Message from @w7

Discord ID: 485051296156614676


2018-08-22 20:19:01 UTC  

🇨🇳 **BuzzFeed reporter 'effectively' ejected from China: Foreign media**
*Channel News Asia* - <https://archive.fo/QWtuT>

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said on Wednesday (Aug 22) that the foreign ministry had "effectively" ejected BuzzFeed News's Beijing bureau chief from the country after declining to renew her visa.

Megha Rajagopalan, who is American and had been in China for six years, said on Twitter that the foreign ministry had "declined to issue me a new journalist visa" in May.

"They say this is a process thing, we are not totally clear why," wrote Rajagopalan, who left the country in late February.

Rajagopalan has reported extensively on China's security crackdown in the far-west region of Xinjiang, where rights groups say hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs are held in re-education camps.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a statement that she had "conducted herself according to the highest journalistic standards while in China".

The foreign ministry "declined to give a clear and transparent reason for denying her a visa", it said.
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2018-08-22 23:16:54 UTC  

🇺🇸 ** Smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of 2.8 YEARS - compared to four years in schizophrenics, major study finds**
Smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of 2.8 YEARS - compared to four years in schizophrenics, major study finds
(archive.is and archive.fo are down)
dailymail .co .uk/health/article-6086073/Smoking-cannabis-ages-brain-average-2-8-YEARS.html

Smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of 2.8 years, new research suggests.

This is compared to four years in schizophrenia patients, according to the largest study of its kind. Brain ageing is defined as reduced blood flow through the organ.

Excessive alcohol also ages the organ by 0.6 years, the research adds.

Lead author Dr Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, said: 'The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.'

Reduced brain blood flow has previously been linked to stroke and dementia.
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2018-08-23 06:35:36 UTC  

🇨🇭 **Credit Suisse freezes $5 billion of Russian money due to U.S. sanctions**
🇷🇺 *Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/JTtjw>

One of Switzerland’s largest banks, Credit Suisse, has frozen roughly 5 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) of money linked to Russia to avoid falling foul of U.S. sanctions, according to its accounts, further increasing pressure on Moscow.

The move by Credit Suisse, which owned aircraft surrendered by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska and had lent money to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg before the sanctions, underscores a widespread fear among banks of reprisals from Washington for working with targeted Russian individuals and entities.

For Russia’s elite, such steps could close off an important avenue for finance as well as a safe haven for billions of rubles of their wealth.

“Credit Suisse works with international regulators wherever it does business to ensure compliance with sanctions, including compliance with sanctions involving Russia,” said a spokeswoman for the bank, which did not identify the owners of the money.

Long popular with wealthy Russians for its combination of bank secrecy, political stability and glitzy ski resorts such as Zermatt and St. Moritz, Switzerland has become one of the most important destinations for money leaving Russia.

Roughly $6.2 billion, or 14 percent of total Russian cross-border outflows, went to Switzerland in 2017 — almost three times as much as went to the United States, according to Russian central bank data.
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2018-08-23 21:06:38 UTC  

**KFC restaurant hid Arizona-Mexico drug smuggling tunnel, officials say**
🇺🇸 *FOX News* - <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/23/kfc-restaurant-hid-arizona-mexico-drug-smuggling-tunnel-officials-say.html>

Hidden beneath the bleak exterior of a fried chicken restaurant in the Southwest lurked the infrastructure of a sophisticated drug organization shipping meth, cocaine and heroin to the Arizona streets, officials said Wednesday.

No, this is not the original pitch for "Breaking Bad."

2018-08-25 11:11:34 UTC  

🇺🇸 **UNC Board of Governors Member: Toppled ‘Silent Sam’ Confederate Statue Will Be Reinstalled**
*The Daily Beast/WNCN* - <https://archive.fo/vKvs1>

