Shocker: Even Leftist Columnist Rips Hamas, Says They Committed ‘an Act of Human Sacrifice’

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Appearing on CNN with Anderson Cooper, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who has spent his career attacking the Israeli right wing, astonishingly ripped into Hamas for the violence along the Israeli-Gaza border and the Palestinians who were killed, saying Hamas had committed “an act of human sacrifice.”

Cooper precipitated Friedman’s response by assuming Friedman would buy into the media’s false narrative of the correlation between the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem and the Hamas riots, ignoring that Hamas had been rioting every week for weeks: “Tom, it was striking yesterday to watch members of the Trump Administration celebrating the unveiling of the new embassy and at the same time Palestinians were being killed on the Israeli-Gaza border.”

Shockingly, Friedman ignored Cooper’s attempt and targeted Hamas instead, saying:

You know, the whole thing, Anderson, is just like diplomatic pornography from beginning to end. Let’s start with Hamas and Gaza. I mean, it was an act of human sacrifice. I’m sorry, when you throw thousands of your youth, the flower of your youth against an Israeli fence, supposedly to get into Israel, some of them surrounded by armed Hamas fighters, it was inevitable that a lot of people were gonna get killed. Israel was not going to open the border to them and Hamas knew that, and this was entirely designed by Hamas to distract the attention of the world, not to mention the Middle East.

. . .

Friedman answered, “Absolutely. They’re totally in control. And this is their answer to failed leadership, to turn Gaza into some kind of decent flourishing state, which they could have done. They had the choice to do that before all these blockades began and they chose not to. They have a lot to answer for.” (Read more from “Shocker: Even Leftist Columnist Rips Hamas, Says They Committed ‘an Act of Human Sacrifice'” HERE)

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Trump Issues Warning for Kim Jong Un

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By The Guardian. Donald Trump has threatened Kim Jong-un with the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi if the North Korean leader “doesn’t make a deal” on his nuclear weapons programme.

The US president issued the threat at the White House when he was asked about the recent suggestion by his national security adviser, John Bolton, that the “Libyan model” be a template for dealing with North Korea at a summit between Trump and Kim planned for 12 June in Singapore.

The model Bolton was referring to was Gaddafi’s agreement in December 2003 to surrender his embryonic nuclear weapons programme, which included allowing his uranium centrifuges to be shipped out to the US.

But Trump appeared to be unaware of that agreement, and interpreted the “Libyan model” to mean the 2011 Nato intervention in Libya in support of an insurrection, which ultimately led to Gaddafi’s murder at the hands of rebels in Tripoli.

“The model, if you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him. Now that model would take place if we don’t make a deal, most likely. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy,” Trump said, suggesting that the regime’s survival could be assured if Kim agreed to disarm. (Read more from “Trump Issues Warning for Kim Jong Un” HERE)

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North Korea Summit: Trump Contradicts Bolton on ‘Libya Model’

By BBC. US President Donald Trump has contradicted his own national security adviser, saying the so-called “Libya model” for denuclearisation is not being pursued with North Korea.

The suggestion by John Bolton angered the North, which threatened to pull out of a summit with Mr Trump next month . . .

On the planned summit, Mr Trump said: “Nothing has changed on North Korea that we know of. We have not been told anything.

“And if it does that’s fine and if it doesn’t I think we’ll probably have a very successful meeting.” (Read more from “North Korea Summit: Trump Contradicts Bolton on ‘Libya Model'” HERE)

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Turkey’s Edrogan Calls for Muslim World to Unite Against Israel Due to Gaza Massacre, Jerusalem

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By Press TV. Turkey has urged Islamic countries to review their ties with Israel after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on the Gaza border.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told his ruling party in parliament that Ankara would call an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

“Islamic countries should without fail review their relations with Israel,” Premier Yildirim said, adding, “The Islamic world should move as one, with one voice, against this massacre.”

Yildirim said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the body, called the OIC summit on Friday.

