JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
THE FINAL DAY OF THE EMERGENCY ACT IS ON TODAY FRI NOV 25,22.THE LIBERALS WERE AFTER THEM BEFORE THEY CAME TO OTTAWA.
Truckers
are flirting with extremists. They should call off their protest-‘The
closer the “freedom convoy” of truckers opposed to new rules around
vaccine mandates gets to Ottawa, the less it has to do with truckers or
even with those rules.’Star Editorial Board-By Star Editorial
Board-Wed., Jan. 26, 2022
The closer the “Freedom Convoy” of
truckers opposed to new rules around vaccine mandates gets to Ottawa,
the less it has to do with truckers or even with those rules.The convoy
may have started out on the West Coast as a legitimate, albeit
wrongheaded, protest against new federal regulations affecting essential
workers who regularly cross the Canada-U.S. border (truckers prominent
among them).But by now, as could have been easily predicted from the
start, it has become a magnet for every sort of extremist — not just
sincere anti-vaxxers, but a jumble of conspiracy nuts, Western
separatists, far right-wingers, and worse.The organizers themselves may
not have wanted that to happen; indeed, some are trying to distance
themselves from the worst elements attaching themselves to the
cross-country convoy.But everyone is judged by the company they keep,
and the minority of Canadian truckers who refuse vaccines and oppose
mandates should not be surprised if they find their cause overshadowed
by the extremists. Lie down with dogs, as they say, and you get up with
fleas.So consider the bizarre “Memorandum of Understanding” that some of
the truckers’ leaders have put forward, proposing that the “People of
Canada” join with the Senate and the Governor General to usurp the
powers of the government and ditch vaccine mandates. Apparently the deep
thinkers behind the convoy think the answer to their complaints is a
coup of sorts with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon leading the charge.Likewise,
ponder the hallucinatory art work featuring truckers parting the seas,
Moses-style, with a burning cross, no less, in the background.Or the
tweets threatening violence against politicians, or even a Canadian
version of the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington once the
trucks reach Ottawa.No one knows how much of that to take seriously; it
may turn out to be just a lot of venting by people glomming on to a
movement they had little to do with organizing.Certainly, Conservative
politicians who rushed to lend support to the convoy as it started out
should be praying hard that it turns out that way. MPs like Andrew
Scheer, Candice Bergen and Pierre Poilievre will look awfully bad if the
ugly side of the anti-vax movement is on full display once the truckers
get to Ottawa.Even if isn’t, those MPs are firmly on the wrong side of
this issue. The vast majority of Canadians are fully vaccinated
(including, by some estimates, as many as 90 per cent of truckers
themselves) and long ago lost patience with the recalcitrant minority
that refuses to get their shots.They know that has prolonged the
pandemic needlessly and put an intolerable burden on the health care
system. We’ve all paid the cost of the anti-vaxxers’ selfishness.So for
MPs, of whatever party, to line up with the truckers’ protest is plain
wrong. It may do them some good politically, but it amounts to putting
partisan advantage ahead of the collective good. For Conservatives,
they’ll only discredit their party among the great majority of voters in
the long run (not to mention undermine their leader, which for some may
actually be the point).The government is right to stick by its policy
on mandatory vaccination for cross-border truckers. Indeed, even if
Ottawa reversed itself nothing would change: U.S. authorities have
imposed a similar mandate on their side of the border, so the truckers
are stuck with it for the time being.At this point they should call off
their protest. It will accomplish nothing, and it’s already amplifying
the most toxic voices among those opposed to vaccine mandates, and
vaccines themselves.Truckers were our heroes at the start of the
pandemic.Now Trudeau and his Liberal allies want to smear and demonize
them. Let’s get the truth out. 👇 pic.twitter.com/xwkDft5mP6 — Erin
O'Toole (@erinotoole) January 27, 2022-Other Conservatives have voiced
support for the convoy, including deputy leader Candice Bergen and
former leader Andrew Scheer, who said that Trudeau is the “biggest
threat to freedom in Canada.”(TRUTH).
The former interim
Conservative leader publicly berated the prime minister to reach out to
protesters, something she says she repeated to Justin Trudeau during
that Feb. 3 call.
