interests, including damages and attorneys’ fees and costs incurred as a result of your actions.”

Miller Barondess, LLP, the law firm representing OAN, a pro-Trump right-wing network, wrote that Maddow and the others “maliciously slandered OAN” and asserted that they have never taken money from any foreign government, including Russia.

“The assertion that OAN is paid to disseminate propaganda on behalf of a foreign government is more than a mere falsehood—it amounts to an accusation of treason. Your comments were beyond the pale and unbecoming of a reporter at any respectable news organization,” the letter to Maddow states.

The letter to Maddow continues on to allege that “it also appears that the unwarranted attack on OAN was retaliation for OAN’s suggestion that Comcast is refusing to carry it for non-business reasons. On July 15, 2019, Charles Herring emailed Gregory Rigdon, the President of Content Acquisition for Comcast. Herring made the compelling business case for adding OAN and also stated his concern that Comcast is refusing to carry OAN because OAN’s coverage ‘generally counters the voice of MSNBC.’ Exactly one week after that email, MSNBC’s number one show opens with a hit piece on OAN. This does not appear to be a mere coincidence. Tellingly, nobody at MSNBC or Comcast made any effort to reach out to OAN for comment prior to airing the defamatory statements.”

In the letter to Poulson, they cite an article that attacked OAN writer Kristian Rouz for some work he has done with Russian media writing primarily about economic news.

“The implication to the reader—before they even get to the substance of the article—is that Rouz’s work for OAN is part and parcel of his outside writing for other media outlets. The article goes on to underscore that false implication, by quoting a source claiming that “the merger between Russian state-sponsored propaganda and the American conservative media” is complete, that OAN ‘pushes some of the same false stores as Sputnik and RT,’ and that ‘Kremlin propaganda sometimes leaks’ into Rouz’s work for OAN. The false insinuation that OAN is part of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine is utterly false,” the letter states.

OAN defended their writer by asserting that “he is paid by OAN—not the Russian government—for the content he creates for OAN. Every article he writes goes through OAN’s editorial process.”

http://www.stationgossip.com/2019/07/one-america-news-sends-cease-and-desist.html

Lack of Diverse Media Ownership Leads to Censorship in Pakistan Says New Report

Aided by lax legal restrictions, Pakistan is a “high-risk country” in terms of media pluralism as more than half of mass media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few — a model which has resulted in closure of businesses, a fall in journalism standards and rise in censorship, says a new research study.

These findings, coupled with the ruling party’s increasingly hostile attitude towards journalists who are critical of government institutions, have led to the deterioration of the country’s once-vibrant media environment and paved the way for continued threats to press freedom.

The research study by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom Network looked at a number of factors when assessing risks to Pakistan’s media pluralism, including media audience concentration, cross-media ownership concentration, regulatory safeguards, political control over media outlets and net neutrality.

#Pakistan #media media ownership concentrated in a few hands, aided by lax legal restrictions on cross-media ownership. Top 4 news #television channels in Pakistan (Geo News 24%, ARY News 12%, PTV News 11% and Samaa TV 7%) at the end of 2018 was 68.3%. https://t.co/C9vLkM8MWw

— Riaz Haq (@haqsmusings) July 19, 2019

The report found that the top four television channels, radio stations, newspapers and news websites had over 50 percent of the country’s entire audience share.

In addition, unbridled “cross-media ownership concentration“, which measures concentration across media sectors, has allowed more than 68 percent of market control to stay in the hands of eight media organizations. These organizations (Jang, Express, Dunya, Nawa-i-Waqat, Samaa, Dawn, Dunya, ARY) — and the government — have a significant presence in more than one media sector.

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/07/lack-of-diverse-media-ownership-leads-to-censorship-in-pakistan-says-new-report.html

Pakistan helping after Trump Khan meeting?!

