Russia Can Play Crucial Role in Calming China-India Conflict

The timing of a Russia-India-China summit next week could not be more apt following a deadly skirmish in the disputed Himalayan region which resulted in dozens of military casualties.

The summit scheduled for June 22 of the RIC (Russia-India-China) group was initiated weeks ago by Moscow. It will be held by teleconference between the foreign ministers. The event predates the flare-up in dangerous tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.

At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed earlier this week in hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese forces. It was the deadliest incident in more than half a century since the two Asian powers fought a brief war in 1962 over similar border dispute. There are dozens of casualties also reported on the Chinese side, but Beijing has not officially confirmed numbers.

New Delhi and Beijing immediately expressed willingness at the highest level to deescalate the tensions. There is mutual recognition that further clashes could spin disastrously out of control between the nuclear-armed states.

However, the acrimony will not be easy to contain. Both sides have blamed the other for aggression following the bloody incident on Monday-Tuesday night. There is popular anger in both nations with Indian protesters burning images of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Reports say hundreds of soldiers were engaged in a pitched battle using rocks, clubs and knives after opposing units became involved in a brawl in the high-altitude Galwan Valley. Many soldiers were thrown to their deaths from treacherous slopes.

Indian and Chinese forces patrol the disputed 3,500-km Line of Actual Control between the two countries with competing territorial claims. A bilateral agreement stipulates that the rival units are unarmed in order to reduce risk of conflict.

Confrontations have increased in recent years with both sides accusing the other of encroachment. Following a border skirmish in May, Indian and Chinese army commanders negotiated a de-escalation deal earlier this month. Now both sides are accusing each other of bad faith.

The RIC summit may provide a path for New Delhi and Beijing to find a way out of escalation. One crucial factor is Russia’s respected standing with both powers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cordial relations with both Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping. Moscow can be trusted to act as an honest broker to facilitate dialogue for resolving the long-running territorial dispute between India and China, a dispute which goes back to the legacy of the British Empire and the contested borders it bequeathed.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/21/russia-can-play-crucial-role-in-calming-china-india-conflict/

Unidentified Gunmen Raid Sham Legion Headquarters In Idlib, Kill Field Commander

On June 21, unidentified gunmen raided a headquarters of the Turkish-backed Sham Legion in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.

The gunmen stormed the headquarters, that is located in the town of Killi near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, in the early hours of the morning. The Sham Legion’s militants clashed with the gunmen inside the headquarters. As a result, one of the militants was killed.

Opposition activists revealed that the slain militant was a field commander and a so-called “Emir” of the Sham Legion. His name was not revealed.

In the last two months, several positions and headquarters of the Sham Legion were attacked by unidentified gunmen. In most cases, the attackers stole vehicles, weapons and equipment without killing anyone.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Greater Idlib, is a main suspect in these attacks. HTS is known to be involved in a conflict with the Sham Legion, which has been supporting the Turkish military in its mission to implement the March 5 agreement with Russia.

https://southfront.org/unidentified-gunmen-raid-sham-legion-headquarters-in-idlib-kill-field-commander/

CHAZ Shooting Victim’s Brother Claims Criminal Protesters ‘Hid’ His Brother From Him While He Was Dying

The brother of CHAZ/CHOP shooting victim Lorenzo Anderson has claimed that the “protesters” hid his brother from him as he laid dying inside a tent.

The shooting inside the Seattle “autonomous zone” took place on Saturday morning. Two people were struck by the gunfire, which left 19-year-old Anderson dead.

Speaking to a livestreamer, the brother of Anderson said that the “protesters” hid his brother from him while he was dying.

The brother says that he got the call about the shooting around 1 a.m. and rushed down there. He found that the police had not even arrived yet. Local station Q13 reports that “when attempting to respond, people inside the occupied zone in Capitol Hill known now as the ‘CHOP’ would not let police gain access to the scene. Because of this, emergency officials were not able to respond either, officials said.”

“My little brother was in a tent. They hid my little brother from me for the longest — I thought my little brother was at a hospital,” he said. “I didn’t see where they had my little brother at until about 9 o’clock this morning. The table was covered in blood.”

The brother claimed that “protesters” told him that the blood did not belong to his brother, but he pointed out that the other shooting victim drove themselves to the hospital and that his brother was the only one who was bleeding out at CHAZ.