Three people have been charged in connection to the “Silent Sam” Confederate statue that was toppled Monday on the University of North Carolina’s campus. The three individuals are reportedly “not affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill” and will face “charges of riot and defacing a public monument,” WGHP reports. Meanwhile, a member of the UNC System Board of Governors said the statue would be reinstalled within 90 days. Thom Goolsby, a member of the board, posted on Twitter Thursday saying that the statue of the Confederate solider will return to campus “as required by state law,” WNCN reports. “Criminals who destroyed state property at UNC and police who did nothing will be held accountable,” Goolsby wrote. In a YouTube video, Goolsby said that the school “will make sure the laws of our state are enforced... We will not allow anarchy to reign on our campuses.” Goolsby is referring to a 2015 law that states an “object of remembrance” can only be moved for restoration or for “construction, renovation, or reconfiguration of buildings, open spaces, parking, or transportation projects.” On Thursday, the state’s historical commission also reportedly “voted to keep Confederate monuments on the North Carolina Capitol grounds.”
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2018-08-25 11:15:33 UTC  

🇺🇸 **John McCain Ends Treatment for Brain Cancer**
*The Daily Beast* - <https://archive.fo/wCVcZ>

Sen. John McCain has stopped medical treatment for brain cancer, his family said in a Friday statement. “Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment,” the statement declared. “Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John’s many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers. God bless and thank you all.” McCain, 81, has served as a Republican senator from Arizona since 1987, when he replaced Barry Goldwater.
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2018-08-25 13:51:37 UTC  

🇺🇸 **T-Mobile breach may have impacted 2 million customers**
*CBS News* - <https://archive.fo/pQmD5>

T-Mobile is warning of a security breach that may have exposed the data of millions of customers.

The hack, which occurred Monday, may have compromised information including names, zip codes, phone numbers, email address, account numbers and account types, the nation's third-largest wireless provider said in a statement.

The company's security team shut down the intrusion, and financial information such as credit card and Social Security numbers was not exposed.

Affected customers have either been notified or would be shortly, T-Mobile stated.

A spokesperson confirmed in an email that the breach affected about 3 percent of T-Mobile's 77 million customers, or 2 million people.

The security incident is only the latest at T-Mobile. In May, researchers detected a bug in the company's website that allowed anyone to access the personal data of customers with just a phone number.
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2018-08-26 00:31:42 UTC  

<:trump:284711336934375425> **McCain died**
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1033509445127598083

2018-08-26 00:31:42 UTC  

S

2018-08-26 05:50:14 UTC  

🇻🇳 **Vietnam demands Monsanto compensate Agent Orange victims after US cancer ruling precedent**
*RT* - <https://archive.fo/LPMcw>

Following the unprecedented $289mn verdict against Monsanto in California, Hanoi is seeking justice for victims of exposure to the Agent Orange – the notorious chemical the firm supplied to the US military during the Vietnam War.

After a San Francisco jury proved Monsanto not invincible and ordered the chemical giant to pay $289 million to a school worker who argued he got terminal cancer after using its Roundup herbicide, Vietnam has also demanded compensation from the St. Louis-based company.

“The verdict serves as a legal precedent which refutes previous claims that the herbicides made by Monsanto and other chemical corporations in the US and provided for the US army in the war are harmless,” deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Tra said Thursday. “Vietnam has suffered tremendous consequences from the war, especially with regard to the lasting and devastating effects of toxic chemicals, including Agent Orange.”

Around three million people in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange during a brutal chemical warfare campaign between 1961 and 1971, in which 12 million gallons of herbicide produced by Monsanto Corporation, among others, were dropped over the jungle to defoliate it. Because of such a high level of exposure to dioxin, a byproduct found in Agent Orange, millions of Vietnamese continue to suffer health conditions, often resulting in deformities which are passed through gene mutations to future generations.

Monsanto, which has never acknowledged its role in the devastation, argues that Agent Orange “was only produced for, and used by, the government,” noting that Monsanto was just one of nine wartime government contractors who manufactured the same toxin from 1965 to 1969.
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2018-08-26 17:46:47 UTC  

🇺🇸 Girl Loses NASA Internship Over Insult to ‘October Sky’ Legend—He’s Still Helping Her
The Observer - <http://archive.li/MIg9X>

It’s not clear what Naomi H’s full last name is (she has since locked her Twitter account). The poster likely assumed she was a furry because of the anime in her Twitter avatar (which has since been replaced with a photo of a real life deer).

But regardless, Naomi didn’t tell just any member of the National Space Council to “suck [her] dick and balls.” Homer Hickam is a NASA engineering legend.