Sen. Ron Wyden Escorts 8 1/2 Months Pregnant Mexican Woman and Her Family Across Border Into US

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) posted a video Saturday bragging about how he had escorted an eight-and-a-half months pregnant migrant from Mexico into the U.S. because the woman allegedly was having a difficult pregnancy. Wyden does not tell viewers that the woman is a Mexican citizen and that she brought her husband and 3-year-old son with her across the border. Apparently there are no competent maternity hospitals in Mexico.

Wyden said he was touring a migrant facility in Juarez, Mexico accompanied by a doctor who diagnosed a pregnant Mexican woman seeking asylum in the U.S. as having a potentially fatal condition. Wyden brought the woman to a border checkpoint and talked his way past the guards.

“I went across the border into Juarez, Mexico to tour a shelter housing asylum seekers being forced to stay in Mexico instead of the U.S. while they wait to hear if they’ve been granted asylum. They are fleeing persecution and violence, seeking a better life for their families.”

“While across the border, I met a young woman who was seeking refuge in the U.S., who was more than 8 months pregnant.”

“There were concerns she had serious medical complications that were life-threatening to her & her unborn baby. She tried to get across the border but was denied until it became clear to law enforcement that I was accompanying her. She was taken to a hospital to get care.”

“It shouldn’t have to take being escorted by a U.S. Senator to get asylum seekers and migrants to safety in the United States. After my time in Juarez, I’m reflecting on the hundreds — perhaps thousands — of women just like her who are unable to get the medical care they need.”

“The Trump administration is treating children & their families at the border like they’re dangerous criminals, keeping them in conditions not fit for any person. Make no mistake: when I return to Washington, I will be fighting to put an end to these life-threatening policies.”

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2019/07/sen-ron-wyden-escorts-8-12-months.html

Prosecute Clinton: For a Server or Orchestrating Mass Murder?

The kabuki theater stunts between the two-pronged hydra-head of the one-party political class in America knows no bounds. After Mueller was shot down for his lame and easily disprovable case against Trump, the tide turned against the Democrats.

Now it’s Hillary’s turn in the hot seat, not that it really matters. As I noted on a previous occasion, Clinton the CFR-directed Iron Maiden would have to kill a toddler in Times Square during the New Year celebration to be arrested, prosecuted, and locked up.

In fact, she is, and Donald Trump knows it.

The DNC, Fusion GPS, Steele, Comey, McCabe, et al, all of this distractive squabbling basically serves as a sideshow to the real crimes of Hillary Clinton, faithful servitor for the war party and state.

I’m not going to re-post the disgusting video clip where Clinton chortles over her role in murdering Muammar Gaddafi. Instead, I’ll focus on her egregious violation of international law by siccing the NATO murder machine on the people of Libya.

The New York Times, the newspaper of record propaganda, lied when it declared Hillary Clinton tried but failed to bring “democracy” (neoliberal style) to Libya. Gaddafi was primarily a threat because he represented Arab solidarity and, at least as important, his plan to create a gold dinar currency to unite the Arab and Muslim world.

“If Gaddafi had an intent to try to re-price his oil or whatever else the country was selling on the global market and accept something else as a currency or maybe launch a gold dinar currency, any move such as that would certainly not be welcomed by the power elite today, who are responsible for controlling the world’s central banks,” notes Anthony Wile. “So yes, that would certainly be something that would cause his immediate dismissal and the need for other reasons to be brought forward from moving him from power.”

This was, as well, one of the primary motivations—in addition to knocking out of Israel’s primary enemies—for the imposition of medieval sanctions imposed on Iraq following Papa Bush’s illegal invasion.

In 2000, Saddam Hussein announced a plan to trade Iraq’s oil in euros, thus undermining dollar hegemony. The sanctions and Bush Jr’s invasion sent a message to OPEC members—the US dollar controlled by the financial elite is the only acceptable monetary unit for buying and selling petroleum.

It’s said Obama was reluctant to unleash NATO on the people of Libya, but Hillary convinced him otherwise. The subsequent carnage was described by the NYT as “smart power,” a rather grotesque characterization, to say the least.

