RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16013/european-lockdown-illegal-immigrants

While Europe is experiencing an economic shock without precedent, and tens of millions of Europeans have lost their livelihoods, migrants in Europe illegally are being showered with free housing and healthcare.

The actual number of illegal immigrants in France is unknown but was estimated to be between 300,000 and 400,000 in 2017, according to the Pew Research Center. Considering the waves of mass migration since then, the number is probably well above a half-million.

Britain has up to 1.2 million illegal immigrants, a quarter of all those that have unlawfully entered Europe, according to the Pew Research Center…. The UK’s leniency appears to have sparked another wave of illegal immigration. Since the coronavirus lockdown began on March 23, nearly 900 people have illegally crossed the English Channel from France, according to Migration Watch UK.

“There is great discontent among the [German] population because everyone who arrives here immediately has many or even higher rights and rights to benefits or medical care than someone who has worked here for their entire life.” — Interior Minister of Saarland, Klaus Bouillon (CDU), interview with Die Welt.

“Muslim countries currently have 300 million males under the age of 15. This is not a forecast, but already a reality. Scientists like Gunnar Heinsohn assume that a maximum of 100 million can obtain a position in the society of their home country. The remaining 200 million will try to emigrate or otherwise fight for their place.” — Anabel Schunke, political commentator, German blog Die Achse des Guten

European governments are using the coronavirus pandemic to grant mass amnesties to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. While Europe is experiencing an economic shock without precedent, and tens of millions of Europeans have lost their livelihoods, migrants in Europe illegally are being showered with free housing and healthcare.

In Italy, where public debt is forecast to reach 160% of GDP this year, the left-wing coalition government has announced a plan to grant amnesty to at least 600,000 migrants in the country illegally. They would receive residency permits, initially valid for six months, that could be renewed in perpetuity.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16004/turkish-justice-mobsters-dissidents

When drafting the bill, Erdoğan and his MPs were surgically precise not to let one single political prisoner walk free.

About 50,000 inmates who were excluded from the bill, as terror convicts and suspects would not be eligible for amnesty.

You forgive the mafia… You don’t forgive journalists that write the truth. You don’t forgive those that want peace.” — Turan Aydoğan, opposition lawmaker.

Under Erdoğan’s 18 years in power, the free-fall of this professed NATO ally back toward the authoritarian East looks sadly irrevocable.

Aleaddin Çakıcı is a well-known Turkish mafia figure. But his militant far-right past makes him a shadier figure in Turkey’s domestic and international political scenes, not just in the criminal underworld. In the 1970s he was a leading fighter in Turkey’s near civil war between ultra-left and -right fractions. His first arrest came shortly after the military coup d’état in 1980: He was tried on charges of murdering 41 leftists.

According to leaked reports, Çakıcı was used as a hitman in the 1980s and 1990s by Turkish intelligence. His targets were leftists and pro-Kurdish groups. Turkish intelligence also tasked him with carrying out operations in foreign countries, including Greece and Lebanon, targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).

In 2018 Devlet Bahçeli, a far-right politician and a staunch supporter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described Çakıcı as “brave and fearless” and as someone “who was in love with [his] homeland and ideals.” Bahçeli had said that Çakıcı was in prison on multiple sentences for murder, armed attack, money laundering, and leading an illegal armed group. Among other such escapades, he had contracted out the murder of his ex-wife, who in 1995 was shot dead in front of their son.

Çakıcı’s is certainly not the résumé of an ideal, law-abiding, peaceful citizen. But last month, at age 67, he walked free from the prison in which he had been kept. How could this ruthless crime machine walk out of prison, jump into a chauffeur-driven car and be escorted to a holiday resort accompanied by a big convoy and hundreds of “devotees” who gave him a hero’s welcome? How, especially in a country where a simple joke on social media can earn an otherwise honest citizen several months in jail?

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/iran-begins-retreating-syria-ari-lieberman/

Things are looking bleak for the Islamic republic these days. Iran is currently facing its worst economic crisis since the 1979 revolution. Money wasted on endless proxy wars and crippling sanctions instituted by the Trump administration have taken a heavy toll on Iran’s economy. The value of Iran’s currency, the rial, continues to plummet. On the black market, one dollar fetches 156,000 rials rendering the currency virtually worthless. Iran’s attempt to rename its currency and slash some zeros off that lopsided exchange rate will do nothing to stem the problem of hyperinflation and unemployment in the Islamic Republic.

The Chinese coronavirus has also taken its toll. Government health officials reported 109,000 confirmed cases with 6,685 deaths. That official number is almost certainly a lie and the figure for those infected and succumbing to the disease is far greater. In addition, at least 700 Iranians have died from drinking toxic methanol alcohol in the convoluted belief that this would prevent them from getting infected.