He started out building rockets in his backyard before serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Hickam then worked as an aerospace engineer for NASA, designing spacecraft and training crews.
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2018-08-26 17:46:51 UTC  

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/302132944380624906/483331509449916417/DlI6EwuXsAA6ueM.png

2018-08-27 05:05:32 UTC  

🇦🇫 **Head of Islamic State in Afghanistan killed, government says**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/RYvhn>

The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Erhabi, was killed in a strike on the group’s hideouts in Nangarhar province on Saturday night, authorities said on Sunday.

Ten other members of the militant group were also killed in a joint ground and air operation by Afghan and foreign forces, the National Directorate of Security in Kabul said in a statement.

A large amount of heavy and light weapons and ammunition were destroyed during raids on two Islamic State hideouts.

The jihadist group’s Amaq’s news agency carried no comment on the issue.

Lieutenant-Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the United States carried out a strike in Afghanistan on Saturday against a “senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.”

The provincial governor of Nangarhar said Erhabi was the fourth Islamic State leader in Afghanistan to be killed since July 2017.
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2018-08-27 14:55:04 UTC  

**U.S. and Mexico Agree to Preliminary Nafta Deal**
*New York Times* - https://archive.is/8NZ1q

The United States and Mexico have reached agreement to revise key portions of the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement and a preliminary deal could be announced on Monday, a crucial step toward revamping a trade pact that has appeared on the brink of collapse during the past year of negotiations.

Reaching an agreement on how to revise some of the most contentious portions of what President Trump has long called the worst trade pact in history would give Mr. Trump a significant win in a trade war he has started with countries around the globe, including Mexico, Canada, the European Union and China.

Still, a preliminary agreement between the United States and Mexico would fall far short of actually revising Nafta. The preliminary agreement still excludes Canada, which is also a party to Nafta but has been absent from talks held in Washington in recent weeks.

The agreement with Mexico centers on rules governing the automobile industry, resolving a big source of friction, but leaves aside other contentious issues that affect all three countries.

2018-08-28 10:46:55 UTC  

🇺🇸 **Jacksonville shooter had history of mental illness and police visits to family home**
*CNN* - <http://archive.li/bwGlJ>

David Katz, the shooter who killed two people and wounded 10 others before taking his own life at an e-sports tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday, was in treatment for psychiatric issues at least as early as the age of 12, according to family divorce records.
Katz, who was 24, was prescribed a number of psychiatric medications, including an antipsychotic, and saw "a succession of psychiatrists," according to a 2006 letter from the father's attorney. A separate 2006 court filing states that a therapist said David had experienced a "psychiatric crisis."

CNN also obtained police records that show 26 calls for service to the police from the Katz family home in Columbia, Maryland, from 1993 to 2009, for issues ranging from "mental illness" to domestic disputes. At least two of those calls involved Katz arguing with his mother, though none of the reports provided to CNN show any physical violence. The Howard County Police Department declined to release the reports from a number of the incidents, citing statutory restrictions.

Since Sunday's shooting, the family has told investigators that David Katz suffered from mental health issues, according to a law enforcement source who described the family as being very cooperative with investigators. Both parents have worked for the federal government. Richard Katz is a NASA engineer employed at the Goddard Space Flight Center outside Washington, DC, according to an agency spokesperson. Elizabeth Katz was listed as an employee of the Food and Drug Administration at the time of her divorce.
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2018-08-28 11:57:23 UTC  

🇺🇸 **SOURCES: China Hacked Clinton’s Private Email Server**
🇨🇳 *Daily Caller* - <https://archive.fo/eUwRR>

A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington, D.C., area hacked Hillary Clinton’s private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails, two sources briefed on the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chinese firm obtained Clinton’s emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation.

The Chinese wrote code that was embedded in the server, which was kept in Clinton’s residence in upstate New York. The code generated an instant “courtesy copy” for nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company, according to the sources.

