China’s Chilling ‘Concentration Camp’ Footage; China Has Already Lost the Trade War (VIDEO)

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By Frank Chung. Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister has described chilling drone footage published online appearing to show hundreds of blindfolded and shackled men in China as “deeply disturbing”.

The footage appeares to show Uighur Muslim men at a train station being transferred, presumably to detention camps, by Chinese police.

Human rights groups accused China’s ruling Communist Party of holding up to one million mainly Uighur people in “concentration camps” in the northwest Xinjiang region. China vehemently denies the allegations.

The footage, which could not be independently verified, was published to YouTube last week by a newly created account calling itself War on Fear. Clips were also posted to Twitter by the handle @warcombatfear.

“Our aim is to fight fear,” the video description said.

(Read more from “China’s Chilling ‘Concentration Camp’ Footage” HERE)

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Helen Raleigh: China Has Already Lost the Trade War. Here’s Why

By Fox News. China already lost in the trade war with the U.S. Although you will never hear Chinese authorities, especially President Xi Jinping, admit it as such, the evidence is everywhere and only becoming more compelling by the day.

Reuters recently reported that based on the Chinese government’s own data, China’s economic slowdown has worsened in August, with “growth in industrial production is at its weakest in 17-1/2 years amid spreading pain from a trade war with the United States and softening domestic demand. Retail sales and investment gauges worsened too.” Despite such poor readings, Premier Li Keqiang insists that China is still on track to achieve 6 to 6.5 per cent growth rate this year.

Given the Chinese government’s tendency to present a rosier economic picture to satisfy political goals, most China watchers believe that Li’s statement was an about-face, and that the actual economic situation is much worse.

Researchers at the Brookings Institute estimated that China had inflated its GDP growth rate by close to 2 percent every year between 2008-2016. So in reality, China hasn’t seen a 6 percent growth rate for nearly a decade (someone should send a copy of this to Premier Li). Moreover, the actual size of the Chinese economy was an estimated $10.9 trillion, 18 percent lower than the officially stated $13.4 trillion, as of 2018.

President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs struck the Chinese economy when it was already declining and the effects have been devastating. The tariffs have not only reduced imports from China , but also caused foreign companies to shift their supply chain out of China. Beijing had hoped that its stimulus measures, including tax cuts and easy credits to local governments and big businesses, would reduce or even eliminate anticipated negative impacts on the Chinese economy. However, the latest data are a wakeup call that those stimulus measures were not sufficient enough to absorb the blow from the trade war. (Read more from “Helen Raleigh: China Has Already Lost the Trade War. Here’s Why” HERE)

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Report: This Could Possibly Be the U.S. Response to Saudi Oil Attacks (VIDEO)

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Iran’s attacks on Saudi Arabia last weekend to be “an act of war” on Sunday, suggesting that the United States is willing to significantly ramp up its aggression towards Iran.

Pompeo’s remarks came in response to Iran launching attacks against Saudi oil sites, which knocked out 5% of the global oil supply. Fox News reported that U.S. officials indicated that “Iranian cruise missiles and drones were both used in the attack on the two Saudi Arabian oil facilities, and that they were fired from inside southwest Iran.”

Pompeo told CBS News’ “Face The Nation” that it was “a sophisticated attack” and that “the United States will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime.”

“This was an attack by Iran on the world. This was an act of war,” Pompeo continued, noting that it was “the largest attack on the global energy supply I think in all of recorded history.”

Pompeo told host Margaret Brennan that the U.S. is prepared to respond in a way that “reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime” and “we’re prepared to do the things we need to do to try to deter Iran from this kind of behavior.”

(Read more from “Report: This Could Possibly Be the U.S. Response to Saudi Oil Attacks” HERE)

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Churches Burned and Worshippers Killed in Ethiopia’s Ethnic Carnage

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Over a year after the ascent of a new prime minister in Ethiopia bred hope for reform, bursting ethnic tensions are sending the country into a spiral of violence that is leaving churches and worshippers subject to property damage and murder.