Iran’s crumbling economy and the devastating effects of the coronavirus have adversely impacted Iranian overseas terrorist funding and operations. Nowhere is this positive trend more evident than in Syria, where Iranian Quds Force operatives and allied militiamen have been taking a beating at the hands of Israel.

The combination of repeated Israeli airstrikes and domestic shortcomings has convinced the Iranian regime to begin evacuating its bases in Syria and withdraw from the war-torn country. In the last two weeks alone, the Israeli Air Force has launched seven strikes in Syria targeting Iranian emplacements.

On May 5, Israel launched two strikes, one targeting an Iranian base in the Deir Ezzor region near the town of Mayadin and the other on an Iran-linked arms and munitions depot east of Aleppo, adjacent to Syrian defense research centers. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 15 Iranians and Iran-linked militants were killed in the strike near Mayadin. There were no reports of casualties in the arms depot strike but according to reports, the warehouse stored munitions destined for Hezbollah, the terrorist entity that controls Lebanon.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/coronavirus-media-huawei-to-host-cnn-van-jones-for-panel-on-covid-misinformation/
“Van Jones was Obama’s ” Green Tzar” for a very brief period. He resigned after Republicans revealed his sordid  history: In 1994, Mr. Jones was one of the founders of STORM, a Marxist-Leninist group whose hero was Chinese Communist dictator Mao Tse Tung. In 2004 he  signed a petition demanding an investigation of whether the Bush administration had been behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. ” rsk
Chinese telecom giant Huawei, currently facing charges of fraud, intellectual property theft, and racketeering, is featuring CNN host Van Jones on a panel to discuss the rise of coronavirus “misinformation” days before its temporary license to do business in the U.S. expires.

Huawei’s webinar, set to be hosted along with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) on May 13, “will explore how journalists and leaders across industries can come together to fight against a unified enemy: COVID-19,” according to its registration page. Jones will be joined by musician will.i.am, consultant Dr. Ebony Hilton, and journalist Roland Martin. The CCP has claimed in recent weeks that it is a “victim” of disinformation surrounding the origins of the pandemic, despite a detailed timeline showing its failures to address the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

Huawei, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, has come under increasing scrutiny for its stealing of trade secrets from American competitors. The Department of Justice said in February that the firm has conducted a “decades-long” operation to “misappropriate intellectual property” from U.S. technology firms, while Trump administration claimed that Huawei has secretly accessed American cell phone data for over a decade.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/world-health-organization-says-it-cannot-invite-taiwan-to-annual-summit-after-china-says-participation-would-s

The World Health Organization said it could not invite Taiwan to an upcoming international health summit, despite pleas from the U.S. and its allies, due to “divergent views,” after China said it “deplores and opposes” efforts to include Taipei in the gathering.

WHO principal legal officer Steven Solomon explained to reporters on Monday that the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom could not invite Taiwan — which is not a member of the WHO — to participate in the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) if members of the international body disagreed.

“To put it crisply, director-generals only extend invitations when it’s clear that member states support doing so, that director-generals have a mandate, a basis to do so,” Solomon explained. “Today however, the situation is not the same. Instead of clear support, there are divergent views among member states and no basis there for — no mandate — for the DG to extend an invitation.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Tedros should include Taiwan in the upcoming WHA meeting, saying “he has the power to do, and as his predecessors have done on multiple occasions.” The proposal was supported by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Germany, but China disparaged the claim, saying that those supporting it “severely violate the one-China principle.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/taiwan-deserves-united-states-support/

The U.S. must show its support for the democracy that defies the Chinese Communist Party.

Last week, Taiwan announced a major donation of over seven million face masks to the U.S., Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. In Wisconsin, we experienced this generosity firsthand in the form of 100,000 surgical-grade masks, which will help keep our state healthy. This donation marked the third tranche of substantial international assistance from Taiwan, which stands in stark contrast to behavior of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) throughout the crisis.

The CCP’s contributions to the pandemic have inspired legislation holding the CCP legally liable and rapidly reducing supply-chain dependencies on China. These are solid steps, but in our new Cold War, the strategic center of gravity is not the CCP, but rather our allies and partners. As one Chinese diplomat wrote in 2012, “the core of competition between China and the United States will be to see who has more high-quality friends.”

It’s hard to have a more high-quality friend than Taiwan — a vibrant democracy under intense pressure that deserves our full support.

