ANOTHER “PEACEFUL PROTEST” Turns into Wild Riot by Antifa-BLM Mob in Miami

The Black Lives Matter and Antifa mob violently attacked the Miami police last night.

The entire scene was captured on video.

These people are causing chaos and destruction across the US today.

This was the scene last night in Miami.

** Warning on language.

The Antifa mob members are using skateboards as weapons today across the US in their protests.

It’s not clear that these people even know how to skateboard.

But they appear innocent for the liberal media.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/another-peaceful-protest-turns-wild-riot-antifa-blm-mob-miami-crazy-video/

CDC Issues New Guidance, Says Lockdowns May Be Necessary If COVID-19 Makes Dramatic Comeback: Live Updates

Summary:

Oregon delays reopening plan by a week

CDC says dramatic increase in new COVID cases might require more 'mitigation measures'

Tedros: "It's very hard to fight COVID-19 in a divided world"

Arizona sees another record jump in cases

ASU makes wearing facemasks mandatory on campus

Italy reports just 56 deaths

Cuomo bashes states where numbers are rising

NY's latest numbers in line with 7 day average

Florida reports largest jump in new cases since May 1

Kudlow says WH sees 'no evidence' of second wave

For first time, India reports more than 10k cases in a day

Delhi accused of undercounting COVID-19 deaths

WHO warns global outbreak is worsening

England sees encouraging reduction in viral spread

Brazil, Russia, Mexico, India lead surge in global cases

Brazil crosses 800k cases

Beijing delays school reopening after finding 3 new cases

• • *

Update (1317ET): As the RNC moves its upcoming convention to Jacksonville (the largest city in Florida, believe it or not) after North Carolina balked at holding such a large gathering with no social distancing protocols in place (per the president's request), Portland Gov. Kate Brown on Friday announced a one-week “pause” of her state's reopening plans after 177 new cases and two deaths were reported on Thursday. Oregon is one of 11 states that recently reached its highest seven-day rolling average of new coronavirus cases, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, though officials insist that the increase in testing is largely to blame, according to the Washington Post.

The CDC said event planners should consider several strategies, from broadcasting regular announcements about steps attendees could take to reduce the virus’s spread, to limiting seating capacity to allow for social distancing, to reconfiguring parking lots to limit congregation points. It also suggested working with local officials to identify how to separate people with covid-like symptoms, or those who have tested positive for the virus but do not have symptoms.

Separately, the CDC also laid out recommendations to help individuals reduce their own risk for infection as they resume daily activities.

Besides urging people to continue precautions such as hand-washing, wearing face coverings, and keeping six feet apart, it made specific suggestions for certain activities, including:

Going to the bank — Use drive-through services or ATMs

Hosting a cookout — Encourage people to bring their own food and drinks and identify one person to serve shareable items

Traveling overnight — Consider taking the stairs at hotels, or wait to ride alone in the elevator or only with people from your household

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-accused-undercounting-deaths-who-warns-global-outbreak-getting-worse-live

San Francisco cops banned from using tear gas, won’t respond to ‘non-criminal’ calls under police ‘demilitarization’ roadmap

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has announced a bevy of police reforms, barring officers from using tear gas and “military-grade weapons” while working to divert non-urgent calls to agencies besides law enforcement.

The city’s Democratic mayor introduced the new measures in a statement on Thursday night, previewing a “roadmap” for police reforms on the heels of weeks of mass protests over the officer-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“This reform effort will focus on reducing the need for police to be first responders for non-criminal situations, and changing the Police Department’s hiring, promotional, training, and disciplinary systems to better reflect the department's fundamental mission,” Breed’s office said.

It will also focus on demilitarizing the police and redirecting funding to invest in marginalized communities.

https://www.rt.com/usa/491593-san-francisco-police-demilitarization/

Trump campaign is selling 'Baby Lives Matter' onesies to protest abortion

They are styled after the Black Lives Matter logo

The product was originally offered as a promotion around the March for Life, CNN reported, but remains available for purchase as a limited edition item even as Black Lives Matter protests rage across the country over George Floyd's death.

Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to speak at the March for Life in January, an annual demonstration since 1973 in support of the pro-life movement.

"Proudly show you're investing in your baby's future to Make America Great Again with this incredibly soft, boutique-style one-piece," the product description on the campaign website reads.

The onesies appear to be styled after the Black Lives Matter logo:

The campaign's decision to continue selling the product — which co-opts Black Lives Matter messaging — even as protests for racial justice continue, is likely to enrage many.

Trump has expressed sympathy for George Floyd's family and has called for justice to be served against the police officers involved in his death. But he has also come down hard on the widespread violence and looting that has occurred alongside peaceful protests over the last three weeks.