Thirty churches, mostly Ethiopian Orthodox, have been attacked, 18 have been burned to the ground, and almost 100 worshippers have been killed since July 2018, Tewodros Tirfe, chairman of the Amhara Association of America, an organization that advocates on behalf of Ethiopia’s Amhara people, told the Washington Examiner. Christians and non-Christians alike have been caught up in the crossfire of heightened ethnic and political violence. Earlier this month, Ethiopian Orthodox Church leaders and government officials met, while Christians protested the violence directed at them.

The protests and meetings have yet to produce a concrete plan of action from the government, although they are a major problem for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has struggled to control violence among the country’s roughly 80 ethnic groups, despite inspiring optimism across the world when he assumed office last April.

Vice President Mike Pence praised Abiy last July, lauding his “historic reform efforts” and noting his work on “improving respect for human rights, reforming the business environment, and making peace with Eritrea.” Abiy oversaw the release of hundreds of political prisoners, and a CNN report from December labeled him the prime minister “who captured Africa’s imagination.” . . .

Ethiopia’s political structure and geography reinforces these ethnic divisions, as state boundaries roughly coincide with ethnic boundaries. Ethiopia is also surrounded by countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan, which are dealing with terrorism and other forms of political violence. As Ethiopia has witnessed a breakdown of internal security, Horne noted the country’s border has also grown more porous, allowing small arms to enter the country and make ethnic conflict deadlier. About 3 million people are internally displaced from conflict, more than anywhere else in the world. (Read more from “Churches Burned and Worshippers Killed in Ethiopia’s Ethnic Carnage” HERE)

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Thought Police on Steroids in Britain: Party Membership Revoked for Conservatives Who Criticized Islam Online

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A number of Conservative party members have been suspended for posting or endorsing Islamophobic content online. . .

Incidents were said to have ranged from individuals “liking” Islamophobic pictures or statements on one or two occasions, to people who said they were Tory members regularly posting anti-Muslim content.

The government minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Friday that action had been taken when the members were suspended, but he did not directly respond to a question on whether he thought an independent inquiry into allegations of Islamophobia within the Conservative party was necessary. . .

Announcements of the suspensions came as the former Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim said that senior Conservative party members, including a serving minister, had made Islamophobic remarks about him.

“I have experienced conversations taking place with Islamophobic content directly about me, being conducted by very senior members of the Conservative party – in fact parliamentarians, one of whom is in fact a serving minister at this moment in time,” he told the BBC. (Read more from “Thought Police on Steroids in Britain: Party Membership Revoked for Conservatives Who Criticized Islam Online” HERE)

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A Group of Archaeologists Say That They’ve Found the Ancient Biblical Kingdom of Edom

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By The Blaze. A team of archaeologists say that they’ve found the ancient kingdom of Edom.

Edom was an ancient kingdom that bordered, and often fought with Israel. According to Genesis Chapter 36, Edom was founded by Jacob’s brother Esau and his descendants. Timna was the name of one of “the chiefs descended from Esau.”

The Edomites were nomads who lived in part of the region that is now Jordan, but there was a lack of extra-biblical historical evidence about these people. Archaeologists also believed that the Edomites as a unique nation had only begun to exist several centuries later than the Bible claimed, which directly contradicts the biblical accounts.

But now that could all change. . .

A group of archaeologists from Jordan, Israel, and the United States say they have found proof that the Edomites were more advanced than previously thought, and that they lived at least 300 years earlier than the prevailing belief. (Read more from “A Group of Archaeologists Say That They’ve Found the Ancient Biblical Kingdom of Edom” HERE)

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‘Quite Amazing’: Israeli Scientists Find the Biblical Kingdom of Edom Founded by Esau

By CBN News. Israeli researchers have uncovered evidence that backs up the biblical account of the ancient kingdom of Edom.