Beyond a small number of nonpartisan antiwar activists, noninterventionists, and libertarians, only a small faction of leftists report and analyze Clinton’s war crimes in Libya.

https://youtu.be/1aLjvJbnY0c

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/74040/prosecute-clinton-for-a-server-or-orchestrating-mass.html

Benjamin H. Freedman’s Epic Speech Exposing Jewish Zionism (Video)

US private military companies plunder Syrian oil facilities — Russia’s General Staff

The US has been training up to 2,700 militants near al-Tanf base in Syria, the Russian General Staff stated

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. US private military companies numbering over 3,500 personnel are plundering Syrian oil facilities under the cover of the international anti-terror coalition’s aircraft, Head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Department Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi told a Defense Ministry press briefing on Monday.

"Aside from training militants, the US structures in Syria are involved in plundering oil facilities and deposits in the area across the Euphrates that belong to the legitimate Syrian government. Lately, US private military companies have been observed to actively beef up their personnel. Today, the mercenaries of the private military companies in Syria exceed 3,500 people," the Russian general stressed.

Specifically, the US military structures have organized the production and sale of Syrian oil from the Conaco, al-Omar and Tanak oilfields located east of the Euphrates River, the Russian general pointed out.

"A criminal scheme of Syrian crude cross-border deliveries is in effect. Actually, Syrian national wealth is being plundered," Rudskoi stated.

A considerable part of revenues from the hydrocarbon smuggling is spent on maintaining illegal armed formations, bribing sheikhs of tribal unions and instigating anti-government sentiments, according to the Russian general’s data.

"All this activity by US private military companies is conducted under the cover of the international anti-terror coalition’s aviation. In actual fact, this is smuggling business seized by the Americans from the IS [the former name of the Islamic State terrorist organization outlawed in Russia]," Rudskoi explained.

The US incessant deliveries of armament and military hardware to the area across the Euphrates also cause concern, the Russian general added.

"In exchange for assistance in oil smuggling, the United States is beefing up both Kurdish and Arab formations with arms and they subsequently use them against each other," Rudskoi said, adding that "all these factors are only exacerbating the situation in the war-torn region."

https://tass.com/world/1070821

DCCC exec resigns amid furor over minority representation

The executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) resigned abruptly on Monday amid members’ complaints that the committee’s upper echelons lacked diversity.

Allison Jaslow, a top aide to DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), told committee aides she was quitting effective immediately at an all-staff meeting on Monday, one person in the room confirmed to The Hill.

Jaslow later confirmed her resignation on Twitter, writing that the job had been "an honor and a true privilege."

Her departure was first reported by Politico. It came after Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) and Filemon Vela (D-Texas) openly complained about the lack of diversity in the senior management positions of the House Democrats' campaign arm.

Gonzalez and Vela said the DCCC was in “complete chaos.”

Jaslow has been a top aide to Bustos since 2012, when she managed her winning campaign against then-Rep. Bobby Schilling (R). Jaslow served as Bustos’s chief of staff before leaving to take a job running Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Most senior DCCC officials this year are white men. The most senior person of color at the committee, chief of staff Jalisa Washington-Price, left in February, just months after Bustos took over, to take a senior position on Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) presidential campaign.

Bustos has been managing the fallout from the staff crisis since last week, when she held an all-staff meeting. Another conference call over the weekend failed to assuage doubts, and Bustos returned to Washington on Monday to oversee another all-staff meeting, where Jaslow quit.

The DCCC did not immediately say who would head the committee in Jaslow’s place.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/455179-dccc-exec-resigns-amid-furor-over-minority-representation

Violence Has Spiked in Africa Since the Military Founded AFRICOM, Pentagon Study Finds

Since U.S. Africa Command began operations in 2008, the number of U.S. military personnel on the African continent has jumped 170 percent, from 2,600 to 7,000. The number of military missions, activities, programs, and exercises there has risen 1,900 percent, from 172 to 3,500. Drone strikes have soared and the number of commandos deployed has increased exponentially along with the size and scope of AFRICOM’s constellation of bases.

