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‘Where Is the Media?’: Persecution of Christians, June 2022 by Raymond Ibrahim

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18771/persecution-of-christians-june

The Christians of Nigeria are, in fact, being purged in a genocide, according to several NGOs Every two hours, one Christian there is killed. — Nigeria.

“Heavily armed bandits, many of whom are said to be ethnic Fulanis, are waging their own form of Jihad; killing, abducting and terrorizing worship centers and educational institutions owned by churches as well as impoverished communities in the North and Middle Belt regions.” — Vanguardngr.com. June 19, 2022, Nigeria.

The Biden administration’s response to the jihadist onslaught against Christians in Nigeria…has been to remove Nigeria from the State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern: nations that engage in, or tolerate, violations of religious freedom. — Nigeria.

“The landlocked Sahel state [Burkina Faso], one of the world’s poorest countries, is in the grip of a nearly seven-year-old jihadist insurgency. Thousands of people have died and nearly two million have been driven from their homes.” — Guardian.ng, June 28, 2022, Burkina Faso.

“Amoti came to our home very early in the morning and needed to know more of Issa [Jesus], whom she had seen in a dream…. she willingly accepted Jesus for the salvation of her soul….. then together we went to church in Nansana.” When she arrived home, her father “…ordered his sons to seize and beat her, then took a sharp knife and pierced her eyes,” one of her brothers who had tried to defend her later said. “I want to remove these eyes so that you stop seeing churches forever—even if you die, we are not going to bury you,” her Muslim father said. — Morning Star News, June 14, 2022, Uganda.

“After Bashir was ousted from 30 years of power in April 2019, the transitional civilian-military government… outlawed the labeling of any religious group “infidels” and thus effectively rescinded apostasy laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death. With the Oct. 25 [2021] coup, Christians in Sudan fear the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law.” — Morning Star News, June 20 2022, Sudan.

On June 6, a 15-year-old Christian girl told a court how she was kidnapped and raped by a Muslim accused of abducting and forcibly converting her to Islam and marrying her. — Morning Star News, June 7, 2022, Pakistan.

June 14 report tells the story of Rehmat Masih, a Christian man who, despite there being no evidence, “has been in prison for five months in a new fabricated blasphemy case. He is accused of profaning and desecrating the pages of the Koran, but in reality he allegedly simply refused an offer to change religion…. on January 3, “police arrested Rehmat Masih, accusing him of committing blasphemy and tortured him severely” in an effort to make him admit to desecrating the Koran, an offence punishable by life imprisonment under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code. On January 19, 2022, a bail application was filed for the defendant, but the judge rejected it. Rehmat has been in prison since, awaiting his trial. — asanews.it, June 14, 2022, Pakistan.

The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of June 2022:

A Dangerous Triple Fantasy by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18800/dangerous-triple-fantasy

Last June Khamenei himself spoke of the “need to open a new front in the West Bank against the Zionist enemy”.

Reliable sources in Baghdad say that the Quds Force has been “transiting” significant quantities of arms and cash via Iraq to Jordan, to be smuggled to the West Bank. The Jordanian authorities say they are aware of these “hostile activities”‘. King Abdullah himself has publicly called on Iran to cease “destabilizing activities”.

Supporters of “pre-emptive initiative” speak of a triple alliance in which the Islamic Republic, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation work together to drive the US and its allies out of Eurasia, eastern Europe and the western Pacific, bringing almost a century of “American hegemony” to an end.

In such a scenario, Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel must not remain as bases for the American “hegemon” and its European and regional allies. All three, each in its own way, also pose threats to China, Russia and Iran’s authoritarian systems by offering models for pluralist democracy and liberal capitalism.

It is clear that some dangerous pipe-dreamers in Beijing, Moscow and Tehran have fallen for the phantasmagoric vision of, “three great powers” banding together and with help from “the rest”, that is to say, the so-called Third World, as Kayhan says, to destroy an international system created by the “corrupt and decadent”.