The kingdom of Edom existed during the 12th-11th centuries BC and was founded by Isaac’s eldest son, Esau. It was located in the Transjordan between Moab to the northeast, Arabah to the west, and the vast Arabian Desert to the south and east. . .

Now, a breakthrough study published in PLOS One by a team of Israeli and American scientists finds that Edom really did exist at the time and place the Bible describes.

“Using technological evolution as a proxy for social processes, we were able to identify and characterize the emergence of the biblical kingdom of Edom,” explained Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Ben-Yosef of the Central Timna Valley Project. “Our results prove it happened earlier than previously thought and in accordance with the biblical description.”

Ben-Yosef, Prof. Tom Levy of the University of California, San Diego, and their team went to the Arava Desert in today’s Israel and Jordan to analyze the source of the kingdom’s wealth: copper. (Read more from “‘Quite Amazing’: Israeli Scientists Find the Biblical Kingdom of Edom Founded by Esau” HERE)

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China Detains Former U.S. Air Force Pilot Working for FedEx Amid Trade War Tensions

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China detained and released former U.S. Air Force colonel and FedEx pilot in Guangzhou in September while he was waiting for a flight to his home in Hong Kong, according to his family’s lawyer in Florida

Todd A. Hohn was returning to Hong Kong after piloting FedEx delivery planes throughout Asia from a FedEx hub in the Guangzhou airport when he was arrested by Chinese authorities, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Chinese authorities in Guangzhou detained and later released one of our pilots on bail after an item was found in his luggage prior to a commercial flight,” FedEx said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “We are working with the appropriate authorities to gain a better understanding of the facts.”

Hohn reportedly had “nonmetallic pellets used in low-power replica air guns” in his bag when he was detained. Chinese officials said he was transporting ammunition, and he is now facing a criminal investigation, those familiar with the issue told WSJ. . .

Hohn’s detention comes amid tight U.S.-China trade-war tensions and as FedEx faces two other investigations by the Chinese government after the country received “complaints from users” and added that foreign operators ought to protect the “legitimate interests” of Chinese companies, according to a June 2 South China Morning Post (SCMP) report citing China’s top postal regulator. (Read more from “China Detains Former U.S. Air Force Pilot Working for FedEx Amid Trade War Tensions” HERE)

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President Trump Deploys Troops to Saudi Arabia

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The situation in the Middle East has been intensifying for weeks. Iran wants war. They need to do something to show that the West is not economically gutting them, though that’s exactly what’s happening. Iran was seizing oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and now they’ve hit an oil field in Saudi Arabia with drone strikes and cruise missiles. . .

New sanctions were slapped on Iran, who is a state sponsor of terrorism. For the anti-Trump Left, this would be the best time to undercut our president by smearing him as a madman. Remember when they all thought that he was going to tweet the U.S. into a nuclear war with North Korea? None of that happened. It was nonsensical. Trump has taken rational steps in response because inaction is not an option. Right now, we’re deploying troops to Saudi Arabia, along with defense equipment (via NYT):

President Trump is sending a modest deployment of American troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with air and missile defense equipment, in response to the attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which the administration blames on Iran.

(Read more from “President Trump Deploys Troops to Saudi Arabia” HERE)

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Iran’s Threat: There Will Be ‘All-Out War’ If U.S. Attacks

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Iran’s bellicose foreign minister warned of “all-out war” if the U.S. or Saudi Arabia retaliate for the Iranian drone strike on Saudi oil fields. Javad Zarif also asked if the Saudis were willing to fight “to the last American soldier.” . . .

The warning came as Trump’s national security team is meeting to discuss whether military action should be taken against the terrorist state. The meeting takes place against the backdrop of further confirmation that the drone strike on the Saudi oil fields, that cut the Kingdom’s oil output in half, was approved at the highest level of the Iranian government. . .