The U.S. military has recently conducted 36 named operations and activities in Africa, more than any other region of the world, including the Greater Middle East. Troops scattered across Africa regularly advise, train, and partner with local forces; gather intelligence; conduct surveillance; and carry out airstrikes and ground raids focused on “countering violent extremists on the African continent.”

AFRICOM “disrupts and neutralizes transnational threats” in order to “promote regional security, stability and prosperity,” according to its mission statement. But since AFRICOM began, key indicators of security and stability in Africa have plummeted according to the Defense Department’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon research institution. “Overall, militant Islamist group activity in Africa has doubled since 2012,” according to a recent analysis by the Africa Center.

There are now roughly 24 “active militant Islamist groups” operating on the continent, up from just five in 2010, the analysis found. Today, 13 African countries face attacks from these groups — a 160 percent increase over that same time span. In fact, the number of “violent events” across the continent has jumped 960 percent, from 288 in 2009 to 3,050 in 2018, according to the Africa Center’s analysis.

While a variety of factors have likely contributed to the rise in violence, some experts say that the overlap between the command’s existence and growing unrest is not a coincidence.

“The sharp increase in terrorist incidents in Africa underscores the fact that the Pentagon’s overly militarized approach to the problem has been a dismal failure,” said William Hartung, the director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy. “If anything, attempting to eradicate terrorism by force may be exacerbating the problem, provoking a terrorist backlash and serving as a recruiting tool for extremist groups.”

Take Somalia, for example. Over the last decade, AFRICOM has conducted hundreds of airstrikes and commando missions there and claims an enemy body count of approximately 800 terrorists, primarily members of the Shabab, a militant group. The number of U.S. air attacks has skyrocketed of late, jumping from 14 under President Barack Obama in 2016 to 47 under the Trump administration last year. Yet the Pentagon’s own analysis found that violent episodes involving the Shabab represent roughly 50 percent of all militant Islamist group activity in Africa and that this “rate has remained consistent over the past decade.”

https://theintercept.com/2019/07/29/pentagon-study-africom-africa-violence/

The Dragon lays out its road map, denies seeking hegemony

By Pepe Escobar – posted with permission

The key merit of China’s National Defense in the New Era, a white paper released by the State Council in Beijing, is to clear any remaining doubts about where the Middle Kingdom is coming from, and where it’s going to by 2049, the mythical date to, theoretically, be restored as the foremost global power.

Although not ultra-heavy on specifics, the white paper certainly should be read as the Chinese counterpoint to the US National Security Strategy, as well as the National Defense Strategy.

It goes without saying that every sentence is being carefully scrutinized by the Pentagon, which regards China as a “malign actor” and “a threat” – the terminology associated with its “Chinese aggression” mantra.

To cut to the chase, and to the perpetuating delight of China’s supporters and critics, here are the white paper’s essentials.

What global stability?

The Beijing leadership openly asserts that as “the US has adjusted its national security and defense strategies, and adopted unilateral policies” that essentially “undermined global strategic stability.” Vast sectors of the Global South would concur.

The counterpart is the evolution of “the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era,” now playing “a significant role in maintaining global strategic stability.”

In parallel, Beijing is very careful to praise the “military relationship with the US in accordance with the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” The “military-to-military relationship” should work as “a stabilizer for the relations between the two countries and hence contribute to the China-US relationship based on coordination, cooperation and stability.”

Another key counterpart to the US – and NATO – is the increasingly crucial role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is “forging a constructive partnership of non-alliance and non-confrontation that targets no third party, expanding security and defense cooperation and creating a new model for regional security cooperation.”

The white paper stresses that “the SCO has now grown into a new type of comprehensive regional cooperation organization covering the largest area and population in the world”, something that is factually correct. The latest SCO summit in Bishkek did wonders in featuring some of the group’s much-vaunted qualities, especially “mutual trust,” “consultation,” “respect for diverse civilizations” and “pursuit of common development.”