In early June, he called on governors to "dominate" the rioters and looters who were taking advantage of the peaceful protests and exploiting them to pursue their own means.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-baby-lives-matter-onesie

Western Australian govt to rename King Leopold Ranges, named after ‘evil tyrant’ Belgian monarch

The local government in Western Australia is seeking to rename the King Leopold Ranges, an area of nearly 400,000 hectares of sandstone mountains named after the 19th century Belgian king blamed for Congo genocide.

Lands Minister Ben Wyatt announced the intention to rename the range to the Miluwindi Conservation Park, which better reflects the local culture and history and not the legacy of “evil tyrant” King Leopold II of Belgium.

Leopold, who ruled from 1865 to 1909, was widely blamed for the genocide of around 10 million people in the Congo during his brutal rule during which slaves were forced to extract rubber and ivory for the Belgian empire.

“It highlights the absurdity that we still have something named after someone who the Belgians do not have any kind sentiment to themselves,” Wyatt said.

“He was a nasty piece of work and we have this odd historical artefact still with us about why it is named after him.”

The ranges, named by the explorer Alexander Forrest in the late 1800s after a member of European royalty who never once visited Australia, reach over 3,200 feet in height.

The decision comes on the wave of anti-racist and anti-colonial protests worldwide, sparked by the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody and the subsequent Black Lives Matter activism in response to the killing. The statues of the king were vandalized and defaced across Belgium during demonstrations.

“The Germans would not get it into their head to erect statues of Hitler and cheer them,” said Mireille-Tsheusi Robert, an activist in Congo who welcomed the decision by the Western Australian government to rename the ranges.

https://www.rt.com/news/491651-king-leopold-ranges-australia-renamed/

British Airways, EasyJet & Ryanair sue UK government over quarantine rules with ‘no scientific evidence’

The three biggest UK airlines have launched legal action demanding to overturn the mandatory two-week quarantine for passengers arriving to Britain from overseas. The rule will devastate tourism and the economy, they said.

The two-week isolation requirement for travelers arriving in Britain came into force on Monday. People who fail to comply with the rule risk being fined £1,000 ($1,260), and police can use “reasonable force” to make sure they self-isolate.

The airlines, however, warned that the measure will have “a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs.”

There was no consultation and no scientific evidence provided for such a severe policy… The UK Government is banning people travelling to and from countries with lower infection rates than the UK.

The companies asked the government to return to its previous policy of quarantining only those passengers who come from “high risk” countries.

UK airlines were forced to cut thousands of jobs and ground the vast majority of their flights due to the pandemic. The New Economic Foundation (NEF), a British think tank, reported that at least 70,000 more jobs in the wider aviation industry will be at risk before the end of summer.

The government, meanwhile, has argued that the quarantine restrictions on arrivals are vital to prevent the further spread of Covid-19. In an op-ed in the Telegraph, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wrote that “self-isolation for those arriving is designed to prevent new cases being brought in from abroad and to prevent a second wave of the virus.”

https://www.rt.com/uk/491610-airlines-sue-government-quarantine/

UK: Police officer violently assaulted in London

Video footage of a London policeman being assaulted by an out of control assailant has surfaced and is circulating on social media.

At one point during the clip, a passerby takes a selfie as the officer is getting pummeled on the ground.

Responding to the incident, Marcus Barnett, Hackney’s Basic Command Unit Commander, said: “This is truly despicable, and society should never accept such behaviour — we are here to protect you! The officers are safe but clearly shaken and incredibly brave too. Arrests will be made… this must stop.”

https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/06/uk-police-officer-violently-assaulted-in-london-video/

ICC denounces US sanctions on war crimes investigators as ‘unacceptable interference in rule of law’

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has condemned a new round of American sanctions on officials probing potential US war crimes, saying Washington’s “threats and coercive actions” cannot be allowed to hinder the rule of law.

“These attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court's judicial proceedings,” the ICC said in a statement on Thursday, hitting back after the US slapped penalties on a number of court officials investigating war crimes allegations.

They are announced with the declared aim of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the Court's independent and objective investigations and impartial judicial proceedings.

The new US sanctions come after the ICC launched a war crimes investigation into American military personnel, finding reason to believe such acts had been carried out overseas in a preliminary report. Washington has repeatedly slammed the probe, even denying a travel visa to a top ICC investigator, Fatou Bensouda, while vowing further retaliation should the court continue its work.

https://www.rt.com/news/491590-icc-us-sanctions-response/

Hungary Sees 5.5 Per Cent Birthrate Increase After Enacting Pro-Family Policies

Hungary has seen a 5.5 per cent increase in births since last year after the country enacted pro-family policies.