The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found that virtually all of Clinton’s emails were sent to a “foreign entity,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, said at a July 12 House Committee on the Judiciary hearing. He did not reveal the entity’s identity, but said it was unrelated to Russia. (RELATED: Gohmert: Watchdog Found Clinton Emails Were Sent To ‘Foreign Entity’)

Two officials with the ICIG, investigator Frank Rucker and attorney Janette McMillan, met repeatedly with FBI officials to warn them of the Chinese intrusion, according to a former intelligence officer with expertise in cybersecurity issues, who was briefed on the matter. He spoke anonymously, as he was not authorized to publicly address the Chinese’s role with Clinton’s server.
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2018-08-29 03:16:36 UTC  

🌍 **South Africa withdraws white farmland redistribution bill six days after Trump warned he was closely studying the situation**
Dailymail - http://archive.is/vEOp5

South Africa has withdrawn its white farmland redistribution bill - six days after Donald Trump warned he was closely studying the situation.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the bill passed by parliament in 2016 enabling the state to make compulsory purchases of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership needed further consideration.

It comes after Trump criticised the country's land reform plans in a tweet that touched on the overwhelmingly white ownership of farmland in South Africa - one of the most sensitive issues in the country's post-apartheid history.
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2018-08-29 20:20:10 UTC  

🇺🇸 **Louis C.K. is Welcome Back at More Popular Comedy Clubs in NYC**
💩 *TMZ* - <http://archive.li/Z7UEe>

Louis C.K.'s surprise return to stand-up -- to the delight of some and dismay of others -- has full support from some very important people in the comedy world ... the guys running the clubs.

TMZ's learned several comedy hot spots in NYC would gladly welcome Louis back, despite his fall from grace last year after he copped to sexual misconduct.

Louis Faranda, talent exec of Carolines on Broadway, tells us ... the comedian is like a son to him -- they personally go back to the beginning of C.K.'s career -- and he's a longtime friend of the club.

Faranda adds ... "We all make bad mistakes in life and everyone deserves the right to be forgiven ... I totally understand the plight of the women he offended, [but] I also love Louie C.K. and CANNOT turn my back to him ever!!"

Likewise -- Al Martin, owner of Broadway Comedy Club and Greenwich Village Comedy Club, says ... "Everyone is entitled to a second chance. I would book Louis." C.K. has performed at his clubs in the past.
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2018-08-31 04:23:40 UTC  

🇲🇽 **Mexican Cartel Boss Offers $100K for Assassination of Breitbart Texas Writer—Arrested Within Days**
*Breitbart* - <https://archive.fo/NsbKk>

Only 48 hours after a top cartel boss in Mexico placed an assassination hit on one of the contributing writers for Breitbart Texas’s Cartel Chronicles project, Mexican military forces captured him.

This week, Cesar “El Boto” or “El Marrueco” Sepulveda Arellano, a leading member of Los Viagras Cartel, placed a $100,000 USD hit on Breitbart Texas’s Jose Luis Lara. The former founding member of the Self-Defense Movement in Michoacan writes about terrorist actions by cartels and their corrupt government enablers in that state and beyond.

The assassination order was posted on social media through various Facebook accounts. A similar threat was also spread via audio recording where El Boto declared Lara a spy for the United States.

Only 48 hours after El Boto issued the threats, the Mexican Army and Navy followed an anonymous tip to a house in Morelos–where they arrested him.

Almost immediately after authorities arrested El Boto, members of Los Viagras began signaling each other on social media with orders to delete any Facebook accounts in contact with those previously used by their captured leader.
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2018-08-31 04:37:26 UTC  

🇺🇸 **He’s been studying in the U.S. legally for 7 years. Bank of America froze his account anyway**
*Miami Herald* - <https://archive.fo/BJ7v2>

Saeed Moshfegh woke up earlier this month to discover the strangest thing: though he had plenty of money in his Bank of America account, he couldn’t access it.

An Iranian getting his Ph.D in physics at the University of Miami, Moshfegh used the account for everyday transactions. All he had to do to maintain the account was show proof of legal residency every six months.

“This bank doesn’t know how the immigration system works, so they didn’t accept my document,” said Moshfegh, 36.

Locked out of his account, Moshfegh couldn’t pay his rent, which was due that week. Credit card payments were suddenly rejected.