JIM WATSON WAS ALL OVER TV AT THAT TIME TO. SAYING THE TRUCKERS WERE A BUNCH OF DESECRATERS-EXTREMIST-TERRORISTS AND NAZIS.
FEB
6,22-The group started rolling big rigs, pickup trucks and other
vehicles into Ottawa’s downtown core late last month around the Hill,
where their incessant horn blasts and nighttime fireworks have
terrorized the 24,000 locals who live in the vicinity. Ottawa police
said it counted 500 vehicles Sunday in the city’s “red zone.”Ontario
Premier Doug Ford is now calling it “an occupation,” and it’s clear
protesters are digging in for the long run.The demonstrators have set up
barbecues and fire pits, amassed stockpiles of food, toilet paper and
fuel, and hung banners everywhere with messages like “Freedom over
Fear,” “Media is the virus” and “Fuck Trudeau.” They have even inflated
bouncy castles on the street in front of Parliament for the kids.The
truck horns and diesel fumes were unavoidable Sunday for families who,
despite the protest, went for a skate on the ice of the nearby Rideau
Canal.Ottawa is not alone. Smaller trucker demonstrations also took
place in other major Canadian cities on Saturday.Ottawa City Councillor
Diane Deans, chair of the Police Services Board, said Saturday that the
protesters are emboldened by the lack of enforcement by every level of
government.“This group is a threat to our democracy,” she told an
emergency public meeting. “What we’re seeing is bigger than just a city
of Ottawa problem — this is a nationwide insurrection. This is
madness.”The demonstrations have not led to physical violence. But
Ottawa police released a statement Sunday saying the force is
investigating more than 200 calls to its hotline for hate-motivated
crimes.Police, who were not enforcing bylaws at the outset, have started
putting more pressure on the protesters.The department said between
Saturday and Sunday morning, officers issued more than 450 tickets. It
also warned Sunday that anyone caught bringing supplies to the
demonstrators, like gas, could now face arrest.The provincial and
federal governments have helped increase the police presence in the
city. Watson said that he’s in constant contact with his counterparts
about resources and that they’ve been responsive.Trudeau told reporters
on Thursday that he’d not had any requests to send the military into
Ottawa’s streets.“One has to be very, very cautious before deploying
military in situations engaging Canadians,” Trudeau said. “It is not
something that anyone should enter in lightly.”
JUSTIN TRUDEAU A DAY BEFORE THE TRUCKERS CAME TO OTTAWA.
Trudeau
says ‘very small, very angry’ trucker convoy is trying to ‘lash out’By
Joan Bryden The Canadian Press-Posted January 28, 2022 7:46 pm-Ottawa
police have warned of the potential for violence by extremists who’ve
joined, or in some cases helped organize, the truck convoy that began
converging on the country’s capital Friday.The so-called “freedom
convoy” has been billed as a protest against the federally imposed
vaccine mandate on cross-border truckers, even though planning for the
event began before the policy was established.While key organizers have
said violence won’t be tolerated, far-right extremists and white
nationalists have latched onto it, with some calling for “bullets” or a
“massive revolution” or a riot akin to the insurrectionists who stormed
the U.S. Capitol a year ago.(ALL PROPAGANDA LIES BY TRUDEAU)
Canada:
Trudeau denounces anti-vaccine trucker protests-Canadian PM slams
intimidation, vandalism and ‘racist flags’ at demonstrations organised
by some far-right activists.By Al Jazeera Staff-Published On 31 Jan
2022-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denounced “symbols of
hatred and division” that were on display during mass demonstrations by
anti-vaccine truckers and their supporters in the capital,
Ottawa.Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trudeau said that while people
have a right to protest, “hate can never be the answer”.“Over the past
few days, Canadians were shocked and frankly disgusted by the behaviour
displayed by some people protesting in our nation’s capital,” Trudeau
said during a news conference.“I want to be very clear: We are not
intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business
workers and steal food from the homeless. We won’t give in to those who
fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or
dishonour the memory of our veterans.”Participants in the so-called
“Freedom Convoy” began arriving in Ottawa on Friday from across the
country, and a crowd of thousands marched through the city the next day
to denounce a coronavirus vaccine mandate for truckers driving across
the Canada-US border.(RIGHT FROM
THE BEGGINING OF THE PEACEFUL PROTEST THE LIBERALS AND ESPECIALLY JUDAS
(DADDYS LITTLE BOY JUSTIN TRUDEAU AND OTTAWA MAYOR JIM (WHATS UP DOC)
WATSON.AND DEMOCRAPS AND THE BRAIN-DEAD PROPAGANDA CANADIAN LIBERAL
MEDIA. CALLED THEM A BUNCH OF EXTREMIST TERRORISTS RIGHT FROM THE
START.)