State Secretary for Family and Youth Affairs Katalin Novák announced on Thursday that Hungary had seen a rise in both the number of births and a 5.7 per cent rise in the fertility rate in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019.

“Good news again!” she stated added that marriages have also increased with one-and-a-half more marriages recorded this year compared to the previous year.

The report comes after Hungary passed pro-family legislation last year that included a Family Protection Action Plan which increased government spending on families by 224 billion Hungarian Forints (£619 million).

“Europe is at a crossroads. Western Europe seeks to address the problem of demography with simple solutions which only offer short-term success, but convey catastrophic consequences in the long run,” a government spokesman told Breitbart London last year.

“What we need is not numbers, but Hungarian children: we’re not seeking to sustain an economic system, but Hungary, the Hungarian nation and Hungarian history; we want to encourage the continuation of our families for several generations,” the spokesman added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been a major advocate of pro-family policies to increase his country’s birthrate as opposed to mass migration.

“Demographic crisis must be solved by powerful state efforts, we must have a demography-focused policy-making,” he said in September of last year. He added: “When we talk about family and family subsidies, we support traditional families.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/12/hungary-5-5-per-cent-birthrate-increase-pro-family-policies/

Mexican Marines Fight Off Cartel Ambush

A team of cartel gunmen ambushed a squad of Mexican Marines as they patrolled western portions of the country. Two died and two more suffered injuries. The ambush is the second of its kind in the region in a matter of days.

The attack took place this week in Chinicuila, Michoacán, near the coastal state of Colima. Information provided to Breitbart Texas revealed the Marines were assigned to a National Guard detachment investigating the theft of heavy machinery when gunmen believed to be from Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) ambushed.

A video recorded by the military forces captured the intensity of the shootout as the Marines sought cover and returned fire.

The ambush is the second of its kind in a matter of days. Over the weekend, another group of gunmen attacked a squad of Marines near the town of Villa Victoria, Michoacán. Forces managed to kill three gunmen and arrest one more.

The region is seeing a heavy presence of CJNG forces as they try to take control from members of the Viagras-Familia Michoacana Cartel.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/06/12/video-mexican-marines-fight-off-cartel-ambush/

Nine Shot in Mexican Border State Drug Packaging House

MONTERREY, Nuevo Leon – A shooting at a house being used to package drugs left six dead while three others sustained serious injuries. The incident comes as rival criminal organizations fight for the regional drug trade.

The shootout took place earlier this week at a stash house operated by members of the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas in the Mirador del Parque neighborhood.

CDN-Los Zetas members were packaging drugs for street-level distribution when rivals stormed the house. The gunmen shot everyone to include eight men and one woman.

It remains unclear if the CDN-Los Zetas tried to fight back. Crime scene investigators did find a revolver on the floor.

Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that the gunmen are likely members of one of the independent groups fighting for local turf. The gunmen knew when CDN-Los Zetas would be present, say sources.

Independent dealers in the Monterrey metropolitan area have joined forces against the CDN-Los Zetas. The power struggle has led to a spike in targeted murders. One of the main organizations is known as “Los Billy’s.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/06/11/graphic-nine-shot-in-mexican-border-state-drug-packaging-house/

Fired State Department IG Steve Linick Sent Confidential Info to His Personal Email Accounts Fueling Speculation He Was Behind Leaks to Media

State Department Inspector General and Deep State hack Steve Linick was fired last month.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fired the anti-Trump Obama holdover.

Linick played a role in the faux impeachment of President Trump over Ukraine.

Linick requested an urgent meeting with Congressional Democrat staffers. During the meeting Linick handed over documents related to the Trump administration and Ukraine.

Steve Linick was also investigating the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia despite congressional opposition, according to a senior Democratic lawmaker.

Now this…

A DOD investigation found that between March 2019 and September 2019 Steve Linick sent 23 confidential emails from his State Department email account to his personal Gmail account.

Several of the sensitive emails he forwarded to his personal Gmail account were related to an investigation into the State Department’s top Iran official, Brian Hook.

Information related to the investigation into Hook were leaked to the media, fueling speculation Linick was behind the leaks, according to the investigation.

Via the Free Beacon:

The State Department inspector general whose recent dismissal ignited a political firestorm sent copies detailing a sensitive investigation to his personal email account, according to a probe into his conduct run by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

The inquiry report, dated March 17, confirms that fired State Department inspector general Steve Linick was the subject of a broad investigation related to the leaks of politically charged materials to journalists, specifically a draft evaluation report into Brian Hook, the State Department’s top Iran official. The report, which was provided to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, concluded that while Linick was permitted to send information to his personal email account to facilitate access while traveling, he was the only official in that office to have done so. The disclosure is likely to raise new questions about Linick’s suspected role in leaking sensitive information to the press.