His case isn’t unique. In recent months, Bank of America has been accused of freezing or threatening to freeze customers’ accounts after asking about their legal status in the U.S.. In July, the Washington Post reported that multiple customers had been locked out of their accounts after Bank of America questioned whether the account holders were U.S. citizens or dual citizens.
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2018-08-31 11:40:40 UTC  

🇺🇸 **Trump escalates his threats to blow up trade deals: 'I would withdraw from the WTO'**
*USA Today* - <https://archive.fo/kppMG>

President Donald Trump threatened to upend the rules of global trade on Thursday, saying he would pull out of the World Trade Organization unless it adopts rules more favorable to the United States.

“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump told Bloomberg News.

Trump has long been frustrated with the WTO, which sets the standards and rules that govern other international trade agreements, and provides a forum for resolving disputes. He specifically wants the Geneva-based body to take a tougher stance on China's steel dumping and theft of U.S. intellectual property.

But Trump's remark on Thursday marks his most explicit threat to withdraw from the WTO yet.

Just last month, he expressed a desire to work with other countries to reform the WTO from within the organization. "WTO has treated the United States very badly, and I hope they change their ways," he said then. "And we're not planning anything now, but if they don't treat us properly, we will be doing something."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later explained that while the president is frustrated by the organization, "that is not accurate that the U.S. is leaving the WTO."
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2018-08-31 17:13:13 UTC  

🇺🇦 **Leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic killed in E. Ukraine blast**
*RT* - <https://archive.fo/TPtlh>

An explosion that rocked a cafe in central Donetsk city, in eastern Ukraine, has killed Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and injured several other top officials.

Media reports said that Zakharchenko was severely injured as a blast hit a restaurant called ‘Separ’ in Donetsk city center. He died later in a local hospital.

“The head of the DNR, Alenksandr Zakharchenko, has died as a result of a terrorist act,” a spokesperson of the self-proclaimed republic’s administration told journalists, revealing no details of the incident.

Moscow condemned 42-year-old Zakharchenko’s murder, adding that it could be detrimental to the whole peace process in Ukraine. The death of the DNR leader could have a particularly negative impact on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Russian Senate’s International Affairs Committee, said.

There is “every reason to believe” that Zakharchenko’s murder was orchestrated by Kiev, which “has repeatedly resorted to such methods to get rid of dissidents and undesirables,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said.

“Instead of abiding by the Minsk Agreements and seeking ways to resolve the internal [Ukrainian] conflict, the Kiev warmongers opted for a terrorist scenario, thus exacerbating an already tense situation in the region,” she added. The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, has denied involvement in the killing of the DNR head.
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2018-08-31 21:45:21 UTC  

🇺🇸 **People are threatening to boycott In-N-Out after large donation to Republican party**
🇬🇧 *MashableUK* - <http://archive.li/On4gR>

Despite its California roots, In-N-Out is far from liberal.

On Wednesday, journalist Gabe Schneider uncovered a contribution of $25,000 that the famous California-based fast food chain made to the California Republican Party just this week — and it's safe to say that some folks were not happy to learn about the political leanings of their family owned go-to burger joint.

Schneider shared a document on Twitter that details the company's contributions, which were filed on August 28. While many on Twitter stood in support of the burger chain because of their political beliefs, In-N-Out was called out by some customers.

Eric Bauman, chair of the California Democratic Party, was one of the folks online urging people to boycott the chain under the inventive hashtag #BoycottInNOut. "Let Trump and his cronies support these creeps ... perhaps animal style!," he wrote.
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2018-09-01 10:05:08 UTC  

🇺🇸 **FBI arrests five New Mexico compound suspects days after multiple charges were dropped**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/VJCpF>

The FBI announced Friday that it had arrested all five New Mexico compound suspects, days after multiple charges were dropped. The suspects were now being charged with violating federal firearms and conspiracy laws.

The announcement comes after local prosecutors dropped charges in the death of a 3-year-old boy at the compound site. Taos County District Attorney Donald Gallegos said Friday his office would now seek grand jury indictments involving the death. Gallegos said seeking indictments would allow more time to gather evidence.

"The defendants, Jany Leveille, 35, a Haitian national illegally present in the United States, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, Subhanah Wahhaj, 35, and Lucas Morton, 40, are charged in a criminal complaint that was filed earlier today in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico," the bureau said in a statement.

"The criminal complaint charges Jany Leveille with being an alien unlawfully in possession of firearms and ammunition in the District of New Mexico from Nov. 2017 through Aug. 2018," the bureau said. "The criminal complaint charges the other four defendants with aiding and abetting Leveille in committing the offense, and with conspiring with Leveille to commit the offense."