Yildirim said that after the summit at 3:00 pm a giant rally would be held at the vast Yenikapi meeting area in Istanbul under the slogan of “Stop the Oppression” to express solidarity with the Palestinians. (Read more from “Turkey’s Edrogan Calls for Muslim World to Unite Against Israel Due to Gaza Massacre, Jerusalem” HERE)

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Did Israel Use Excessive Force at Gaza Protests?

By BBC. Palestinian health officials say more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and 10,000 injured by Israeli troops over the past six weeks at a series of protests along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. . .

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel’s military of carrying out “massacres” of unarmed civilians, but Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted its troops acted in self-[defense] and blamed the militant group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, for the deaths. . .

Before the protests began, Israeli officials said soldiers would be permitted under certain rules to fire live ammunition at anyone attempting to damage the border fence, and even against people coming within 300m (985ft) of it – a figure that was reportedly later reduced to 100m.

Despite the warnings, thousands of Palestinians approached the fence during the protests. A number threw stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers deployed on the Israeli side of the border, and flew kites laden with petrol soaked material intended to start fires on Israeli territory.

Israeli troops responded by firing tear gas, rubber bullets and various types of live ammunition. (Read more from “Did Israel Use Excessive Force at Gaza Protests?” HERE)

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“All the Rage” in Sweden and on the Farm: The Mark of the Beast May Be Closer Than You Think

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By Futurism. . .[A] growing number of people — including, for whatever reason, about 3,000 Swedes — are opting for something even more invasive, and arguably practical: a surgically inserted microchip, according to the Associated French Press.

The chip itself essentially acts as a digital keychain. NFC (near-field communication) is a way of sending information wirelessly from a passive chip to a reader, but only when they are about 4 cm (1.6 in) apart (you might have heard of radio frequency identification, or RFID — NFC is a more sophisticated form of it). A chip in the hand can help people do things like sign into the gym, unlock doors to cars and offices, and make credit card payments. Over time, as the technology progresses, the implant will be able to do even more. . .

But now, people who get the implant aren’t counterculture biohackers — they’re the everyman. This is especially true in Sweden, where these chips are so mainstream that, since June 2017, people have been able to buy train tickets with their microchips.

More bodies equipped with microchips doesn’t necessary sound like good news to everybody, however. NFC chips right below the skin give corporations a fair amount of control over you — they could track where you are, how long you take for lunch every day, or how many times you went to the bathroom, if the chip were scanned by a reader. And since most chips are offered through big companies, it’s just a matter of time until this happens. And opting out of this kind of data collection is a lot more convoluted when you’ve got a chip implanted in your bodily tissues. If you want to go off the grid in even the smallest way, you can leave your wallet at home, but removing a microchip requires bit more, uh, effort. (Read more from “All the Rage” in Sweden and on the Farm: The Mark of the Beast May Be Closer Than You Think” HERE)

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Subcutaneous Fitbits? These Cows Are Modeling the Tracking Technology of the Future

By Technology Review. . .These cows are the first to try a device called EmbediVet, created by a startup named Livestock Labs. For now, they’re just going about their normal lives, unintentionally providing data that helps train an artificial neural network. The hope is that in the near future, this AI will help farmers figure out quickly and easily how well cows and other livestock are eating, whether they’re getting sick or about to give birth—things that are typically done today just by watching and waiting but are difficult to spot when you’ve got hundreds or thousands of animals to keep an eye on.

Embedded RFID sensors and other trackers have long been used in livestock, though generally just for identifying each animal. There are already some behavior-tracking wearables out there, such as collars, that use sensors to pinpoint events like cud-chewing and illness. But Livestock Labs claims that once EmbediVet is implanted—currently in a surgical procedure done under local anesthetic—it’s less annoying to the cow than a wearable and, potentially, a more powerful way to collect useful data and spot bovine behavior patterns over time. . .

Within months, Livestock Labs readied a new device—now called EmbediVet—for testing in cattle. Covered in a clear resin, it includes an ARM processor and Bluetooth and long-range radios, as well as a thermometer, accelerometer, and heart-rate monitor and pulse oximeter for measuring heart rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature, and basic activity. It runs on a coin-cell battery the company expects will last for about three years.