Last month House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that President Trump’s firing of Obama holdover State Department Inspector General Steve Linick “could be unlawful.”

Pelosi said Congress will be looking into the firing of Linick.

Will Pelosi call for Linick to be prosecuted if it is confirmed he was behind unauthorized leaks to the media? Probably not.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/fired-state-department-ig-steve-linick-sent-confidential-info-personal-email-accounts-fueling-speculation-behind-leaks-media/

US General Talks Down Afghan Pullout, Blames Taliban

Says Taliban haven't met conditions

There have always been Pentagon brass not on board for a pullout, among them Gen. Frank McKenzie. Today, the general downplayed the idea of a pullout, saying the Taliban had yet to meet certain conditions.

Broadly, this is based on allegations of al-Qaeda being in Afghanistan. That’s being pushed by the Ghani government, itself no fan of the pullout.

Vagueries in the deal were always seen as providing pretexts for the US to slow or stop the pullout. With the US ahead of schedule it is only now that doubts are growing.

Still, President Trump has advocated the drawdown, and until that changes it is unlikely that this will be any more than talk.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/06/11/us-general-talks-down-afghan-pullout-blames-taliban/

Annexation would destroy Israel-Arab normalisation efforts, warns UAE

Further unilateral Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory would destroy any hopes for rapprochement between the Zionist state and the Arab world, warned the UAE Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba, in a first ever op-ed for an Israeli newspaper.

Writing in the largest Hebrew daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, Al-Otaiba, who is also minister of state, acknowledged that the UAE had played a key role in the Arab world’s recent embrace of Israel but all that would be undone by Israel’s planned annexation in July.

“A unilateral and illegal seizure of Palestinian land defies the international consensus on the Palestinian right to self-determination,” said Al-Otaiba, while warning that it “will send shockwaves around the region, especially in Jordan, whose stability — often taken for granted — benefits the entire region, particularly Israel.”

In his piece, published today, Al-Otaiba, one of a few Arab leaders to support President Donald Trump’s ‘peace plan’, said that the UAE had long “promoted engagement and conflict reduction, helped to create incentives-carrots rather than sticks — and focused attention on the collective benefits for all parties.” He cited Abu Dhabi’s listing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and condemnation of Hamas, to support his suggestion that the UAE had played a serious role in advancing peace.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200612-annexation-would-destroy-israel-arab-normalisation-efforts-warns-uae/

Hawkish, Gov’t Funded Think Tank Behind Twitter Decision to Delete Thousands of Chinese Accounts

Twitter’s decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia’s former ambassador in Beijing as “the architect of the China threat theory in Australia.”

Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda. Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media? Not quite. Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority (95 percent) had fewer than eight followers, with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever.

Twitter accused the accounts of “spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China,” pushing “deceptive narratives” on the Hong Kong protests, praising China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and “antagonizing” the U.S. If this is the basis for removal, it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent.

Despite the impression given in mainstream media, the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing’s “leadership” and “commitment to transparency,” in the World Health Organization’s words. “I have never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government,” said the organization’s Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Michael Ryan, “The challenge is great, but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit.” Likewise, the editors of The Lancet, the world’s most prestigious medical journal, published a statement saluting the “diligent,” “effective” and “rapid” Chinese response and “strongly condemn conspiracy theories” pushed by U.S. officials like Senator Tom Cotton, that the virus’ origin was man-made. Likewise, only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests, with that number being far lower in Mainland China. Is taking a different line on the protests or China’s COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules? In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the platforms explicitly said it was, and deleted a great number of posts and accounts.

Pushing “a new Cold War with China”

Twitter worked closely with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in making yesterday’s decision. ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra, and was denounced by Australia’s former ambassador in Beijing as “the architect of the China threat theory in Australia.” Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington, trying to push “a new Cold War with China.” Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr (no relation), agreed, saying it pushed a “one-sided, pro-American view of the world.” This certainly seems to be the case, judging by their website, which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China.

Perhaps most notable, however, is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies, including Raytheon Australia, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China. And as The Grayzone’s Ajit Singh pointed out, ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings, who defended the Iraq War, supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states, and argued that “the West is setting the bar for military response too high”.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/hawkish-think-tank-twitter-decision-delete-chinese-accounts/268524/

Republicans start bracing for shutdown fight in run-up to election

Senate Republicans are growing concerned that rising tensions between President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could lead to a shutdown fight just weeks before the election and threaten their slim majority in the chamber.