TRUDEAU
AND HIS LITTLE PUPPETEERS ARE STILL GOING AFTER THE TRUCKERS.THIS
LAWYER PROOVED THE LIBERALS SET UP THE TRUCKERS WITH THIS NAZI FLAG
PERSON. NOW OF COURSE THE LIBERALS MUST SHUT UP THE TRUTH AGAINST THEM.
JUST LIKE THEY DID TO THE TRUCKERS.
Canada-Lawyer for
‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers facing libel notice over inquiry claims-By
Rachel Gilmore Global News-Udated November 23, 2022 3:38 pm
EDITOR’S
NOTE: Enterprise Canada said on Wednesday their original
cease-and-desist letter contained a “typo” when it referenced dates in
2021 instead of 2022. Their corrected letter was published
on Tuesday afternoon, and the quotes from their updated letter are added
below.A lawyer representing the “Freedom Convoy” organizers is facing a
cease-and-desist letter as well as a “forthcoming” notice of libel
after allegations he made during the Emergencies Act inquiry on
Monday.Brendan Miller, the counsel representing Freedom Corp., had
claimed during comments made at the commission that an employee of the
government relations firm Enterprise Canada, Brian Fox, was carrying a
Nazi flag during the protests earlier this year.In a cease and desist
letter sent to Miller and published on Enterprise Canada’s Twitter on
Tuesday, lawyer Jeff Galway from Blakes, Cassels and Graydon said the
“unfounded accusation” is “highly defamatory.”“It is irresponsible and
reckless to use the Commission’s process to make these false and
damaging allegations in a highly visible forum,” the letter said.“These
accusations could not be more baseless, and are causing immediate and
irreparable harm to our clients.”Miller levied the accusation on Monday
while questioning the head of Canada’s spy agency, David Vigneault,
during a hearing for the Public Order Emergencies Commission.Miller had
alleged that the Enterprise employee had been carrying a Nazi flag
during the convoy.Click to play video: 'CSIS head urged Trudeau to
invoke Emergencies Act during convoy, inquiry hears' When Vigneault
responded that he hasn’t testified to that, Miller fired back, “Yeah,
you haven’t testified to it, but you know that to be true, don’t
you?”The commissioner then cut in and chastised Miller’s conduct, saying
the question was “not a fair statement.”In the cease and desist sent to
Miller on Tuesday, Galway explained that Fox “was not in Ottawa at any
time in January or February of 2022.”“His most recent visit to Ottawa,
to the best of his recollection, was to attend the Manning conservative
action conference in 2019,” it added.The letter went on to say that Fox
was “not involved” in the “Freedom Convoy” protests and added that,
“contrary to the misinformation (Miller’s) statements have engendered
online, Brian Fox is not a Liberal Party member, supporter, or
collaborator.”“He is a longstanding member of and contributor to the
Conservative Party of Canada, and participated in the recent leadership
process to support Mr. (Pierre) Poilievre,” it said.“Your implication
that Mr. Fox colluded with the incumbent government to discredit
protestors has absolutely no basis in fact, and is reckless.”Shortly
after Miller made the allegation, social media lit up with claims about
the Enterprise employee. Some users on Twitter called him a “paid
actor,” while others questioned whether he was a “Liberal plant.”The
letter concludes by demanding Miller “cease and desist immediately” and
“correct” his “false statements.”“A formal notice of libel is
forthcoming, and we expressly reserve all of our clients’ legal rights
and remedies.”Speaking outside the inquiry on Tuesday prior to the cease
and desist being made public, Miller faced questions from reporters
asking whether he was concerned about being sued for the allegation he
made.“No, I’m not. Because guess what? Truth is a full defence,” Miller
responded.“We also have privileges for things of which we say in a
courtroom — and the reason that that exists is so that lawyers can do
their job and witnesses can tell the truth.”He said he didn’t care about
Enterprise’s “little announcement yesterday,” referring to the
government relation firm’s statement that they were considering their
legal options.“I could care less,” Miller said.“If they want to bring
that, I would be happy to do so and defend it, and get discovery, and
get their records.”Miller proceeded to reiterate the assertion during
his questioning of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on Tuesday
afternoon, after receiving the cease and desist.The Freedom Corp. lawyer
also told the inquiry he had filed an “affidavit” from an individual
“who identified this man, and the man is Mr. Brian Fox, according to
that affidavit.”