Why do it? Rood thinks that this kind of device can be more accurate than a wearable one such as a collar or an anklet, especially when it comes to tracking a metric like body temperature, which correlates with disease, in thick-skinned animals. (Read more from “Subcutaneous Fitbits? These Cows Are Modeling the Tracking Technology of the Future” HERE)

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Russia Finishes Construction of Longest Bridge in Europe, Defies International Community with New Link to Crimea

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By Yahoo. President Vladimir Putin drew condemnation from the US, Europe and Ukraine on Tuesday after he opened a new bridge linking mainland Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea by driving a truck across it to the peninsula.

Putin dressed in jeans and a casual jacket was shown by Russian state television behind the wheel of a construction truck to drive 19 kilometres (12 miles) across the bridge, which links the Taman peninsula in southern Russia to Ukraine’s Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

“I want to sincerely congratulate you with this remarkable, festive and, in the full sense of the word, historic day,” Putin told workers upon arrival on the Crimean side of the bridge.

“In different historical eras, even under the tsar, people were dreaming of building this bridge,” Putin told cheering workers.

He was referring to Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, who first proposed such a bridge, but the outbreak of World War I prevented it going ahead. (Read more from “Russia Finishes Construction of Longest Bridge in Europe, Defies International Community with New Link to Crimea” HERE)

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Vladimir Putin Celebrated the Controversial Opening of Russia’s Bridge to Crimea by Driving a Truck over It – Without Wearing a Seat Belt

By Business Insider. Russian President Vladimir Putin drove Kamaz truck across a new, controversial bridge to Crimea without wearing a seat belt – which is against the law in Russia, according to a reporter from The Atlantic.

The new bridge from Russia to the annexed peninsula Crimea opened on Tuesday six months ahead of schedule. But several in the Russian media noticed that Putin was driving the truck across the bridge without his seat belt buckled.

(Read more from “Vladimir Putin Celebrated the Controversial Opening of Russia’s Bridge to Crimea by Driving a Truck over It – Without Wearing a Seat Belt” HERE)

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After Cancelling, North Korea Drops Another Damaging Statement About Trump Meeting

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By The Blaze. The North Korean regime released a second statement Tuesday evening after pulling out of a meeting with South Korea and threatening to pull the plug on the historic meeting planned with President Trump . . .

A senior North Korean official said that the regime was not interested in “unilaterally” denuclearizing, according to Yonhap News Agency, the largest South Korean news organization.

An English translation of Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan’s statement was released Tuesday.

The statement lauded North Korea’s efforts to seek peace, but added, “prior to the DPRK-U.S. summit, unbridled remarks provoking the other side of dialogue are recklessly made in the U.S. and I am totally disappointed as these constitute extremely unjust behavior.”

“High-ranking officials of the White House and the Department of State including Bolton,” the statement continued, “White House national security adviser, are letting loose the assertions of so-called Libya mode of nuclear abandonment, ‘complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization,’ ‘total decommissioning of nuclear weapons, missiles, biochemical weapons.’ etc., while talking about formula of ‘abandoning nuclear weapons first, compensating afterwards.’” (Read more from “After Cancelling, North Korea Drops Another Damaging Statement About Trump Meeting” HERE)

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North Korea Cancels Historic Meeting – Here’s What They Say Set Them off

By The Blaze. After weeks of historic acts of amelioration, North Korea suspended a meeting with South Korean officials planned for Wednesday, and threatened to cut off the meeting with President Trump . . .

According to the North Korean state news agency KCNA, officials were angered by joint military drills between the United States and South Korea.

The summit between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Trump was scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. They were to discuss the possibility of North Korea denuclearizing.

“We are aware of the South Korean media report. The United States will look at what North Korea has said independently, and continue to coordinate closely with our allies,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about the report.