[P]rudence demands preparing for even the improbable.

In his meeting in Tehran with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Islamic Republic’s “Supreme Guide” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised what he called “Your Excellency’s pre-emptive initiative” in launching “Special Operations ” against Ukraine.

A Deal Will Not Stop the Mullahs from Going Nuclear by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18799/iran-mullahs-going-nuclear

When the regime’s television host asked him about the video showing concrete being poured into the Arak reactor’s pipes to block them, Ali Akbar Salehi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran responded: “[N]ot the pipes you see here. We had purchased similar pipes, but I couldn’t announce it at that time…. We needed to be smart.” — Iran Focus, August 2, 2022.

In addition, during the deal, several reports, later proven to be accurate, warned that Iran was conducting secret nuclear activities.

Now, thanks to the Biden administration’s focus on reviving the nuclear deal… the Iranian regime bought time by dragging out the negotiations long enough to reach the nuclear threshold.

Regrettably, it looks as though the Biden administration and Europe — through their endless concessions and a staggering lack of deterrence — are still trying to force-feed the world a hostile Iran, armed with nuclear weapons.

One can only assume that the Biden administration is hoping to bribe the mullahs with up to a trillion dollars just not to bomb Israel while he is still president. Meaning that afterwards would be splendid?

Not only are deals such as the Biden or Obama nuclear deal failing to halt the predatory regime of Iran from advancing its nuclear program and possessing nuclear weapons, it actually facilitates Iran’s going nuclear by legitimizing its weapons.

The Biden administration has spent all its political capital to resurrect the nuclear deal — presumably to perpetuate the idea that a nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime will stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, believing that the ruling mullahs of Iran will halt their nuclear advancement with a deal is laughable.

Justin Trudeau’s Woke Trail Through Canada A disturbing look at what a leftist Prime Minister has done to his country. Thom Nickels

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/08/justin-trudeaus-woke-trail-through-canada-thom-nickels/

If you want to understand the appeal and success of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, you first have to get through the “sexy” part.

From Glamour magazine, Vogue, Teen Vogue to Time magazine, for years the headlines have dripped with embarassing sexual dew.

These Photos of Young Justin Trudeau are Breaking Hearts All Over the Internet, Time magazine declared in 2017. Glamour Magazine followed suit with: “Young Justin Trudeau was a Regulation Hottie.” Given this sort of press, it’s no wonder that Trudeau won Vogue Canada’s 2015 “Sexiest Man Alive” contest with his “sleek suits and swagger.”

Even more embarrassing are the innumerable blogs featuring the PM as a teen in an open shirt and what looks like the very beginnings of a umbilical hernia on his torso.

The comments section on these blogs is equally off the charts, starting with Justin’s “spellbinding eyes,” “delicious locks,” and ending with the acte commentaire ultime, “it’s pretty much impossible not to drool over this thirst trap.”

The comments come mostly from young women but many appear to be considerably older, recalling the dicey, pay-for-play provocations in the 1967 film, The Graduate.

Everyone, it seems, wants “a piece” of Canada’s PM despite some pushback on the PM’s latest haircut in which those “delicious locks” gave way to comparisons of actor Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber.

The PM’s new haircut is definitely a sheltered workshop look or what you get after electroshock therapy. 

It’s a hardcore butch look for the PM who was often bullied as a boy, according to his mother, Margaret, the fascinating diva of 1970’s New York City night life, aka Studio 54, who relished being photographed dancing with busboys and a young Mick Jagger.

Belgium’s Prisoner Swap Treaty with Iran: “A Deal with the Devil” by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18797/belgium-iran-prisoner-swap

A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage.

The court’s ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of taking foreigners hostage to pressure Western countries into making concessions.