‘Your guy has really screwed the pooch,’ Kenney
told feds over Coutts blockade-By Stephanie Taylor, Laura Osman and
David Fraser The Canadian Press-Posted November 22, 2022 5:12 pm
Former
Alberta premier Jason Kenney accused the federal government of leaving
provinces “holding the bag” to clear “Freedom Convoy” protesters who
blockaded a border crossing in southern Alberta, a public inquiry has
learned.Documents released by the inquiry looking into the government’s
decision to invoke the Emergencies Act last winter include text messages
between three ministers in which Intergovernmental Affairs Minister
Dominic LeBlanc relayed messages he said he received from Kenney.In
messages that LeBlanc said Kenney had written, the then-premier accused
Ottawa of not caring about the Canada-United States border closure in
Coutts, Alta., and complained about the federal decision to decline
Alberta’s request for military equipment that could help remove protest
vehicles.LeBlanc sent the messages to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra
and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on Feb. 11, three days before
Alberta RCMP moved in to make arrests in Coutts.In an apparent
reference to Trudeau, a message attributed to Kenney said: “Your guy has
really screwed the pooch.”“This trucker vax policy is obviously just
dumb political theatre,” the message said, apparently referring to a
federal policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination for cross-border truckers.
The policy sparked the convoy protests, which ultimately saw
demonstrators railing against other COVID-19 restrictions and the
federal government.“Calling them all Nazis hasn’t exactly helped. And
now the provinces are holding the bag on enforcement,” the message
read.The message continued with an allegation that private vendors would
not provide tow trucks or other heavy equipment to “move these freakin’
trucks” because protesters, described as “crazies,” were making death
threats.“And you guys turned down our request for army equipment to help
us. Because apparently, the Government of Canada doesn’t really care
about the international border being closed,” the message said.“But
don’t worry, the RCMP commander in Alberta just told me proudly that he
has secured some psychologists to do a profile assessment on the
protesters. I said, ‘that’s great news, deputy commissioner, ‘do any of
them know how to drive a tow truck.”’In response to the texts that
LeBlanc said were from Kenney, Alghabra wrote: “Speaking of bonkers.”
LeBlanc replied: “Totally.” Further text messages in the conversation
were not released.The blockade in Coutts forced the closure of the
highway and border crossing for more than two weeks before it was broken
up on Feb. 14, when RCMP seized guns and charged four men for
conspiracy to commit murder.The same day, the federal government moved
to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to continued protests in
downtown Ottawa.When a commission lawyer asked LeBlanc whether Kenney
was referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the message that had
him say “Your guy has really screwed the pooch,” LeBlanc testified he
did not ask.“This text message was the premier empathically expressing
his frustration,” he said.It’s not the first time the commission has
seen testy exchanges between federal ministers and their provincial
counterparts, particularly in Ontario.The commission has heard that
members of the federal cabinet were frustrated with what they considered
to be a lack of willingness from the Ontario government to come to the
table to hammer out a solution to the blockades.Earlier in the day, the
public inquiry was shown a text message from Mendicino’s chief of staff,
Mike Jones, who back in February said Ontario’s former
solicitor-general Sylvia Jones used an expletive when communicating how
she didn’t “take edicts.”The Ontario government did not respond to a
request for comment on Tuesday.The Public Order Emergency Commission,
which is in its final week, has previously heard that Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau’s cabinet was highly concerned about the possibility that
the “Freedom Convoy” might inspire further protests after
demonstrators’ blockade in Coutts and another six-day border closure in
Windsor, Ont.The inability of authorities to convince or find tow truck
operators willing to remove protest vehicles was one of the
reasons Trudeau’s government has argued the Emergencies Act was
necessary, because it gave law enforcement the authority to compel
companies to do the job.