“Why did they lie to me about what was on that table?” he asked.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/chaz-shooting-victims-brother-claims-criminal-protesters-hid-brother-dying/

Seattle Official Peddles Conspiracy Theory That CHOP Shooting Was Right-Wing Attack

A leftist Seattle councilwoman who embedded herself in the front lines of the city's George Floyd protests - which culminated in the establishment of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (now called the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP) - has suggested that a deadly shooting in the anarchist district might have been a "right-wing attack."

In a late Saturday statement, Kshama Sawant wished her "deepest condolences" after the shooting which left one protester dead and another in critical condition.

"Socialist Alternative and I stand in solidarity with the family and friends of the victim, and with the injured protester now in the hospital, as well as with all community members and fellow activists," she said, before delving into her conspiracy theory.

"Though we await confirmation of the details of the killing, there are indications that this may have been a right-wing attack. If so, this would not be the first such attack on the Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter protest."

If this killing turns out to be a right-wing attack, President Trump bears direct responsibility, since he has fomented reactionary hatred specifically against the peaceful Capitol Hill occupation, and even threatened to intervene with federal troops. -Kshama Sawant

She then blamed "conservative and corporate media outlets" which have "whipped up right-wing hate by completely misrepresenting the nature of the peaceful protest occupation," (policed by a warlord who's been arming young protesters with semiautomatic rifles from the trunk of his Tesla).

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/seattle-official-peddles-conspiracy-theory-chop-shooting-was-right-wing-attack

Military Situation In Libya On June 21, 2020 (Map Update)

A brief overview of the recent developments in Libya:

According to the SOHR, more than 2 600 Turkish-backed Syrian militants returned from Libya where they were fighting for GNA;

The U.S. Africa Command released new photos of what it claimed to be Russian warplanes deployed in Libya;

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that any Egyptian intervention in Libya has international legitimacy and ordered his army to be ready for missions inside or outside Egypt.

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-libya-on-june-21-2020-map-update/

CA Dems Want $20 Million to Enforce Anti-Gig Law Amid Budget Crisis

Critics say law will exacerbate $54 billion deficit, economic downturn

California Democrats allocated $20 million in a recently passed budget to enforce a controversial labor law that some experts say has hampered the state's economy and pandemic response.

The budget, which passed the Democrat-controlled state legislature on a party-line vote, provides $20 million to enforce Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), a law that limits employers' ability to classify workers as independent contractors. The money is divvied up between three state agencies—the Department of Justice, Department of Industrial Relations, and Employment Development Department—to conduct audits, carry out prosecutions, and levy fines and penalties on employers. Republican assemblyman Kevin Kiley said that ramped up enforcement will only hurt businesses struggling in the wake of statewide shutdown orders tied to the coronavirus.

"That's what the money is for, specifically—to go after small businesses and independent contractors at a time when they're struggling more than they ever have before," Kiley told the Washington Free Beacon.

The budget provision comes as the state faces an impending $54 billion fiscal deficit. Democratic governor Gavin Newsom revised his initial $222 billion budget proposal in May, saying that he would fund only the "most essential priorities." The $20 million allocated to enforce AB5 survived the chopping block in the $143 billion budget passed by the assembly and state senate. Newsom, who did not respond to a request for comment, slashed education funding and said that first responders would be "the first ones to be laid off."

The budget proposal sparked criticism from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), who said that the proposal will hurt his constituents. He called the multimillion-dollar allocation for enforcement "disappointing, but not at all surprising." He criticized state leaders for misplacing their priorities and refusing to adapt to the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic.

"Gig economy workers have felt the ramifications of this legislation for months now, and the coronavirus pandemic has only made securing work that much more difficult," he told the Free Beacon. "California's independent contractors deserve a government that can adapt to unanticipated challenges, not one that exacerbates problems by continuing to pursue a half-baked idea."

Democratic leadership in the state assembly and senate did not respond to requests for comment.

Newsom has until June 30 to sign the budget into law.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/ca-dems-want-20-million-to-enforce-anti-gig-law-amid-budget-crisis/

Justin Bieber Fans Shocked by Twitter Rape Allegations

Earlier Hollywood star Ansel Elgort was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old woman back in 2014, claims the “Baby Driver” actor has denied. Now several other girls have come forward to cast similar accusations against Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.

The rape allegations against Justin Bieber have caused a stir on Twitter, with many netizens dismissing them as untrue and coming to the singer’s defence.

On Saturday, a woman named Danielle revealed on Twitter that she was raped by the Canadian star back in 2014 at the Four Season Hotel. The woman, who refused to reveal her second name “for personal reasons”, said that the assault happened after an event at Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden in Austin, Texas on 9 March, 2014.