Iran’s threats can be dismissed as pure bluster. But a Saudi-Iran open confrontation would be extremely dangerous for the entire region. Currently, the two enemies are engaged in a proxy war in Yemen with the Kingdom supporting the government while Iran is backing Houthi rebels. But the entire character of the conflict would change if the two sides went to war.

A Saudi war with Iran would mean the involvement of other Sunni Arab states in the Gulf arrayed against Iran and possibly Shiite Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon joining Tehran. Needless to say, the economic disruptions, not to mention the humanitarian crisis that would ensue, would affect every nation on earth.

The U.S. military has the capability to deliver targeted strikes, perhaps on Iran’s missile and drone facilities, while limiting the loss of life. That would be infinitely better than the Saudis, who are already engaged in Yemen, forcing Iran to respond to an attack by launching their own strike on Iranian oil facilities. (Read more from “Iran’s Threat: There Will Be ‘All-Out War’ If U.S. Attacks” HERE)

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Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage

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Indonesia’s government is pushing through a sweeping new penal code aimed at cracking down on behavior determined to be offensive to the country’s majority-Muslim culture, and is set to outlaw consensual sex outside marriage as part of the package. . .

Reuters reported that four parliamentarians confirmed the new criminal code “is due to be adopted in the next week,” and the final version includes a law that would make it illegal for citizens to have sex with a person other than their spouse. Violators could be sent to prison for up to one year.

According to the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, millions of Indonesians could face prosecution under the pending law. The organization pointed to a study showing that 40 percent of adolescents in the country have had pre-marital sexual relations — and that’s just the young people in a country with a population of more than 250 million.

The Associated Press reported last year that the revisions to Indonesia’s criminal code were pushed by the country’s Islamic political parties, who are using “moral conservatism’ to “rouse their base.” (Read more from “Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage” HERE)

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If U.S. Claims of How the Saudi Oil Attack Went down Are True, Then the Failure to Prevent It Is a Huge Embarrassment

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By Business Insider. . .The version of events being advanced by US officials, however — that most of the damage was from cruise missiles launched from Iran — raises the embarrassing question of why the US military was unable to do anything about it.

The airspace around Iran and Saudi Arabia is some of the best-defended and most intensively monitored on earth, thanks to the decades-long buildup of US assets there. But on Saturday those defenses failed to prevent what US officials have said were at least 17 separate strikes. . .

One former US Navy officer, who deployed to the Persian Gulf region twice to operate air-defense systems, said it would be nearly impossible for the US not to notice the attack as it happened or attempt to intercept the weapons.

“It’s very hard to imagine a salvo of 17 shots from Iranian territory not being picked up via some land and sea radars,” said the former officer who asked not to be identified discussing US military capabilities in the region. . .

There has been no evidence that US or Saudi radar systems picked up the incoming attack or that either military attempted to intercept the missiles before they struck the facilities. (Read more from “If U.S. Claims of How the Saudi Oil Attack Went down Are True, Then the Failure to Prevent It Is a Huge Embarrassment” HERE)

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U.S. Satellites Detected Iran Readying Weapons Ahead of Saudi Strike, Officials Say

By NPR. U.S. surveillance satellites detected Iran readying drones and missiles at launch sites in Iran before Saudi oil facilities were attacked on Saturday, according to two Defense Department officials.

The imagery has not been publicly released. The officials tell NPR that U.S. intelligence views the activity as “circumstantial evidence” that Iran launched the strike from its own soil.

Saudi Aramco has said the attacks on its plants in Abqaiq and Khurais were “a result of terrorist attacks with projectiles.” Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, but U.S. officials have accused Iran of playing a key role.

Iran has denied any involvement.

The two officials say the U.S. Defense Department has sent a forensic team to Saudi Arabia to examine wreckage of drones and missiles used in the attack. Intelligence experts say the outcome of those examinations could provide “compelling and convincing” evidence that Iran was behind the attack. (Read more from “U.S. Satellites Detected Iran Readying Weapons Ahead of Saudi Strike, Officials Say” HERE)

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