China Targeted in State Department Annual Report on Religious Freedom

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A Congress-mandated report on the state of religious freedom around the world released by the State Department had some good news and some bad news.

The really bad news concerns the ability of the Chinese people to worship how they choose.

Multiple media and NGOs estimated that since April 2017, the government detained at least 800,000 and up to possibly more than 2 million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim groups, mostly Chinese citizens, in specially built or converted detention facilities in Xinjiang and subjected them to forced disappearance, torture, physical abuse, and prolonged detention without trial because of their religion and ethnicity. There were reports of deaths among detainees. Authorities maintained extensive and invasive security and surveillance, particularly in Xinjiang, in part to gain information regarding individuals’ religious adherence and practices. The government continued to cite concerns over the “three evils” of “ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism” as grounds to enact and enforce restrictions on religious practices of Muslims in Xinjiang. Authorities in Xinjiang punished schoolchildren, university students, and their family members for praying. They barred youths from participating in religious activities, including fasting during Ramadan. The government sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur Muslims from foreign countries and detained some of those who returned.

It gets worse — much worse:

The government began enforcing revised regulations in February that govern the activities of religious groups and their members. Religious leaders and groups stated these regulations increased restrictions on their ability to practice their religions, including a new requirement for religious group members to seek approval to travel abroad and a prohibition on “accepting domination by external forces.” Christian church leaders stated the government increased monitoring even before the new regulations came into effect, causing many churches to cease their normal activities. Authorities continued to arrest Christians and enforce more limitations on their activities, including requiring Christian churches to install surveillance cameras to enable daily police monitoring, and compelling members of house churches and other Christians to sign documents renouncing their Christian faith and church membership. An ongoing campaign of church closings continued during the year, and authorities removed crosses and other Christian symbols from churches, with Henan Province a particular focus area of such activity. In September the Holy See reached a provisional agreement with the government that reportedly would resolve a decades-long dispute concerning the authority to appoint bishops.

(Read more from “China Targeted in State Department Annual Report on Religious Freedom” HERE)

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Pompeo Arrives in Middle East to Build ‘Global Coalition’ Against Iran

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By Breitbart. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the Middle East this week to build a “global coalition” against Iran amid intensified tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The likelihood of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States has increased in recent days, notably after Iranian troops shot down an American drone last week. . .

Before leaving the U.S. capital for the Middle East, Pompeo told reporters that he would talk with the two U.S. Sunni Arab allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE:

[A]bout how to make sure that we are all strategically aligned and how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states but in Asia and in Europe that…is prepared to push back against the world’s largest state sponsor of terror.

Echoing President Trump, Pompeo noted that the United States is willing to negotiate with Iran without preconditions to ease tensions between the two longtime rivals. Iran, however, has indicated it is not interested in dialogue. (Read more from “Pompeo Arrives in Middle East to Build ‘Global Coalition’ Against Iran” HERE)

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Iran Says Latest US Sanctions Ends ‘Channel of Diplomacy Forever’

By Fox News. A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a tweet Tuesday that the new U.S. sanctions that target Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials permanently end any chance of diplomacy between countries.

The U.S. and Iran have seen tensions increase exponentially in the past few weeks after an initial U.S. sanctions squeeze that Washington said led to the attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The situation became increasingly dire last week after Tehran admitted to downing a $100 million U.S. Navy drone.

Abbas Mousavi took to Twitter to call out President Trump’s latest decision to impose additional sanctions and said the sanctions means “closing channel of diplomacy forever,” according to Reuters.

“Trump’s desperate administration is destroying the established international mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security,” the tweet read. (Read more from “Iran Says Latest US Sanctions Ends ‘Channel of Diplomacy Forever'” HERE)

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Mexico Deploying 15,000 Troops to U.S. Border to Stop Illegal Immigration into U.S.

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Mexican Secretary of Defense Luis Sandoval said on Monday that Mexico is deploying thousands of soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border to help stop the massive flow of illegal immigration into the United States.

“Mexico has deployed almost 15,000 troops to the US-Mexico border to curve migration flow,” CNN reporter Nick Valencia tweeted. “An additional ~2,000 National Guard elements have also been deployed across the country’s southern border with Guatemala & Belize.: MX Secretary of Defense Luis Sandoval.”

The move by Mexico comes after the Trump administration increased pressure on the Mexican government to significantly increase its efforts to stop the seemingly endless flow of migrants that are illegally entering the United States.

Trump announced at the end of last month that Mexico would face tariffs that would devastate their economy if they did not step up to the table and make serious efforts to help stop the problem.