“We have not heard anything from that government or the government of South Korea to indicate that we would not continue conducting these exercises,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, “or that we would not continue planning for our meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un next month.” (Read more from “North Korea Cancels Historic Meeting – Here’s What They Say Set Them off” HERE)

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Fact Check: Has Iran’s Military Budget Grown 40% Since the Nuclear Deal?

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Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord. The deal, signed in July 2015, required Iran to dismantle two-thirds of its centrifuges and give up 95 percent of its enriched uranium. Provisions took effect January 2016.

The Obama administration estimated that the deal would lengthen the “breakout” period – the amount of time it would take for Iran to build a nuclear weapon – from two to three months to about one year. But the agreement included sunset provisions, making it a temporary fix.

The deal provided Iran with sanctions relief estimated at somewhere between $29 billion and $150 billion. The Treasury Department separately paid Iran $1.7 billion in cash to settle a legal claim, although the timing of a prisoner swap led to accusations that the funds doubled as a ransom payment . . .

“In the years since the deal was reached, Iran’s military budget has grown by almost 40 percent, while its economy is doing very badly. After the sanctions were lifted, the dictatorship used its new funds to build nuclear-capable missiles, support terrorism, and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond,” Trump said during the announcement . . .

His statistic may come from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish research organization that studies conflict and arms control. Adjusted for inflation, it estimates that Iran spent $14.5 billion on its military in 2017, up from $10.6 billion in 2015 – a 37 percent increase. (Read more from “Fact Check: Has Iran’s Military Budget Grown 40% Since the Nuclear Deal?” HERE)

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Depraved: Comedian Compares Netanyahu to Hitler and Gaza to Auschwitz

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If it wasn’t clear how much Chelsea Handler hates Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from her attack on Nikki Haley on Tuesday, two tweets she sent 15 minutes later made it abundantly clear . . .

(Read more from “Depraved: Comedian Compares Netanyahu to Hitler and Gaza to Auschwitz” HERE)

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Experts Believe They Finally Know What Happened to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370

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Experts investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which “vanished” into thin air in 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China, now say they believe the 53-year-old pilot committed suicide, taking the plane on a bizarre journey which ended with a crash in the Indian Ocean.

According to NDTV, investigators now think the plane’s captain, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, depressurized the plane within minutes of takeoff, grabbing an oxygen mask for himself while his crew members and passengers passed out and then slowly suffocated.

Zaharie, they believe, then skirted the plane along the border between Malaysia and Thailand, preventing the plane from fully appearing on either country’s flight-tracking radar. After a brief jaunt over the Malaysian state of Penang, where Zaharie was from — a “long, emotional goodbye” — Zaharie, the experts say, put the plane into a “death dive,” and drove himself and all 239 aboard into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia . . .

The suicide timeline is far from the first theory as to how MH370 disappeared off radar, if not entirely, but it is one of the few that explains why there was no mayday call from a co-pilot, and why several east Asian countries missed the flight’s descent entirely. Only a satellite, consulted later, showed the plane ending its journey in the southern Indian Ocean. (Read more from “Experts Believe They Finally Know What Happened to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370” HERE)

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Defector: North Korea Will Never Give up Their Nukes

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Leading up to the much-anticipated meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, a former North Korean official says the country is only putting on a show about getting rid of their nuclear weapons.

Thae Yong-Ho defected from North Korea in 2016, where he was the deputy ambassador to Great Britain. He said, “In the end, North Korea will remain a nuclear power packaged as a non-nuclear power.”

He explained that the North “would oppose intrusive inspections as they would be viewed as a process of breaking down Kim Jong Un’s absolute power in front of the eyes of ordinary North Koreans and elites.”

The remarks from Yong-Hu come during the recent release of his memoir, in which he states, “More people should realize that North Korea is desperately clinging to its nuclear program more than anything.” . . .

According to 38 North, “Between April 20 and May 7, 2018, the probable engineering office building and a possible instrumental shed located just outside the North Portal (where the last five underground nuclear tests have been conducted) were razed along with at least two smaller building or sheds.” (Read more from “Defector: North Korea Will Never Give up Their Nukes” HERE)

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