Anti-hate experts urge action against
right-wing extremism in Canada-Judy Trinh-CTV National News, Ottawa
Correspondent-Updated Sept. 16, 2022 7:17 p.m.
Anti-hate experts
are urging policy makers to take action against what they describe as
growing right-wing extremism in Canada.One of these experts says
research suggests that millions of Canadians have been drawn into the
far right over the course of the pandemic, some of whom have been
indoctrinated by misinformation and lies that were then amplified by the
Freedom Convoy.Evan Balgord, the executive director of the Canadian
Anti-Hate Network, says the convoy’s organizers were able to
successfully use the month-long February protest to recruit
vaccine-hesitant people into their movement.“They were now rubbing
shoulders with, you know, racists and bigots and people who would like
to use violence to overthrow the government. A portion of those people
are getting further radicalized.”Balgord was one of more than a dozen
experts who spoke at “Hate Among Us,” an international conference held
in Ottawa Tuesday that discussed solutions to growing extremism.Although
some of the Convoy’s leadership is now facing criminal charges, Balgord
says the movement’s ideas are entrenched in the mainstream.Balgord,
whose organization tracked right-wing groups and monitored their
activities and influence, claims that six years ago there were around
20,000 white supremacists in Canada. That’s not the case anymore,
Balgord says.Balgord estimates that there are now 10 to 15 per cent of
Canadians who hold far right views, which encompass a wide range of
extremist opinions including anti-government and anti-science
perspectives along with racist and homophobic beliefs. Some of them may
not consider themselves racist, but they are giving cover to extremists,
he says.A recent Abacus Data survey indicated that 44 per cent of the
Canadian population, or 13 million Canadian adults, believe in at least
one conspiracy theory. These theories include racist beliefs that
political elites are trying to replace native-born Canadians with
immigrants who support them, or that the World Economic Forum has a
secret strategy to impose its economic plans across the globe.GAINING
POLITICAL POWER-Meanwhile polling data released earlier this month by
EKOS Research showed that 25 per cent of Canadians support the
anti-vaccine mandate views espoused by Convoy organizersIn addition to
this, Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research, says at least 10 per
cent, or more than three million Canadians, view the current government
as illegitimate. The supporters are predominately male and under 50
years old, with a high school education. Graves says this group has
become a political force in Canada and gravitates toward parties on the
right of the spectrum.Conservative Party leadership candidate Pierre
Poilievre marches with Canadian veteran James Topp as the Canada Marches
"March to Freedom" arrives in Ottawa.The Conservative Party of Canada’s
new leader, Pierre Poilievre, has embraced convoy supporters and
marched with a Canadian soldier who refused to be vaccinated.Graves says
committed convoy supporters could be a new source of finding success
politically.“But what you need then is to find simply another 10 per
cent of voters who are sick to death of the current government…And I
think that would provide a successful path to power. I'm not saying it's
a sure thing, but it's certainly not implausible.”The far right
elements in that 10 per cent of voters who view the government as
illegitimate can, in extreme cases, be dangerous or delusional,
anti-hate experts say.That was evident in Coutts, Alta., where RCMP
arrested seized weapons and tactical gear from a group that took part in
the border blockade. Some members may have had ties to the neo-fascist
group Diagolon.Court documents showed RCMP feared the extremists would
shoot to kill officers.In August lawyer Caryma S’ad, who has been
documenting the activities of Convoy supporter for months, captured
video of QAnon supporters attempting to place Peterborough police under
citizens arrest.Then two weeks later, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland
was ambushed by a Freedom Convoy supporter who verbally assaulted
her.Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst for the
Canadian government, says before the pandemic, police were concerned
about terrorist attacks from foreign players such as Al Qaida. But as
the U.S. learned on Jan. 6 last year during the attack on the Capitol,
the risk picture has changed - the dominant threats here are
homegrown.Stephanie Carvin, from Carleton University, says national
security risks in Canada have shifted from large scale threats to
buildings to targeted personal attacks on politicians.“Jan. 6 changed
things in Canada. We’re now not so much worried about bombs. We’re
worried about a mob armed with hockey sticks and fire extinguishers
charging at the historical parliament buildings,” Carvin said.In June,
the parliamentary protective service issued panic buttons to MPs, some
of whom received death threats. Since the pandemic, the threats have
become more pervasive, personal and tougher to guard against, says
Carvin, who now teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa.“It’s a much
more dangerous situation when people see politicians as legitimate
targets for violence.”POLITICAL AND PUBLIC SOLUTIONS-To counter this
growing threat to democracy, Heidi Beirich of U.S.-based Global Project
Against Hate and Extremism, says the extremists are exploring real
grievances like job losses and rising costs of living that policy makers
need to address. She says Canada should pass a digital accountability
law that forces social media companies to clamp down on disinformation
shared on their platforms.Bierich says community groups can organize to
fight back against the hateful movement. An example is Ottawa’s “Battle
of Billings Bridge” in February this year, where concerned residents
blocked a roadway for hours, preventing a convoy of vehicles from
joining the trucker protest that occupied Parliament Hill.Heidi Beirich
works with the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. She researches
White Supremacist terrorism.“This is a situation where we have a
growing far right movement that’s a threat to a lot of things: climate
change, racial injustice and sound immigration policies. The list could
go on,” Bierich said.Beirich added that it’s important for media to
continue reporting on the far right and its views.“It’s not a question
of giving them oxygen. They’ve got the oxygen. The question now is are
they being appropriately examined and interrogated by the press about
their beliefs and ideas so other people can be inoculated from their
views.”