On hot spots, contrary to Western skepticism, the white paper asserts that, “the situation of the South China Sea is generally stable,” and that a “balanced, stable, open and inclusive Asian security architecture continues to develop.”

There should be no illusion regarding Beijing’s position on “Taiwan independence” – which will never deviate from what was set by Little Helmsman Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s: “Separatist forces and their actions remain the gravest immediate threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the biggest barrier hindering the peaceful reunification of the country.”

And the same applies to “external separatist forces for ‘Tibet independence’ and the creation of ‘East Turkestan’.” How Beijing dealt with – and economically developed – Tibet will continue to be the blueprint to deal with, and economically develop, Xinjiang, irrespective of the Western outcry over China’s subjugation of more than a million Uighurs.

In regard to the turmoil Hong Kong and the degree it reflects interference by “external forces,” the white paper shapes Hong Kong as the model to be followed on the way to Taiwan. “China adheres to the principles of ‘peaceful reunification,’ and ‘one country, two systems,’ promotes peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and advances peaceful reunification of the country.”

On the South China Sea, the white paper notes that “countries from outside the region conduct frequent close-in reconnaissance on China by air and sea, and illegally enter China’s territorial waters and the waters and airspace near China’s islands and reefs, undermining China’s national security.”

So there won’t be any misunderstanding, it says: “The South China Sea islands and Diaoyu Islands are inalienable parts of the Chinese territory.” ASEAN and Japan will have to deal with what Beijing says are facts.

https://thesaker.is/the-dragon-lays-out-its-road-map-denies-seeking-hegemony/

MintCast Interviews Doug Valentine, Author of The Phoenix Program and The CIA as Organized Crime

Douglas Valentine joins the MintCast to discuss his extensive work investigating CIA covert operations and current CIA efforts to undermine independent media.

MintCast co-host Whitney Webb interviews author, investigative journalist and poet Douglas Valentine about his extensive work on exposing the dark underbelly of the CIA and some of the agency’s most notorious covert programs.

Webb and Valentine begin the interview discussing how Valentine’s journalistic work on the CIA led him to be spied on and even threatened by the agency and how being a dissident journalist in the 1990s compares to being one now. Valentine argues that, in the present, efforts to outlaw criticism of the state of Israel are like a gateway that will soon lead to the prohibition of criticism of the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies, the CIA among them.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/mintcast-interviews-doug-valentine-expert-on-cia-covert-operations/260810/

Antifa Calls for ‘National Border Resistance’ in Texas, Demands White ‘Accomplices’ Pay for ‘Marginalized People’ to Get There

One of the largest Antifa websites, It’s Going Down, is calling for a “national border resistance convergence in El Paso, Texas” starting on September 1st.

The ten day long “convergence” is being organized by multiple Antifa groups and calls for “direct action” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Local and national organizers are working together to build 10 days of trainings and direct actions for the Border Resistance Convergence in El Paso, TX – September 1-10th. We are calling on affinity groups everywhere to come together and help us address US-funded genocide and local concentration camps,” the call to action reads.

An “affinity group” is a group of militant radicals who work together.

“This convergence is being run by Indigenous & QTPOC (Queer, trans, people of color) leadership and anyone who passively or aggressively disrespects that will be asked to leave,” the website states.

Prior to the event in El Paso, Antifa is planning to hold a week long “Border Resistance Tour” in which they will train militant leftists in direct action tactics.

On the website for the protest, the organizers write that it is the “responsibility” of white people to pay for people of color to attend.

“It is the responsibility of white and privileged accomplices while attending this convergence to financially enable their more marginalized accomplices to be here,” the website’s registration form states in bold letters.

The registration form also says that white people who show up to protest with dreadlocks will be forced to cut them off, as it is seen as “cultural appropriation.”