On Wednesday, three of the suspects were released from custody, just hours after a judge dismissed all of the charges against them.

District Judge Emilio Chavez on Wednesday dismissed charges against Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj, ruling that authorities violated the state’s “10-day rule.”
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2018-09-02 17:46:15 UTC  

🇺🇸 **U.S. halts funding to U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees**
🇵🇸 *Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/SPDu5>

The United States on Friday halted all funding to a U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees in a decision further heightening tensions between the Palestinian leadership and the Trump administration.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the decision as “a flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and a defiance of U.N. resolutions.”

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the business model and fiscal practices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) made it an “irredeemably flawed operation.”

“The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to UNRWA,” she said in a statement.

Nauert said the agency’s “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years.”
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2018-09-02 18:09:28 UTC  

🇺🇸 **California lawmakers send strict 'net neutrality' laws to governor**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/5y0it>

California lawmakers sent to the governor’s desk for final approval strict “net neutrality” laws on internet providers that would defy sweeping Federal Communications Commission rules seen as a boon for the companies.

The Democrat-controlled California Senate voted 27-12 to pass the bill, known as SB 822, with just hours left in the legislative session. The measure was approved by their colleagues in the state Assembly one day earlier.

Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat, has not yet said if he would sign the bill into law. He has 30 days to act but does not typically signal his intentions before legislation lands on his desk.

Members of the California Assembly voted 58-17 to send the bill to their colleagues in the state Senate, who have until midnight to pass so-called SB 822 on the final day of the legislative session or wait until next year.

If the measure passes both chambers of the Democrat-controlled state legislature it would still require approval from Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, who has not said if he would sign it into law.
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2018-09-03 00:45:33 UTC  

🐍 **20th Anniversary of Metal Gear Solid**
https://twitter.com/LordBalvin/status/1036380646879440896

2018-09-04 21:45:47 UTC  

🇯🇵 **Typhoon Jebi: Japan hit by strongest storm of 25 years**
*The Guardian* - <http://archive.li/jT2Ki>

Japan bracinghas braced itself for flooding and landslides after what could be the strongest typhoon to hit the country in a quarter of a century made landfall.
Local media reported that seven people died and more than 100 others were injured when Typhoon Jebi caused violent winds in the west of the country.

According to public broadcaster NHK, the casualties included a 71-year-old man who was killed in western Shiga prefecture after being trapped under a warehouse that collapsed in strong wind. NHK said 164 people had suffered mostly minor injuries.

Several people were injured at Kyoto station when part of a glass ceiling collapsed, according to police. A number of vehicles were blown on to their sides on a motorway, while a truck narrowly escaped being swept off a bridge connecting the island of Shikoku and the main Japanese island of Honshu.

Television networks showed dramatic footage of a 2,591-tonne tanker that collided with the side of a bridge linking the mainland with Kansai International airport, which stands on an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

The tanker and bridge were damaged but the ship’s crew were unhurt. The airport’s runway and the basement floor of a terminal building were flooded, according to local authorities.
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2018-09-04 23:30:10 UTC  

🇪🇬 **'Man detained' after blast near US embassy in Cairo**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/UHVcV>

Egyptian security forces have reportedly detained a man suspected of trying to detonate a bomb near the US embassy in the capital, Cairo.

A security source said the man was carrying a bag that exploded outside the compound in the Garden City area.

The embassy said police had "finished their investigations at the scene" and that it had resumed normal business.

Egyptian academic Adel al-Adawy earlier tweeted photos appearing to show a small fire and a man being led away.

Another witness told Reuters news agency she had heard a blast and then seen a man with a backpack that had caught fire across the road from the embassy.
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2018-09-06 01:56:28 UTC  

🇺🇸 **'Daily Caller Ex-Editor Secretly Wrote for Richard Spencer’s Alt-Right Journal: Report**
*Daily Beast/Atlantic* - <https://archive.fo/yj9GP>

Former Daily Caller Editor Scott Greer published anti-black, anti-Semitic rhetoric at the alt-right Radix Journal under the pseudonym Michael McGregor while simultaneously working at the Caller between 2014 and 2015, according to a report by The Atlantic. Radix Journal was founded by Richard Spencer, the alt-right leader who has advocated for turning America into a white ethno-state. Under his pseudonym, Greer espoused racist and sexist views, including “The current campaign against tough policing, if successful, would effectively turn any city with a large percentage of Blacks into a third-world hellhole,” The Atlantic reports.