She then described the events of the night she was allegedly raped, claiming that she was 21 at the time of the assault. Daniella said that the alleged sexual act happened without her consent, but admitted kissing the singer back at one point before it took place. Justin Bieber was dating Selena Gomez at the time.

Shortly after the tweet, another woman called Kadi came forward with similar allegations against the singer, claiming that she had also been raped by Bieber on 4 May 2015 after she got invited to the Langham hotel where he was staying. According to the girl, the sexual assault happened despite her calls to stop and worries that she should not have sex with anyone before marriage due to her traditional upbringing. The alleged victim said that she was not ready to speak up about the assault earlier fearing the disgrace it could bring to her family.

“I remained silent until last year in 2017 when I saw the me too movement”, she wrote, while sharing screenshots of her conversations with people about the alleged assault.

More

https://sputniknews.com/viral/202006211079682554-two-women-accuse-justin-bieber-of-rape-on-twitter/

Prostitution, Sex Trafficking Website That Took Over For Backpage Shut Down; Owner Indicted

DALLAS — The website CityXGuide.com — a leading source of online advertisements for prostitution and sex trafficking that users described as “taking over from where Backpage left off” — has been seized and its owner charged in a 28-count federal indictment.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assigned to HSI Dallas conducted the investigation. The North Texas Trafficking Task Force spearheaded the investigation with the assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, the Colleyville Police Department as well as HSI El Paso (Texas), HSI San Jose (California) and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Wilhan Martono, 46, was indicted June 2 on one count of promotion of prostitution and reckless disregard of sex trafficking, one count of interstate racketeering conspiracy (facilitating prostitution), nine counts of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering (facilitating prostitution), and 17 counts of money laundering. On June 17, HSI and U.S. Secret Service agents arrested him in Fremont, California.

Shortly after the defendant’s arrest, CityXGuide was replaced with a splash page notifying users that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had seized the website pursuant to a warrant.

According to the indictment, Martono allegedly netted more than $21 million off a suite of illicit websites promoting prostitution and sex trafficking. He allegedly registered the domain names for several of the sites just one day after the FBI shut down Backpage.com, then the Internet’s leading source of prostitution and sex trafficking advertisements.

Despite terms of use purportedly forbidding the advertisement of illegal sexual services, CityXGuide and its affiliated websites (Backpage.co, CAPleasures.com, and BodyRubShop.com, among others) allegedly allowed brothels, pimps and prostitutes to post hundreds of thousands of advertisements for sexual services, which users could then filter by geography and preference.

In correspondence with Martono, one of his CityXGuide advertisers noted that the website was “taking over from where Backpage left off.”

CityXGuide and its companion websites allegedly allowed advertisers to select from a pre-populated list of “intimate activities,” then add nude photographs, descriptions, work hours, methods of payment, and contact information for the women being advertised. To secure premium placement, the websites offered paid “upgrades,” which could be purchased in Bitcoin or in exchange for gift cards from Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Amazon and other retailers. Martono allegedly used CardCash, a third-party gift card reseller, to exchange these gift cards for U.S. currency.

https://breaking911.com/prostitution-sex-trafficking-website-that-took-over-for-backpage-shut-down-owner-indicted/

ICE HSI Dallas leads investigation to shut down website promoting prostitution and sex trafficking, indictment of owner

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-hsi-dallas-leads-investigation-shut-down-website-promoting-prostitution-and-sex

Border Patrol Foils Elaborate Human Smuggling Plot

PINE VALLEY, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 8 checkpoint near Pine Valley arrested 12 undocumented migrants who were being smuggled within a hay-stack on a tractor-trailer.

The incident occurred on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. when a man driving a white tractor-trailer loaded with hay bales approached the I-8 checkpoint. While the primary agent conducted an immigration inspection, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the middle section of the trailer.

Once in secondary, agents inspected the hay-stack load and discovered 12 people hidden inside a void within the stacks of hay.

All 12 were safely removed from the hay-stacks. All were adult male Mexican nationals with no legal right to enter or remain in the U.S.

The driver, a 46-year-old U.S. citizen was booked for alien smuggling.

The tractor-trailer was seized by the U.S. Border Patrol.

“Human smugglers have no regard for life,” said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke. “This tight space within the hay-stacks was not ventilated and was not designed with passenger safety in mind. I am proud of our agents. Their dedication to service and the preservation of life prevented serious harm from befalling these individuals.”

https://breaking911.com/border-patrol-foils-elaborate-human-smuggling-plot/