Trump tweeted: “On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied, at which time the Tariffs will be removed. Details from the White House to follow.”

(Read more from “Mexico Deploying 15,000 Troops to U.S. Border to Stop Illegal Immigration into U.S.” HERE)

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Christian Persecution 2019 a Scourge of ‘Mammoth Proportions’

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June 2019 is an “especially menacing time” for Christians both on the domestic and international fronts, writes Christian persecution expert John L. Allen in a report Sunday.

The U.S. Catholic Church is facing “one of the most serious potential violations of religious freedom in its history in the form of SB 360 in California,” writes Allen, author of the 2013 bestseller The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution, since the bill would compel priests to reveal information learned while hearing confessions as evidence against possible sex offenders. . .

On the international scene, “the scope of anti-Christian hostility is staggering,” Allen continues, with the number of Christians facing “harassment, physical assault, arrest and imprisonment, torture, and even death” on a daily basis estimated at around 200 million.

Christians in North Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and a host of other countries live under a constant threat of active persecution, as documented by Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog group. . .

“Just as one didn’t have to be Jewish to sympathize with the plight of dissident Jews in the Soviet Union, and didn’t have to be black to be outraged by apartheid in South Africa, similarly today one shouldn’t have to be Christian to recognize anti-Christian persecution as a human rights scourge of mammoth proportions,” Allen writes. (Read more from “Christian Persecution 2019 a Scourge of ‘Mammoth Proportions'” HERE)

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Expert: U.S. Invests More in Africa Under Trump Than Any Other President

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The United States has poured more investment into Africa under President Donald Trump than under any previous administration. . .

The Daily Maverick reported on Thursday:

Aubrey Hruby, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center and co-author of the book The Next Africa, has told Al Jazeera that the US DFC [Development Finance Corporation] with its larger investment cap, provides an opportunity for the US to reframe the way it does development in Africa.

She said it was “utterly surprising” that this was happening under President Donald Trump, who has been criticised for derogatory comments about Africa and who previously proposed scrapping funding for Opic, which provided US companies with investment guarantees. She said in many ways, more resources had been put into Africa and US companies in Africa under the Trump administration than any other.

Critics once complained that President Trump lacked interest in Africa (at least outside of South Africa, where he has drawn attention to the plight of white farmers, who are often the targets of brutal crime). They also accused him of referring to some African nations as “sh*thole countries” (though he and others present denied the accusation). (Read more from “Expert: U.S. Invests More in Africa Under Trump Than Any Other President” HERE)

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China Hosts Taliban Delegation to Enlarge Role in Afghanistan

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A Taliban delegation recently traveled to Beijing to discuss U.S.-backed peace efforts as well as “mutual” counterterrorism concerns in Afghanistan, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Indian media reported that New Delhi’s rival Beijing hosted the delegation — led by the Taliban’s political deputy chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar — in a bid to expand its role in Afghanistan, which is expected to house projects from Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Asked about the Taliban’s visit on Thursday, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that the two sides exchanged views “on Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation process, counter-terrorism and other issues of mutual interest.” . . .

The Trump administration has intensified peace-seeking efforts over the last year, making the political reconciliation between Afghanistan and Kabul the primary goal of its strategy to end the nearly 18-year-old war. Nevertheless, the Taliban’s refusal to allow Kabul to participate in the ongoing negotiations has surfaced as the primary hurdle to the talks.

Taliban narco-jihadis, who are fighting to establish a sharia-compliant Islamic emirate in Afghanistan, consider themselves the only legitimate government of Afghanistan, dismissing Kabul as an American “puppet.” (Read more from “China Hosts Taliban Delegation to Enlarge Role in Afghanistan” HERE)

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Ilhan Omar Goes All in to Defend World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism

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Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) repeatedly advocated for Iran — the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — on Thursday, tweeting multiple times that the United States should not take action against Iran, even as Iran has repeatedly attacked cargo ships in the area and shot down a U.S. military drone this week.

Omar then falsely suggested that the U.S. was the “aggressor” in the situation with Iran, completely ignoring Iran’s multiple attacks on oil tankers in the region in recent weeks and Iran’s decision to shoot down a military drone this week. . .