Greer left the Daily Caller in June to write a book, retaining a “contributor” status. But after The Atlantic confronted Greer about leaked chat logs that proved he had written under the pseudonym, he cut all ties with the Caller. “In my early twenties when it appeared our only mainstream options were Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, I was attracted to more radical ideas and expressed them under the name Michael McGregor at Radix Journal,” Greer said in a statement. “As the political situation has evolved in recent years, so have my views. That said, I do not apologize for honestly stating what I believed to be correct at the time, unless everyone must apologize every time they change their opinion.”
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2018-09-06 02:01:24 UTC  

🇺🇸 **Trump rips searing Times op-ed from unnamed senior official**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/peDAJ>

In a striking anonymous broadside, a senior Trump administration official wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times on Wednesday claiming to be part of a group of people “working diligently from within” to impede President Donald Trump’s “worst inclinations” and ill-conceived parts of his agenda.

Trump said it was a “gutless editorial” and “really a disgrace,” and his press secretary called on the official to resign.

Trump later tweeted, “TREASON?” and in an extraordinary move demanded that if “the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

The writer, claiming to be part of the “resistance” to Trump but not from the left, said, “Many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.” The newspaper described the author of the column only as a senior official in the Trump administration.

“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” the author continued. “We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
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2018-09-06 02:05:07 UTC  

🇺🇸 **I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration** (OPINION EDITORIAL)
*New York Times* - <https://archive.fo/4u8A8>

We work for the president but we have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

(Read full article for more context and why they let them anonymously contribute this, it is completely related to last story I posted - Spicy)
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2018-09-06 02:09:31 UTC  

🇺🇸 **In quick reversal, Trump threatens shutdown over border wall**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/iUM2w>

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to shut down the U.S. government if Congress does not provide enough funding for border security, reversing a stance he took a day earlier.

Trump made his comments at a meeting with congressional Republican leaders at the White House about the legislative agenda for the next few months, including extending government funding past a Sept. 30 deadline.

He said Congress was making “tremendous progress” on funding, but that he wanted to make good on a promise to fund border security. Trump has repeatedly threatened not to sign funding legislation if Congress fails to include enough money for a wall on the border with Mexico.

Trump reiterated that threat on Wednesday. Responding to a reporter’s question about a possible shutdown, he said: “If it happens, it happens. If it’s about border security, I’m willing to do anything. We have to protect our borders.”

His stance contradicts an interview he gave to the Daily Caller on Tuesday, when he said: “I don’t like the idea of shutdowns.”

“I don’t see even myself or anybody else closing down the country right now,” Trump was quoted as saying.
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2018-09-06 18:36:27 UTC  

https://youtu.be/qS_6bqNTgao
Cat Lady forums exist<:suicide:280809026944761856> <:kys:295297598120787969> <:jones:346333940644052992> <:comfy:286526459596636160> <:groypernt:355744055113678848>

2018-09-07 00:35:03 UTC  

🇺🇸 **Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones, Infowars, citing abuse**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/3lZau>

Twitter permanently banned right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars show for abusive behavior, a day after CEO Jack Dorsey testified before Congress about alleged bias against conservatives on the platform.

The company said Jones won’t be able to create new accounts on Twitter or take over any existing ones. In a tweet, it said it would continue to monitor reports about other accounts potentially associated with Jones or Infowars, and will “take action” if it finds any attempts to circumvent the ban.

Twitter said Jones posted a video on Wednesday that violates the company’s policy against “abusive behavior.” That video showed Jones berating CNN journalist Oliver Darcy for some 10 minutes in between two congressional hearings on social media. Dorsey testified at both hearings, but did not appear to witness the confrontation.