The treaty has angered those who argue that it would grant impunity to Iranian agents such as Assadi and have accused the Belgian government of caving in to “odious blackmail.” It has been variously described as: “frightening appeasement,” “a green light to terrorists,” and “very short-sighted,” “dangerous,” “outrageous,” “a sign of weakness,” “a stunning mistake,” and “a deal with the devil.”

“If the Belgian government proceeds with this treaty, Iran’s regime will further turn Europe into a roaming ground for its terrorists, targeting not just Iranian dissidents but others also, as Tehran is essentially being told that it won’t pay a price.” — Ramesh Sepehrrad, Organization of Iranian American Communities, July 5, 2022.

“With the knowledge that prisoner swaps are an easy option, Tehran will now instruct more ‘diplomats’ and other operatives to engage in terrorism…. Europe must recognize that, ultimately, the only sustainable path to having a stable relationship with Iran is to support the Iranian people’s democratic aspirations.” — Cameron Khansarinia and Kaveh Shahrooz, Politico, August 1, 2022.

A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage.

The court’s ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of taking foreigners hostage to pressure Western countries into making concessions.

The US Must Ditch Its Incoherent Policy on Taiwan by Con Coughlin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18791/us-policy-taiwan

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, moreover, provides a timely illustration of what can happen when the West does not take sufficient action to safeguard the security of its allies.

In February, for example, the US approved a $100 million support package to improve the island’s missile defences, which were designed to improve its Patriot missile defence system. But bureaucratic wrangling in Washington means Taipei has still to receive the support it needs.

Consequently, now that Beijing has provided the West with its military template for intimidating Taiwan, this has provided the US and its allies with an indication of the military defences, such as anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-warship missiles, to thwart any future Chinese attack.

So if Washington, as the Biden administration keeps insisting, is really serious about defending Taiwan from Chinese aggression, then it should get off the fence and abandon its confused policy of “strategic ambiguity” in favour of one that will deter future acts of Chinese aggression against this freedom-loving island state.

China’s extreme military response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sends an unequivocal message to the US that it can no longer sustain its policy of “strategic ambiguity.”

At a time when the very existence of the democratic island state is under threat from China’s communist rulers, what Taipei badly needs is unconditional declarations of support from its Western allies, not the diplomatic equivalent of sitting on the fence, which essentially sums up the Biden administration’s inadequate response to date.

Iran: Systematic Persecution of Baha’is by Mohshin Habib

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18780/iran-bahai-persecution

Samin Ehsani had been running educational courses for Afghan children living in Iran, but who did not have access to education in the country. During the trial, her activities were presented as an example of the charges against her.

In Iran, an estimated 300,000 followers of the Baha’i faith are being denied many fundamental rights such as access to education, employment, political office, and practice of their religious rituals. Iran’s clerical regime evidently considers the Baha’is to be heretics and as having no religion.

Baha’is consider Baha’ullah as a messenger in succession to Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. For that, no other religion or state suppress them except Iran.

On June 15, 2022, Samin Ehsani, a follower of the Baha’i faith and an activist for children’s rights in Iran was arrested and transferred to the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. Earlier, on July 2, 2011, Ehsani had also been sentenced by Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran to five years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime, acting against national security, and being a member of the heretical Baha’i faith.”

China and Russia—With Help from Biden—Attack the Dollar by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18787/china-russia-attack-dollar

Russia and China have launched another attempt to develop a “new global reserve currency.” In other words, they are again attacking the dollar.

There is only one country that can dethrone the dollar, and it is not a BRICS nation. It is the United States. President Joe Biden is China’s and Russia’s biggest ally in “dedollarizing” the world.

Russia’s ruble, although showing surprising strength of late, is tied to a country in long-term—and seemingly irreversible—decline. Moreover, the Russian Federation, thanks to its aggression and barbarism in Ukraine, is cementing its role as a pariah.

Who wants to hold a weak Chinese currency that is racing toward the edge of the cliff?