There is widespread anxiety among GOP senators that Trump’s penchant for picking fights is a political liability as his response to nationwide protests against police brutality appears to be the cause of his declining approval ratings.

Republicans are now worried that he’s likely to pick a fight with Pelosi in September over government funding for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Trump and Pelosi’s relationship has only gotten worse since the 35-day government shutdown at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019. The president regularly refers to her as "Crazy Nancy," and last month Pelosi called him "morbidly obese."

GOP lawmakers say the last thing they need a few weeks before the Nov. 3 election is a spending standoff and possible government shutdown, especially with 23 Republican Senate seats up for reelection and only 12 Democratic seats at stake.

The Senate has yet to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills. In the House, Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) announced that she intends to hold all subcommittee and full committee markups the weeks of July 6 and July 13.

Some Senate Republicans are discussing moving legislation that would prevent a government shutdown even if the annual appropriations bills haven’t been passed. The GOP senators say they’ve gotten a commitment from GOP leaders for a vote in the coming weeks.

“There’s some of us that would like to get back on that,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said after Republicans discussed it at a recent lunch meeting. “It has to do with the general dysfunction that we have here.”

He said Thursday the goal is to “get something in place before” a shutdown scenario arises and “to have it there where you get rid of shutting down the government as a lever that can be used by whoever chooses to do it.”

Braun added that there’s strong Republican support for the legislation, but it faces an uphill path to securing support from Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats who worry that automatically defaulting to long-term stopgap spending measures could take pressure off Congress to pass new spending bills every year.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has previously opposed legislation that would permanently enact appropriations if Congress failed to act or the president vetoed spending legislation.

Some moderate Democrats, however, have expressed support in the past for legislation to prevent future shutdowns.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/502395-republicans-start-bracing-for-shutdown-fight-in-run-up-to-election

WRONG WRAY: Disturbing Photos Emerge of FBI Agents Taking a Knee to Appease Domestic Terrorists

How the mighty hath fallen. The FBI used to be the number one law enforcement agency of the face of the Earth. That is no longer true. Under the leadership of Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Christopher Wray, they have become a bad joke on the American people.

Last week, AG Bill Barr said that Antifa and other domestic terrorists had taken over the peaceful demonstrations, but the FBI obviously didn’t get the memo. A group of FBI officials took a knee in subservience to the rioters and the looters and the vandals that badly damaged some of our most precious national monuments.

Former Rep Bob Barr wrote:

“The FBI now has morphed into a pale reflection of its former self — almost a parody. Last week, in a scene I never dreamt I would see, a group of FBI personnel were photographed kneeling before some of the protesters who had wreaked havoc on the streets of our nation’s capital city. The kneelers all wore protective vests with “FBI” emblazoned thereon and were equipped with holstered sidearms.”

https://truepundit.com/wrong-wray-disturbing-photos-emerge-as-fbi-agents-take-a-knee-to-domestic-terrorists/

String Of Attacks On US Forces And Facilities Continues In Iraq

Last night, two rockets struck the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The heavily fortified area houses some of the main Iraqi government offices and the US embassy. There were no immediate reports about casualties. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, Saraya Thorat Al-Ashrin Al-Thani, one of Iraq’s many anti-US groups, which have surfaced since the start of the year, released two videos claiming that these show attacks on convoys carried out using US equipment. According to the group, the attacks took place on May 20 and June 6. The impact of the attacks remains unclear.

Military bases housing US troops across Iraq and the U.S. embassy have frequently been targeted by mortar and rocket attacks over the post months. According to US officials, most of these have been carried out by Iranian-backed forces.

Iraqi-U.S. relations have been witnessing tensions since January 3 when a US drone struck a convoy at Baghdad airport, killing Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. This attack escalated tensions in the region and led to a large-scale Iranian missile attack on US military bases in Iraq. The Iraqi Parliament also demanded that the US withdraw its troops from the country. Washington rejected the demand and threatened Iraq with sanctions if it is forced to withdraw its forces.

On June 11, US and Iraqi officials will be holding another meeting to discuss the current state of Iraqi-US relations and the issue of US troop withdrawal from the country. However, it remains highly unlikely that Washington will back down from its de-facto occupation of the country.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces continue their anti-ISIS raids in eastern Homs and southern Raqqah in central Syria. According to pro-government sources, over 10 ISIS members have been neutralized in the framework of these efforts since the start of the month.