Later in her tweet thread, Omar wrote: “So I urge you: be strong. Do not listen to the warmongers and war profiteers whispering in your ear. Do not send our men and women into harm’s way. And I urge the American people to make your voice heard. Organize. Call your member of Congress. Let all our leaders know that a war with Iran would be a catastrophe. #NoWarOnIran”

(Read more from “Ilhan Omar Goes All in to Defend World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism” HERE)

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The OTHER Malaysian Airlines Flight: Three Russians and Ukranian Charged with Shooting down MH17

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By Townhall. Just days after The Atlantic published their comprehensive investigation on the whereabouts of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared into thin air in March 2014, a European joint task force revealed it has leveled charges against four men — one Ukranian and three Russians — for a second Malaysian airlines tragedy: the July 2014 explosion of MH17.

The BBC reports that the four men, who investigators believe were in direct contact with Russian officials, are accused of transporting missiles into an area of Ukraine for the purpose of shooting down a passenger jet. The four “did not push the button themselves,” investigators say, but provided the local milita with the means used to down the Malaysian airlines flight.

The joint investigative team is Dutch and plans to prosecute the four men — Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov from Russia, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenkoin — in the Netherlands under Dutch law. The trial won’t begin until 2020, however, since Dutch authorities say they still have at least eight more persons of interest to investigate in relation to the case.

Investigators believe that Girkin, a former Russian intelligence official, was in “direct contact with the Russian Federation” and that he and his team were well aware of what they were arming local militias to do, and that they’d reported their progress to Russian officials. . .

Unsurprisingly, Russia has refused to cooperate with the investigation and disputes the Dutch investigators’ findings. Russian officials say they do not believe any of their anti-aircraft missiles ever crossed the Russian border into Ukraine, even though investigators believe that the missile that hit MH17 belonged to the “53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile brigade,” based in Kursk. (Read more from “The OTHER Malaysian Airlines Flight: Three Russians and Ukranian Charged with Shooting down MH17” HERE)

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MH17: Four Charged with Shooting down Plane over Ukraine

By BBC News. For the first time since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July 2014, prosecutors have announced charges against suspects in the case. . .

The passenger jet left Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at 10:15 GMT on 17 July 2014 and was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia the following day.

A few hours after take-off, the plane lost contact with air traffic control about 50km (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.

At the time, an armed conflict was raging on the ground in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces, and several government military aircraft had been downed in the previous weeks, while government air strikes were being carried out on rebel-held areas.

The plane crashed in the Donetsk area, in territory controlled by separatists. Parts of the wreckage were found distributed over an area of about 50 sq km (19 square miles). (Read more from “MH17: Four Charged with Shooting down Plane over Ukraine” HERE)

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INCREDIBLE: Hong Kong Protesters Embrace Unexpected Christian Anthem

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A hymn sung by Christian groups participating in the anti-extradition Hong Kong protests has caught on and become an unlikely anthem for the movement of millions in the streets.

For the past week, “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” has been heard almost non-stop at the main protest site in front of the city’s Legislative Council, and at marches and tense stand-offs with police, Reuters reported.

Although only 10 percent of the population is Christian, church groups quickly rallied after being alarmed by reports of police brutality to make a safe haven for protesters as the government said it had to crack down on “organized riots.” . . .

“As religious assemblies were exempt, it could protect the protesters. It also shows that it is a peaceful protest,” Edwin Chow, 19, acting president of the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students, told Reuters. “This was the one people picked up, as it is easy for people to follow, with a simple message and easy melody.”

The simple hymn heard around Hong Kong was composed by Linda Stassen-Benjamin in the United States in 1974 for Easter.

(Read more from “Hong Kong Protesters Embrace Unexpected Christian Anthem” HERE)

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New Zealand ‘Factsheet’ Wipes Israel from the Map, Has Horrifying Replacement

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New Zealand’s government recently erased Israel from the map in a “factsheet” on Palestine marred by numerous factual inaccuracies and minimal nuance, provoking outcry from Jewish and Israeli voices.

The “factsheet” labels all territory currently governed by Israel as Palestine. It also calls Palestine as a “state,” which is not consistent with the New Zealand government’s official view. . .

The “fact sheet” was first published by New Zealand’s Immigration Agency under the title ‘State of Palestine Refugee Quota Factsheet” to give a brief overview of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict created Palestinian refugees. It is unclear who exactly created the “fact sheet” nor the editing process for it.

After the documents made the rounds on social media with numerous people weighing in on the subject, the government took down the controversial document:

Ashley Church, the director of the Israeli Institute of New Zealand, called for the retraction of the “fact sheet” and an apology from the New Zealand government. (Read more from “New Zealand ‘Factsheet’ Wipes Israel from the Map, Has Horrifying Replacement” HERE)

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