Report: Iran developing missiles that could eliminate
obstacles to delivering nuke-While previous intel assessments said Iran
would need 2 years to assemble weapon, NYT finds growing gaps in West’s
knowledge of Tehran’s progress, particularly at Fordo site-By TOI
staff-NOV 25,22-Today, 8:26 pm 0
Iran has reportedly been
developing large cruise missiles that could potentially “eliminate many
of the obstacles” toward delivering a nuclear bomb.Citing several US
intelligence and security sources and experts, The New York Times
reported Thursday that Tehran has moved closer toward achieving
weapons-grade enrichment and could soon possess the technology required
to deliver nuclear bombs.While both American and Israeli intelligence
officials have suggested that Tehran would require at least two years to
reach sufficient levels of enrichment and build a bomb that could fit
atop a missile, the report said “growing gaps in knowledge” about the
pace of Iran’s nuclear development could significantly change that
estimation.The report noted that Iran has recently notified inspectors
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it plans to
advance its nuclear enrichment efforts at its underground Fordo site,
which was previously sabotaged by Israel and the US.The enrichment to
60% purity — a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90% — was
being carried out using the advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the facility
and was described as a response to the IAEA’s resolution last week
criticizing Tehran’s lack of cooperation with the nuclear watchdog.The
Times suggested that the Fordo site — located deep within a mountain
range — would be “hard to bomb,” even if Israel’s incoming hawkish
government led by Benjamin Netanyahu wants to carry out an attack.
Netanyahu had reportedly considered ordering a strike on the site when
he was premier in 2012.As hopes of returning to the 2015 nuclear
agreement with Iran have dissipated, the US has shifted its focus to
undermine Iran’s nuclear plans, and according to The New York Times, the
Fordo site has been a cause for concern among Pentagon
officials.“Imagine telling the incoming administration in January 2021
that within two years, Iran would be enriching to near weapons-grade
uranium at Fordo, deploying its most advanced centrifuges in large
numbers, accepting severely limited international monitoring,
accumulating multiple bombs’ worth of highly enriched uranium and
rejecting diplomatic efforts,” Henry Rome, a senior fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was cited as saying.“That’s
not quite a worst-case scenario, but it’s pretty close.”Under the terms
of the 2015 agreement, Iran was only permitted to enrich uranium to
3.67% purity. That deal gave Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs
on its nuclear program to prevent the production of a weapon. The deal
also called for Fordo to become a research and development facility.The
report said it’s hard to know how long Iran would need to produce a bomb
and build a suitable missile to deliver it under the current conditions
and available information, but suggested that current estimations may
be lacking “at a time that inspections have been limited and cameras
installed by the IAEA have been shut off by the Iranians.”Lacking
intelligence would make the diversion of nuclear fuel hard to detect,
the newspaper added, adding that reports of military cooperation between
Tehran and Moscow in Ukraine further complicate things, with the report
suggesting it could be extended to missile development as well.Earlier
this month, Iran claimed to have developed a hypersonic missile capable
of penetrating all defense systems.Hypersonic missiles, like traditional
ballistic missiles which can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly more than
five times the speed of sound.“This hypersonic ballistic missile was
developed to counter air defense shields,” General Amirali Hajizadeh,
the commander of the IRGC’s aerospace unit said.The US has repeatedly
voiced concern that testing such missiles could boost Iran’s ballistic
missile technology, extending to the potential delivery of nuclear
warheads.In March, the US government imposed sanctions on Iran’s
missile-related activities.It said in a statement at the time that the
punitive measures followed “Iran’s recent missile attack on Arbil, Iraq,
as well as missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.”“These attacks are a reminder that Iran’s
development and proliferation of ballistic missiles pose a serious
threat to regional and international security,” it said.Agencies
contributed to this report.