On June 10, a unit of the Syrian Army and pro-government locals blocked a US military convoy and forced it to retreat near the village of Dardara in the province of Hasakah. Separately, a US military patrol was blocked by the Russian Military Police near Qamishli. At least one US vehicle broke down when it went off road to bypass the Russians.

https://thesaker.is/string-of-attacks-on-us-forces-and-facilities-continues-in-iraq/

Netanyahu retweets statement urging jailing of journalist for reporting on him

Premier’s coalition partner Gantz pushes back on statement that ‘in a proper world Raviv Drucker would go to jail,’ says role of a free press is to scrutinize those in power

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said a journalist should be jailed for an investigative report on a bribery case the premier is facing criminal charges in, prompting pushback Thursday from Defense Minister Benny Gantz and other members of the government.

After Wednesday’s broadcast of Channel 13’s investigate news program “HaMakor,” Likud issued a tweet — which was retweeted by Netanyahu — accusing the network of failing to ask the party for comment or air its response to a report by journalist Ravid Drucker.

The tweet, which Likud said was its response to the report, included a video statement railing against Channel 13 and Drucker, accusing “fake 13 of censoring the truth.”

“Raviv Drucker is continuing this evening to carry out a criminal field trial against Prime Minister Netanyahu: obstructing court proceedings, threatening state witnesses, all with the goal of trying to tilt the opinion of the judges,” the party said.

The report centered on Case 4000, in which the premier is accused of approving regulatory moves benefiting the controlling shareholder of Bezeq telecoms in exchange for positive news coverage from the company’s Walla news site. Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the case.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-says-journalist-should-be-jailed-for-report-on-netanyahus-graft-case/

Investigation Reveals How Cuomo and De Blasio Made the Coronavirus Pandemic Worse

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was celebrated in the early weeks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His approval ratings shot up and his conflicts with President Trump had some on the left toying with the idea of drafting Cuomo to replace Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in November. And then the New York City area became a coronavirus hotspot, not just in the United States, but the hotspot of the world, and the combined failures of Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were suddenly too difficult to deny.

A Wall Street Journal investigation published Thursday details how their response “was marred by missed warning signs and policies that many health-care workers say put residents at greater risk and led to unnecessary deaths.”

In the first few days of March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio assured New Yorkers things were under control. On March 2, Mr. de Blasio tweeted that people should go see a movie.

Only after the disease had gripped the city’s low-income neighborhoods in early March did Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio mobilize public and private hospitals to create more beds and intensive-care units. The hasty expansion that ensued, led by New York government leaders and hospital administrators, produced mistakes that helped worsen the crisis, health-care workers say.

And the disaster of their failed leadership can be seen in the numbers. “New York state’s death toll of 30,575 accounted for 7% of the world’s deaths and 27% of American deaths as of June 11, according to Johns Hopkins University data.”

To investigate exactly what went wrong, the Wall Street Journal spoke with “nearly 90 front-line doctors, nurses, health-care workers, hospital administrators, and government officials, and reviewed emails, legal documents, and memos, to analyze what went wrong.”

They identified seven missteps: improper patient transfers; insufficient isolation protocols; inadequate staff planning; mixed messages between state, city government, and hospital officials; overreliance on government sources for key equipment; procurement-planning gaps; and Incomplete staff-protection policies.

At times it also seemed that Governor Cuomo was completely unaware of his state’s actual needs. He requested 40,000 ventilators and blamed Trump for not providing enough. “You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die,” Cuomo dramatically said during a press conference.

Cuomo didn’t get 40,000, because the Trump administration used realtime data from hospitals to estimate the needs of each state, and this method successfully provided enough ventilators to meet the needs of the states, which was fewer than 6,000. Anyone who needed a ventilator got one.

The Wall Street Journal notes that “leaders in states like California and Ohio acted quickly to contain the spread,” Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio “delayed taking measures to close the state and city even as the number of cases swelled, despite warnings from doctors, nurses and schoolteachers.”

The failures of Cuomo and de Blasio largely get a pass from the media, which seems intent on blaming Trump for the pandemic and those who died because of it. It’s about time they start answering for it.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/06/12/investigation-reveals-how-cuomo-and-de-blasio-made-the-coronavirus-pandemic-worse-n519571

John Bolton Book: Trump Just Interested In Reelection, Approaches Foreign Policy Like A Real Estate Deal

“The Room Where It Happened, a White House Memoir,” is scheduled for publication June 23 but does not yet have White House approval

The book is expected to be the most scathing account yet from a former high-level administration official

Bolton says Trump's approach to the presidency is "stunning" in comparison to his Republican predecessors

Former national security adviser John Bolton says in his forthcoming book the only thing President Trump cares about is getting reelected – even if his tactics endanger the nation, a press release issued by Simon & Schuster alleges. He says Trump committed Ukraine-like transgressions throughout U.S. foreign policy.