Jones had about 900,000 followers on Twitter. Infowars had about 430,000. Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone praised Twitter’s action in a tweet. “Glad Twitter is taking steps to put an end to the abusive behavior from Alex Jones & Infowars,” the tweet stated. “Tweets designed to threaten, belittle, demean and silence individuals have no place on this platform.”
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2018-09-07 21:18:40 UTC  

🇸🇪 **Far-right seen surging as Swedish election outcome uncertain**
*France 24* - <https://archive.fo/dmYLC>

Swedes vote in legislative elections on Sunday expected to see the far-right surge amid a deep rift over the integration of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, with the election outcome seen as uncertain.

Neither Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's left-wing bloc nor the centre-right opposition were seen obtaining a majority.

The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), an anti-immigration party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement, are tipped to win around 20 percent of votes, according to an average of seven polling institutes published in the past 10 days, up from 13 percent in 2014 elections.

That could make SD Sweden's second biggest party behind Lofven's Social Democrats.

SD has capitalised on voters who feel left behind by traditional parties in favour of the 400,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since 2012, whom they believe are straining the country's famed welfare model.
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2018-09-09 02:51:59 UTC  

Good

2018-09-09 02:52:06 UTC  

Sweden needed a wakeup call

2018-09-09 17:58:35 UTC  

🇺🇸 **The Thrill Is Gone: Only 750 Turn Out to See Former President Obama in Far-Left California**
*Gate Way Pundit* - <https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/09/the-thrill-is-gone-former-president-obama-only-gets-750-at-campaign-event-in-far-left-california/>

This weekend, in an unprecedented move, former President Barack Obama went on the campaign trail to push the far-left Democrat agenda in the upcoming November elections.

But, it didn’t quite turn out like he expected, only 750 people showed up at his event in far left California!

2018-09-09 19:56:37 UTC  

🇷🇺 **Google pulls Russian opposition leader's YouTube advert ahead of vote**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/QOs3Q>

Google removed a YouTube advert by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after authorities complained that the videos would violate an election silence law before Sunday’s vote for regional governors, an aide to Navalny said on Saturday.

The series of YouTube videos featured Navalny inviting Russians to join demonstrations on Sunday, when polls suggest President Vladimir Putin’s former chief-of-staff Sergei Sobyanin will be comfortably re-elected as the capital’s mayor.

Navalny’s aide, Leonid Volkov, said in a social media post that Google deleted the videos after the Central Election Commission had sent a letter of complaint to Google about the advertisement — a demand Volkov called illegal.

Google’s Russian office said in an emailed comment: “We consider all justified appeals from state bodies. We also require advertisers to act in accordance with the local law and our advertising policies.”

Navalny, who ran against Sobyanin in 2013 and had planned to lead a protest against proposed pension changes on Sunday, will spend election day behind bars after being convicted of violating protest laws. His supporters plan to demonstrate across Russia.

While Sobyanin appears on track for an easy win, public anger over the planned increases to the nationwide pension age means many voters may stay away, which would tarnish his victory, some political analysts have said.
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2018-09-09 20:06:39 UTC  

🇷🇺 **Russian police arrest hundreds protesting against Putin pension plan**
*The Guardian* - <https://archive.fo/0u9er>

Police detained almost 300 people across Russia during protests against government plans to raise the national retirement age that have resulted in President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings slumping to a four-year low.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Sunday in dozens of towns and cities after Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin critic, called for nationwide rallies against the pension reforms. Navalny was jailed for 30 days on 25 August on a separate protest-related charge in a move that he said was aimed at preventing him from leading the rallies on Sunday.

In Moscow, where protesters gathered on the city’s iconic Pushkin Square, about 2,500 people ignored police warnings to disperse. They chanted “Putin is a thief!” and “No increase in the pension age!” Although the demonstration was largely peaceful, violence erupted when some protesters tried to march towards parliament, where they were beaten back by police with truncheons.

The protests came as Moscow held mayoral elections that the Kremlin-backed incumbent, Sergei Sobyanin, was expected to win easily. Critics accused officials of barring genuine opposition candidates. Russians also went to the polls in regional elections.

Authorities did not give permission for the vast majority of the protests and some Russians told the Guardian they had stayed away because they feared arrest. Dozens of members of Navalny’s opposition movement were detained before the events on charges of organising illegal rallies.

Earlier, Navalny’s aides condemned Google after it removed his adverts from YouTube urging Russians to protest against the pension changes.
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