“PS: If you come with white ‘dreads’, feathers in your hair as a colonizer, or other ‘microaggressive’ signs of cultural appropriation/disrespect, you will be asked to cut them off or leave,” the registration form says.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/antifa-calls-for-national-border-resistance-in-texas-demands-white-accomplices-pay-for-marginalized-people-to-get-there/

Trump Admin Sanctions N. Korean Nuclear Weapons Enabler

DPRK official illicitly operating weapons scheme from Vietnam

The Trump administration on Monday issued new sanctions against a North Korean official who the United States accuses of aiding Pyongyang's illicit nuclear weapons and ballistic missile research programs.

The latest disclosures indicate that a senior North Korean official sought to import and export sensitive materials through Vietnam, a matter that is rankling U.S. diplomats working to push North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table.

North Korea's illegal efforts to skirt international sanctions on its weapons of mass destruction program have occurred as the country continues efforts to test nuclear weapons in defiance of international restrictions, according to information provided by the Treasury Department.

The administration is leaving the door open to further sanctions on North Korea and those tied to its nuclear weapons program.

"Treasury continues to enforce existing sanctions against those who violate United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) and evade U.S. sanctions on North Korea's unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Sigal Mandelker, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The latest sanctions target Kim Su Il, a North Korean official tied to the country's weapons program. He is accused of skirting existing sanctions by running an illicit shipment scheme from Vietnam

"Kim Su Il has violated [United Nations Security Council Resolutions] and supports North Korea's weapons program," Mandelker said.

Kim Su Il was specifically sanctioned for his role in the sanctions evasion scheme.

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a North Korean individual operating from Vietnam, Kim Su Il, for his ties to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)," the Treasury Department said in information provided to reporters.

"Kim Su Il is also an employee of the Munitions Industry Department (MID); a WPK subordinate that is United Nations (UN)- and U.S.-designated for its involvement in key aspects of North Korea's missile program, which is subject to a range of U.S. sanctions restrictions," according to the Treasury Department. "This action reflects continued enforcement of UN and U.S. sanctions."

Kim Su Il is said to have continued his work for North Korea's munitions department while posing as a trade official in Vietnam.

The administration "designated Kim Su Il, a trading company official who works on behalf of the MID in Vietnam … for being an official of the WPK," the Treasury Department said.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-admin-sanctions-n-korean-nuclear-weapons-enabler/

Meet The New (US-Puppet) IAEA Director Who Used To Work For The State Dept – Was Amano Assassinated?

https://www.ancreport.com/report/meet-the-new-us-puppet-iaea-director-who-used-to-work-for-the-state-dept-was-amano-assassinated/

Saudi Airstrikes Hits North Yemen Market, Kills 14 Civilians

Saudis deny attack, claim Houthis attacked their own market out of spite

Saudi warplanes attacked a marketplace in the Qatabir District of northern Yemen’s Saada Province on Monday. The most recent reports are at least 14 civilians killed and 22 others wounded in the attack.

The Saada Province is a heavily Shi’ite province, which means it leans strongly toward the Houthi movement, and is a common target for Saudi airstrikes. These attacks have killed a disproportionately large number of civilians.

And even though this market was in Houthi-controlled territory, the Saudis are trying to blame the Houthis for the attack, with a spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition insisting that the Houthis attacked their own marketplace out of spite.

Hospital officials say that two children were among the slain and 11 children were among the wounded in the attack. That the Saudis are trying to deflect blame suggests this was a strike that could prove embarrassing, as generally when they kill civilians they either don’t comment at all, or argue that the marketplace or hospital or school they just bombed was a valid military target.

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/07/29/saudi-airstrikes-hits-north-yemen-market-kills-14-civilians/

Lyft COO Unexpectedly Departs After Barely Over One Year At The Company

Jon McNeill, Lyft's Chief Operating Officer, has unexpectedly left the company, according to Bloomberg.