Publication of the book, “The Room Where It Happened, a White House Memoir,” has been held up for months, with the White House still balking at clearing it. It has been reviewing the transcript since late last year.

The book is tentatively scheduled for publication June 23 and is expected to be the most detailed criticism yet from a former high-level administration official.

“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” Bolton writes, adding that Trump’s approach to the presidency was “stunning” in contrast to his Republican predecessors. Bolton also served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations.

Bolton initially balked at testifying before House impeachment investigators but later said he would be willing to testify at Trump’s Senate trial. Republican senators, however, voted against calling any witnesses.

Trump was accused of abusing the power of his office, trying to leverage military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation by Kyiv into presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over the latter’s relationship with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Bolton’s book alleges the House committed malpractice by focusing narrowly on Ukraine since there was so much else that should have been investigated.

Bolton, known as a prolific note-taker and hawk, says Trump approaches international relationships the same way he would approach a real estate deal, concentrating on personal relationships and showmanship to advance his personal interests. The result, Bolton says, are deepening threats from the likes of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Bolton, who is well respected in Republican foreign policy circles, has said he resigned but Trump insisted he fired Bolton because the two “disagreed strongly” on issues. Bolton also reportedly clashed with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and several other administration figures.

In recent months, Bolton criticized Trump’s decisions on troop reductions and the agreement signed with the Taliban but seemed to give pointers to the administration on reaction to China’s handling of the coronavirus and dealing with Iran.

https://www.ibtimes.com/john-bolton-book-trump-just-interested-reelection-approaches-foreign-policy-real-2992877

Trump responds to Biden's claim that he'll try to steal the election: 'Joe's not all there'

President Trump on Friday pushed back against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for claiming the commander in chief would try to steal the election.

“Look, Joe's not all there. Everybody knows. And it's sad when you look at it and you see it, you see it for yourself. He's created his own sanctuary city in the basement or wherever he is and he doesn't come out,” Trump told Harris Faulkner on “Outnumbered Overtime.”

The commander in chief went on to say, “And certainly if I don't win, I don't win.”

Trump reacted to former Vice President Biden telling Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" Wednesday night that "my single greatest concern [is that] this president is going to try to steal this election. This is a guy who said that all mail-in ballots are fraudulent … while he sits behind the desk in the Oval Office and writes his mail-in ballot to vote in a primary."

If Trump refuses to concede, Biden told host Trevor Noah, “I am absolutely convinced they [the military] will escort him from the White House with great dispatch.”

Trump said that losing the election would be a “very sad thing for our country” because Democrats' policies entail "getting rid of police departments" or "doing nothing" to address the rioting.

Furthermore, Trump said that Americans are "getting a glimpse of liberal policies" in the wake of the protests against George Floyd’s police-involved death.

“It was all very liberal mayors, radical left mayors, all of these places,” Trump said.

“It was not that they were not in Republican cities. They were all in cities that frankly, I think I have a chance to win many of those cities. But these were all cities run by radical lefts Democrats. And I think it's a very sad thing that would happen."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-responds-biden-try-steal-election-joes-not-all-there

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rakes in Cash from Lawyer Who Pushed to Suppress Police Shooting Video

Pete Buttigieg came under heavy fire last year for donations from the same attorney

Congressional Black Caucus chair Karen Bass (D., Calif.), who is leading Democratic police reform efforts, accepted thousands from an attorney who worked to block the release of a video showing the fatal police shooting of a black teenager.

Chicago attorney Steve Patton sent the maximum primary contribution of $2,800 to Bass's campaign and another $2,800 to the Democrat's joint fundraising committee this cycle. Patton was the Chicago city hall attorney who tried to suppress the dash-cam recording depicting the events that led to 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's death in 2014. Failed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced intense scrutiny last year after it was discovered that he had taken campaign cash from the lawyer. Buttigieg returned the money and canceled a fundraiser following a media firestorm.

Bass is now leading the congressional charge for federal police reform following the death of George Floyd. The California congresswoman has said reforms will come quickly and will focus on "accountability." She was among a handful of Democratic politicians to unveil a bill earlier this week aimed at overhauling police practices. At a Monday press conference, Bass said that no one should have to see "the slow murder of an individual by a uniformed police officer."

Patton pushed to make sure no one saw video of the murder of McDonald. In 2014—when he worked for then-mayor Rahm Emanuel—Patton fought the release of the video evidence that ultimately led to the conviction of Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago cop who shot the black teenager 16 times. The event set off protests across Chicago.