Furthermore, Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, believes in “absolute” control of every aspect of society. The idea of free convertibility, therefore, is almost certainly anathema to him. So until China completely abandons its model of economic development and removes Xi as ruler, the renminbi cannot dethrone the dollar. The Chinese failure to make their currency widely acceptable means, as a practical matter, the BRICS currency will never get off the ground.

What are the attributes of a global reserve currency? It must be stable, it must be underpinned by a large and strong economy, it must be freely convertible, and it must be used widely.

Americans should not remain overconfident. The only reason the greenback is still the world’s reserve currency is because there is no practical alternative. China and Russia, however, are busy trying to figure out how to engineer a replacement.

“The issue of creating an international reserve currency based on a basket of currencies of our countries is being worked out,” said Vladimir Putin in June, at a meeting of the BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa—grouping.

Climate Change: The Latest Excuse for Slaughtering Christians by Raymond Ibrahim

  https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18781/climate-change-excuse-slaughter

“And it is striking how quickly politicians and commentators trot out the same discredited banal narrative that the drivers for such carnage are climate change and lack of resources. They say that the causes are ‘complicated,’ with hardly a mention of the Jihadist ideology that is behind the endless atrocities of ISIS and Boko Haram. And then they say that everyone [Christian and Muslim] suffers and there is a sort of equivalence with victims coming from varied religious backgrounds. They should tell that to the families whose loved ones are targeted, day in and day out, and see what sort of response they receive.” — Lord Alton of Liverpool, June12, 2022.

“[T]he shocking murders in a church in #Nigeria are attributable to Ideology, Insecurity and Impunity – along with indifference by the Buhari Government. Nor can climate change be blamed for executions, abductions and murders.” — Lord Alton, Twitter, June 6, 2022.

“[P]oliticians need to be more honest about what drives the carnage.” — Lord Alton, June 12, 2022.

Politicians have found a new straw man: climate change. There are certainly many things we can gradually do not to pollute or wreck our planet, but blaming it for the pervasive slaughter of Christians by Muslims in northern Africa is not one of them. It seems, sadly, that what drives the persecution of Christians there, and elsewhere, is doctrine, not climate change.

Taiwan’s reunification countdown has begun Live-fire exercises that began on August 5 were not a drill but the real thing, namely a blockade of Taiwan that China can prolong at will-By Uwe Parpart and David Goldman

https://asiatimes.com/2022/08/taiwans-reunification-countdown-has-begun/

China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said in a statement on Monday (August 8) that joint drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan were continuing.

The notice did not specify the precise location of the exercises or when they would end. Whether the six danger zones for the August 4-7 exercises remain in effect is unclear. The PLA never officially announced the end of the war games.

The announcement will likely leave US officialdom as clueless – or at any rate pretend-clueless – as was betrayed by their statements when Taiwanese officials said Chinese aircraft and warships had rehearsed an attack on the island on Saturday.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby complained that the Chinese “can go a long way to taking the tensions down simply by stopping these provocative military exercises and ending the rhetoric.” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said China’s actions over Taiwan showed a move from prioritizing peaceful resolution toward the use of force.

By comparison, the statement by the Japanese Ministry of Defense that as many as four missiles flew over Taiwan’s capital, which is unprecedented, and that five of nine missiles fired toward its territory landed in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), had the advantage of being factual and accurate.

What neither the White House nor Foggy Bottom appears to have grasped to date is that in the wake of House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “reckless” visit to Taiwan (Tom Friedman’s terminology in his New York Times column) the Xi government took the irreversible decision to “cross the Rubicon” and systematically force the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland.

Too willfully provocative was Pelosi’s action and too puny were the White House and National Security Council’s efforts to rein her in. Together they persuaded Beijing that this Washington or the next administration under Biden’s successor would continue to vitiate and ultimately aim to discard the One China policy.

Live-fire exercises that began on August 5 were not a drill but the real thing, namely a blockade of the island that China can prolong at will.