Lyft is having so much trouble retaining a COO that the company has said it won't hire a replacement for McNeill. The company has struggled to keep top lieutenants in past years, with McNeill's predecessor, former Amazon executive Rex Tibbens, lasting less than three years.

Prior to working at Lyft, McNeill spent two and half years working at Tesla, directly under Elon Musk. His title at Tesla was president of global sales and service. Upon his hiring at Lyft, the company touted his experience and welcomed him to the "Lyft family". Since then, of course, the company has gone public and seen its stock trade about 10% lower than its IPO price.

Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer said in a email that McNeill's role and responsibilities will be reassigned to other employees, while crediting him with establishing new businesses, including car repair shops for Lyft drivers.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-29/lyft-coo-unexpectedly-departs-after-barely-over-one-year-company-0

Senior UK MP Sorry for Sharing Video About ‘Mass Murdering Rothschild Israeli Mafia Criminal Liars’

In 2015, Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan, currently serving as Labour’s shadow minister for immigration, shared a controversial Facebook video which he has since described as an “anti-Semitic conspiracy.” Jewish groups are calling for an inquiry while others say Khan should resign.

Afzal Khan, the former mayor of Manchester currently serving as Labour shadow minister of state for immigration, has said that he is “sincerely sorry” for sharing a Facebook video referring to an “Israel-British-Swiss-Rothschilds crime syndicate” and “mass murdering Rothschilds Israeli mafia criminal liars.”

The video, posted on Khan’s Facebook page four years ago, purportedly featured US Jewish comedian John Stewart, with the above text appearing subtitled under the video. Khan was contacted by the BBC to explain his actions.

“I didn’t read the text below, which contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy about the Rothschilds. I would never have shared it had I seen that,” Khan said.

“I am mortified and sincerely sorry about this genuine accident,” he added.

The post has prompted outrage after being discovered, particularly given Khan’s public record of service to encourage interfaith understanding, and his status as co-founder of the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester. Khan was awarded the CBE for his work in 2008.

Some Jewish activists and members of the Conservative Party said Khan’s apology wasn’t enough, and have called for an investigation to be held into his behaviour.

Labour Against Anti-Semitism, an inner party group which provided media with the offensive Facebook post, went further and called for Khan’s expulsion from the party, saying that Khan had previously liked a Facebook post about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn being “the target of a relentless smear campaign orchestrated by the wealthy establishment,” a post the group claimed was similarly offensive.

Khan was previously attacked by British Jewish groups over his criticism of the Israeli military during the 2014 war in Gaza, when he compared Tel Aviv’s actions to those of the Nazis. Those comments similarly prompted some Jewish activists and some MPs to call for his suspension from the party after being discovered in 2017. Khan deleted that tweet, apologised “for any offence caused,” and suggested that the episode was used to “smear” him during the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Raphi Bloom, co-chair of North West Friends of Israel, said the 2015 Facebook post was “disgraceful” and that he “would like to see action.” The Rothschilds reference in particular was a “well-known anti-Semitic trope about Jews dominating the world,” Bloom argued.

Shaden Jarad, a Conservative Party politician who ran and lost to Khan in 2017, similarly attacked the MP, saying that “if anything, we have to have higher standards for people who are on the front bench and have been in the game for so long.”

Mohammed Amin, the co-chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester, who has known Khan for 20 years, defended the MP, stressing that he was “not anti-Jewish,” even if his post did show “carelessness” and “poor judgement.”

Khan himself has previously been subjected to anti-Islamic hate, receiving a suspicious package at Westminster with a mystery liquid and a letter advocating violence against Muslims in 2018.

The Labour Party has recently been accused of fostering anti-Semitic elements and of not doing enough to root out the problem in the party. The party has vocally denied the claims, and accused opponents of ‘weaponising’ the ‘anti-Semitism’ claims in a bid to undermine Corbyn and the party.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201907291076399702-senior-uk-mp-sorry-for-sharing-video-about-mass-murdering-rothschild-israeli-mafia-criminal-liars/