Chicago police had maintained that McDonald was armed with a knife and "lunged" at the officers prior to Van Dyke opening fire. One year after the event, however, a judge ordered the video's release. The footage showed McDonald walking away from the officers and carrying a pocket knife. Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

The case found itself back in the national spotlight last year when the Associated Press reported that Patton had given campaign contributions to Buttigieg and was set to cohost a fundraiser for the South Bend mayor.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/congressional-black-caucus-chair-rakes-in-cash-from-lawyer-who-pushed-to-suppress-police-shooting-video/

Former UK prime minister calls for coronavirus digital IDs to prove ‘disease status’

'Unless you're able to record some of this data in a way that people can use it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal in things like transport,' said Tony Blair.

UNITED KINGDOM, June 11, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for the creation of digital IDs to track “disease status” as part of the plans for restarting international travel after the global coronavirus crisis.

Blair, who now leads the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said in a recorded message digital IDs were a “natural evolution of the way that we're going to use technology in any event to transact daily life, and this covid crisis gives an additional reason for doing that.”

“I could be wrong about this, but when I can look at for example how you restart some businesses, how you restart international travel…I think people's disease status, for example have they been tested? What is the result of that test? Have they had the disease? Do they have the disease? I think unless you're able to record some of this data in a way that people can use it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal in things like transport,” Blair said.

An article published in Forbes last month said that future air travel could involve “no cabin bags, no lounges, no automatic upgrades, face masks, surgical gloves, self-check-in, self-bag-drop-off, immunity passports, on-the-spot blood tests and sanitation disinfection tunnels.”

“Digital technologies and automation will play a critical role in the future of air travel,” Forbes predicted.

“The need to reduce ‘touchpoints’ at airports implies mandatory use of biometric boarding that allows passengers to board planes with only their face as a passport.”

The Forbes article noted that a number of airlines including British Airways, Qantas, and EasyJet are already using the technology.

Earlier this week an article published in The Guardian warned that proof of immunity to the coronavirus could be used to create “a new class system.”

“Experts predict that if [coronavirus] survivors are found to be immune, they could perform a range of jobs and services – such as volunteering in hospitals and nursing homes, caring for coronavirus patients and working in shops and food processing plants – risk-free,” journalist Miranda Bryant wrote.

“And, depending on how authorities, business and society at large respond, they could also be entitled to greater freedoms.”

Bryant pointed to Chile issuing “release certificates” to people who “complete quarantine after testing positive” for the coronavirus and comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Ezekiel J Emanuel supporting the idea of immunity “certificates” or “passports.”

Emanuel is advising former Vice President and 2020 candidate Joe Biden. Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades and is one of the top people leading President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/former-uk-prime-minister-calls-for-coronavirus-digital-ids-to-prove-disease-status

How Google is Manipulating COVID Related Search Results

Amazingly, most users of Google still don’t understand the powerful spell that the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME) holds over their minds and behavior.

When it comes to COVID, it’s no less egregious, and it’s more important now than ever to question everything: https://questioningcovid.com/

Referenced material:

https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/google-just-obliterated-natural-and-health-freedom-websites-its-search-results-wh

https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/how-google-uses-mind-control-tactics-promote-pro-vaccine-industry-propaganda https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/did-googles-manipulation-sway-vaccine-legislation

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=covid%20is%20a%20scam,covid%20is%20almost%20over

https://www.blog.google/products/search/how-google-autocomplete-works-search/

Join my free newsletter at Greenmedinfo.com https://www.greenmedinfo.com/newsletter

Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sayergmi/?hl=en

Sayer Ji is founder of Greenmedinfo.com, a reviewer at the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, Co-founder and CEO of Systome Biomed, Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Health Federation, Steering Committee Member of the Global Non-GMO Foundation.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/06/how-google-is-manipulating-covid-related-search-results.html

France Urges US to Reconsider Its ICC Sanctions, Calls Step Attack on States Party to Rome Statute

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order authorising economic sanctions and travel restrictions against those International Criminal Court (ICC) workers involved in probing American troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.

The US decision to impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court employees is an attack on states party to the Rome Statute, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday.

He added that the US decision may put into question the independence of the judicial system and called on the US to withdraw its sanctions.

On 11 June, US President Donald Trump imposed economic sanctions and travel restrictions against those ICC employees who are involved in investigating US troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.

In March, the ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by parties to the Afghan conflict, including the US military.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202006121079597319-france-urges-us-to-reconsider-its-icc-sanctions-calls-step-attack-on-states-party-to-rome-statute/