Amnesty International: Ukraine Armed Forces Hiding Weapons Systems in Heavily Populated Areas, Including in Schools and Hospitals

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By Amnesty International. Ukrainian forces have put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February, Amnesty International said today.

Such tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure.

“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. . .

Between April and July, Amnesty International researchers spent several weeks investigating Russian strikes in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. The organization inspected strike sites; interviewed survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims of attacks; and carried out remote-sensing and weapons analysis. Throughout these investigations, researchers found evidence of Ukrainian forces launching strikes from within populated residential areas as well as basing themselves in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in the regions. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab has analyzed satellite imagery to further corroborate some of these incidents.

Most residential areas where soldiers located themselves were kilometres away from front lines. Viable alternatives were available that would not endanger civilians – such as military bases or densely wooded areas nearby, or other structures further away from residential areas. In the cases it documented, Amnesty International is not aware that the Ukrainian military who located themselves in civilian structures in residential areas asked or assisted civilians to evacuate nearby buildings – a failure to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians. (Read more from “Amnesty International: Ukraine Armed Forces Hiding Weapons Systems in Heavily Populated Areas, Including in Schools and Hospitals” HERE)

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Zelensky Seeks Direct Talks With Xi Amid War With Russia

By Bloomberg. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to hold direct talks, noting Beijing hasn’t replied to such requests since Russia invaded his country some five months ago.

The last time the pair spoke was one year ago, Zelenskiy told the South China Morning Post in an interview published Thursday. Since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, he said the Ukrainian side had “asked officially for a conversation” with Xi but hadn’t received a response. Such a dialog, he added, “would be helpful.”

The leader of the world’s second largest economy has refused to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine and declared a “no limits” friendship with Putin weeks before the invasion, making any call with Zelenskiy potentially awkward. Xi and Putin spoke within days of the war’s beginning, and the Russian leader called Xi on the latter’s birthday in June.

Dialog between Ukraine and China has been limited to lower level diplomatic exchanges, such as those between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Ukrainian counterpart. (Read more from “Zelensky Seeks Direct Talks With Xi Amid War With Russia” HERE)

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Infographic: The Stunning Adventures of Director Wray

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(Read more from “Infographic: The Stunning Adventures of Director Wray” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

California Governor Urges Hollywood Pals to Punish Conservative States

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday in an ad that Hollywood needs to “walk the walk” by pulling production out of Republican states.

Newsom released the ad Wednesday while also endorsing a proposal to provide $1.65 billion and a five-year extension of the state’s film and television production tax credit program, The New York Times reported.

“For 100 years, we’ve been the home for storytelling and storytellers,” the ad reads. “Together, we built a creative community that includes unrivaled casts, crews, craftspeople, infrastructure and technology. Robust tax credits and other incentives. The best culture. Most importantly, we share your values. So now, it’s time to choose.”

The ad then attacks Republican-led states like Georgia and Oklahoma, which Newsom alleges have “waged a cruel assault on essential rights.” Newsom claims the states have attacked “reproductive freedom.”

“Today more than ever, you have a responsibility to take stock of your values – and those of your employees – when doing business in those states,” the ad continues. “California is a freedom state: Freedom to tell your stories. Freedom to access the health services you need, including abortion care. Freedom to love who you love and to ensure that your LGBTQ friends, family and colleagues can proudly be who they are. Freedom from repressive state governments that want to tell you what to believe and threaten you with felonies if you don’t toe their line.” (Read more from “California Governor Urges Hollywood Pals to Punish Conservative States” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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‘I LIKE TO WIN’: Tim Scott Defends Backing Murkowski Instead of Trump-Backed GOP Candidate

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Sen. Tim Scott Thursday defended his endorsement of Sen. Lisa Murkowski for re-election, amid blowback from some Republicans who support her Trump-endorsed opponent, Kelly Tshibaka.

“The road to socialism runs right through a divided Republican Party,” Scott, R-S.C., said. “I like winning and frankly the best shot at us keeping that seat is without doubt Lisa Murkowski.”

Scott said that among the reasons he thinks Murkowski, R-Alaska, gives Republicans the best chance to hold on to her seat in a key election year is that “the power of incumbency is undeniable.” He added that “she works really hard.”

The senator’s endorsement puts him at odds with former President Donald Trump in the key Senate race — a move that angered some on the right.

But Scott is far from the only Republican to be on the opposite side of a Senate race from Trump this cycle. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; former Vice President Mike Pence; Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and others have endorsed 2022 GOP primary candidates in races where Trump endorsed their competitor. (Read more from “Tim Scott Defends Backing Murkowski Instead of Trump-Backed GOP Candidate” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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WIN: Oklahoma Man Allowed to Sue Local School Board Members for Cutting His Mic Because He Spoke About God

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A state judge in Oklahoma has refused to dismiss a lawsuit which alleges that a local school board turned off a public microphone because a man used “a Biblical worldview” to frame his comments.

Back in April, Brice Chaffin spoke at a public school board meeting in Stillwater, Oklahoma, about 65 miles north of Oklahoma City and the home of Oklahoma State University. Though the board had not planned to discuss rules related to bathroom use at schools, many in the audience, including Chaffin, elected to speak about the topic nonetheless.

Many residents wanted to weigh in on the issue since the board had recently updated its anti-discrimination policy to include “gender identity,” which meant that students could use the bathroom which corresponds to their “gender [identities],” rather than their biological sexes.

Chaffin began his comments by arguing for the reality of God and the necessity of accepting Jesus. When board members then asked Chaffin to speak about the bathroom topic at hand, Chaffin hinted at his opposition to “gender identity” as a concept and the related bathroom issue by referencing the Bible.