Unfortunately, support for Taiwan has been inconsistent. Unlike NATO’s crystal-clear Article V collective-defense commitment, the U.S. commitment to Taiwan has been muddled. Since the Carter administration, the United States has adopted a policy of “strategic ambiguity.” Once upon a time, proponents of this strategy may have told themselves that they were calming tensions by deterring both sides from precipitous action: Beijing could not count on our restraint if they opted for invasion, while Taipei could not count on our support if they declared independence.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16003/iran-venezuela-ties

Reports recently revealed that in the last week of April alone, the sanctioned Iranian airline, Mahan Air, with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made several flights to Venezuela. Reportedly, the Iranian regime delivered “parts, technicians, and gasoline additives to fix a major refinery in Venezuela,” and received nine tons of gold bars in return.

The United Nations, as usual in regards to every country other than Israel, remained silent as Mahan Air reportedly violated the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

In addition, Venezuela has granted more than 173 passports to radical Islamists… The passports are able to be used for travel to North America and Europe.

Iran has been bypassing US sanctions amid the coronavirus crisis, and strengthening its ties with Venezuela.

Reports recently revealed that in the last week of April alone, the sanctioned Iranian airline, Mahan Air, with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made several flights to the South American nation. Reportedly, the Iranian regime delivered “parts, technicians, and gasoline additives to fix a major refinery in Venezuela,” and received nine tons of gold bars in return.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-trouble-looms-for-hong-kong-11589148219?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Hong Kong’s political health took a turn for the worse last week, even as the city celebrated progress in its containment of coronavirus. Beijing knows that the rest of the world is distracted with the pandemic, and it is exploiting the opportunity to exert more control in Hong Kong.

On Wednesday China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office denounced the protest movement as “a political virus in Hong Kong” and warned that Beijing would not “sit idly by with these recklessly demented forces.” The office’s new director, Xia Baolong, is known for making good on Beijing’s threats. Before taking Hong Kong, he oversaw the arrest of Christians, the demolition of churches and the toppling of crosses in Zhejiang Province.

On Friday pro-democracy and pro-Beijing lawmakers got into a physical altercation at the Legislative Council building. The tussle broke out over who will lead the powerful House Committee, but the underlying issue is whether pro-democracy lawmakers will be able to block legislation that would suppress speech by criminalizing disrespect of the national anthem. The scuffle ended with pro-democracy lawmaker Andrew Wan carried off on a stretcher by paramedics and with security forcibly ejecting other pro-democracy lawmakers.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain/britains-johnson-to-set-out-five-tier-coronavirus-warning-system-idUSKBN22M07D

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday the coronavirus lockdown will not end yet, urging people to “stay alert” to the risks as he outlined plans to begin slowly easing measures that have closed down much of the economy for nearly seven weeks.

While his government was giving directions for England, it wants the United Kingdom’s other constituent nations – Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – to take the same approach. But there were immediate divisions, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying she was sticking with the existing “stay at home” message.

Johnson announced a limited easing of restrictions, including allowing people to exercise outside more often and encouraging those who cannot work from home to return to their jobs.

“This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week,” he said in a televised address. “Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures.”

Johnson’s government has faced criticism from opposition parties and others over its handling of the pandemic and the prime minister is wary of taking the brakes off too soon. Britain’s coronavirus death toll – 31,855 – is the second highest in the world, behind only the United States. The bulk of the cases and deaths have been in England.

The government’s decision to replace its “stay at home” slogan, drummed into the public for weeks, was criticised by opposition parties who called the new “stay alert” message too ambiguous.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15977/france-no-go-zones-riots

A few months ago, a police officer, Noam Anouar, who infiltrated Islamist circles… stated that no-go zones in France are now foreign enclaves on French territory. “The gangs operating there,” he wrote, “have formed a parallel economy based on drug trafficking. They consider themselves at war with France and with Western civilization. They act in cooperation with Islamist organizations, and define acts of predation and rampage as raids against infidels”. He noted that reclaiming these areas today would be complicated, costly, and involve calling in the army.

For years, successive French governments have chosen a policy of “willful blindness”: they simply behave as if they do not see what is going on. They do not even try to find solutions.

Saturday, April 18, 11 pm. Villeneuve-la-Garenne, a small town in the northern suburbs of Paris. A young man rides a motorcycle at high speed and hits the door of a police car. He breaks his leg. He is sent to the hospital. He does not have a driver’s license but does have a long criminal history. He was sentenced several times by the courts for drug trafficking, robbery with violence and sexual assault.

As soon as news of the accident is released, hostile messages about the police circulate on social media; and in a dozen cities in France, riots break out. The riots are continue for five days in a row. A police station in Strasbourg is attacked and set on fire. A school is nearly destroyed a few miles from Villeneuve-la-Garenne.