“So, I talked about physical laws,” Chaffin said. “We have spiritual laws. We also have natural laws. Natural law, for instance, one natural law is that on the day God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female. So, we have males and females.” (Read more from “Oklahoma Man Allowed to Sue Local School Board Members for Cutting His Mic Because He Spoke About God” HERE)

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Alex Jones Ordered to Pay $4.1 Million in Sandy Hook Defamation Trial

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Infowars host Alex Jones must pay $4.1 million to the parents of a child killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, a jury ruled Thursday.

Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin lost their 6-year-old son, Jesse, in the 2012 massacre after a gunman attacked his school, killing 20 students and six educators. In the aftermath of the attack, Jones spread false claims that the attack was a hoax.

Lewis and Heslin brought legal action against Jones over his conspiracy theorist claims, accusing Jones of defamation. Jones’ attorney, Andino Reynal, argued that Jones had made a “terrible mistake” and asked the jury to fine his client $1.

“He made a terrible mistake,” Reynal told jurors, according to NBC News. “That mistake was weaponized by the same political forces that had descended upon Sandy Hook when it happened.”

Both parents testified during the trial. Heslin said that “the negligence and recklessness of Alex Jones” had made the grieving parent’s life a “living hell.” (Read more from “Alex Jones Ordered to Pay $4.1 Million in Sandy Hook Defamation Trial” HERE)

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WATCH: Special Needs Son of Slain Parkland Staffer Delivers Heartbreaking Testimony

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They were perhaps the three most heartbreaking words of testimony yet at the sentencing trial of Parkland killer Nikolas Cruz.

A Florida prosecutor on Thursday asked the shy special needs son of slain athletic director Chris Hixon if there was something he wanted to tell jurors about his father.

“Yeah,” Corey Hixon said nervously before looking to his mother, who joined him on the stand for support.

“I miss him.”

With those words, the shattered boy leaned into his mom for a hug and began to sob.

(Read more from “WATCH: Special Needs Son of Slain Parkland Staffer Delivers Heartbreaking Testimony” HERE)

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Ex-VP Cheney Calls Trump ‘Coward,’ ‘Threat’ to US in Ad Backing Daughter Liz

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Facing near-certain defeat in her Wyoming primary later this month, Rep. Liz Cheney featured her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, in a campaign ad slamming former President Donald Trump as “a coward” and “threat to our republic.”

“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual that was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” the 46th vice president said in the one-minute video.

“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters,” the elder Cheney continued. “He lost his election, and he lost big. I know that he knows it and deep down, I think most Republicans know it.”

Dick Cheney then went on to to praise Liz – seeking a fourth term as Wyoming’s lone member of the House of Representatives after her father held the seat for more than a decade – for “standing up for the truth, doing what’s right, [and] honoring her oath to the Constitution.”

“Liz is fearless,” the former vice president went on. “She never backs down from a fight. There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again in the Oval Office and she will succeed. (Read more from “Ex-VP Cheney Calls Trump ‘Coward,’ ‘Threat’ to US in Ad Backing Daughter Liz” HERE)

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If Nancy Pelosi Cared About Confronting China She’d Do More Than Stage Political Theater

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The ebb and flow of the corporate news cycle almost always distorts and distracts rather than informs or enlightens. So it was this week with the coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, which produced the intended effect of eliciting lazy puff pieces lauding her “three-decade career of challenging the Chinese government on human rights and other issues,” as the New York Times’ Carl Hulse dutifully put it.

But make no mistake: Pelosi did not go to Taiwan to stand up to China. She went for her own purposes, to shore up a narrative about her legacy as a tough American political leader who has always stood up to autocracies like communist China in defense of democracy. Remember that time she unfurled the banner in Tiananmen Square and the police yelled at her? Of course you do. Hulse and his colleagues have made sure of it.

In reality, the Taiwan trip was pure political propaganda, lapped up and regurgitated by a sycophantic press unwilling to admit the obvious fact that Pelosi, like every other establishment figure in Washington, has never been serious about standing up to China.

Indeed, Pelosi’s long political career, much like President Joe Biden’s and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, maps almost perfectly onto China’s steady economic and military rise, especially over the past two decades. Apart from occasionally staging a little political theater, Pelosi and her fellow Democrat leaders have done nothing to slow or even impede that rise — quite the opposite, in fact.

Consider just some recent examples. During the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the fall of 2020, Pelosi blocked a bipartisan House bill that would have curtailed the influence of Chinese-government-funded Confucius Institutes at universities across the country. Around the same time, her House Democrats denounced a bill that would have called out Beijing for spreading the conspiracy theory that Covid originated in a U.S. military lab, absurdly calling the bill racist and xenophobic. (Read more from “If Nancy Pelosi Cared About Confronting China She’d Do More Than Stage Political Theater” HERE)

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Joe Biden Tests Positive for Wuhan Coronavirus Again

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President Joe Biden tested positive for the Chinese Coronavirus yet again Thursday and remains in isolation, according to White House Physician Kevin O’Connor D.O., FAAFP.

“Given his rebound positive which we reported Saturday, we have continued daily monitoring. This morning, his SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing remained positive,” O’Connor wrote in a memo to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

He added that the “President will continue his strict isolation measures.”

Biden, who is double vaccinated and twice boosted with the Pfizer vaccine, first tested positive for the virus on July 21 – a day after a trip to Massachusetts where he was seen maskless. Days later, on July 27, he announced his return to the Oval Office after producing a negative test.

(Read more from “Joe Biden Tests Positive for Wuhan Coronavirus Again” HERE)

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