'We're the only means that Iranians
can see the protests'-Security upped for UK-based Persian news station
after threats from Iranian regime
Concrete barriers erected outside
Iran International’s London office, which has been covering protests in
Islamic Republic; spokesperson says staff are ‘more anxious’ than
panicked-By AFP-NOV 25,22-Today, 7:39 pm 0
LONDON, United Kingdom
— The Iran International TV channel on Friday said that further
security measures have been put in place around its London offices after
threats from the regime in Tehran.Concrete barriers have been erected
similar to those at key government buildings and tourist spots in the
British capital, to prevent vehicle attacks.The barriers were
“guaranteed to stop a 7.5-tonne truck at 50 miles (80 kilometers) per
hour,” a spokesman for the Persian-language channel said.Vehicle access
in and around the site would also be controlled and checks carried out,
he added.The threats were an escalation of years of intimidation because
of its broadcasting of protests in Iran, the spokesman told AFP.“We’re
the only channel running 24/7 coverage of the protests,” he said.But he
added: “We’re not the voice of the protests. We’re the only means that
people in Iran can see them.”The spokesman, who asked not to be
identified, stressed that Iran International was not an opposition
channel and its staff were not activists.“We were set up as a service
for people in Iran and the diaspora,” he said. London’s Metropolitan
Police has placed armed police forces outside @IranIntl's headquarters
following threats by the Iranian regime against its journalist.
pic.twitter.com/5wlEZVkN9k- me@narimangharib.com – #MahsaAmini
(@NarimanGharib) November 19, 2022-Last week, London’s Metropolitan
Police confirmed that armed police vehicles had been deployed outside
the TV studios.That followed “severe and credible” death threats against
two of its UK-based journalists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps.The UK government promptly hauled in Iran’s highest-ranking
diplomat to the country for a dressing-down.Earlier this week, the Kan
public broadcaster reported that Israel provided intelligence
information to the British authorities that enabled them to foil the
planned attacks against local journalists.MI5, the UK domestic
intelligence agency, has uncovered at least 10 plots by Iran to kill
UK-based individuals deemed to be “enemies of the regime” so far this
year, its boss said last week.The channel employs about 100 staff in
London, whose coverage of the protests largely involves sifting through
and verifying social media content of the demonstrations.Iranian staff
were “more anxious” than panicked about the threats and more worried
about the safety of their families back home, as well as the wider
impact of the protests, said the spokesman for the channel.“We all don’t
know what the hell is going to happen. That’s stressful,” he said.Times
of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Iran blasts
‘useless’ UN rights probe into deadly crackdown on anti-regime
protests-Tehran says investigation, backed by majority of Human Rights
Council, is ‘violation of sovereignty’ and a ‘strategic error by Germany
and certain Western countries’By AFP-NOV 25,22-Today, 5:53 pm 0
TEHRAN,
Iran — Iran’s foreign ministry condemned a United Nations Human Rights
Council decision to probe the Islamic Republic’s response to unrest
following the death of Mahsa Amini.Tehran had opposed holding the urgent
council session on Thursday as requested by Germany and Iceland.It
“totally rejects” the resolution that was adopted to establish a
high-level fact-finding mission, the ministry said in a statement late
Thursday.Iran has seen more than two months of anti-regime protests
sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman
Mahsa Amini. She had been arrested for an alleged breach of the
country’s strict dress code for women.Government officials have blamed
the “riots” on “foreign enemies” in the West whom they accuse of
inciting law-breaking.The foreign ministry said Iran had already formed a
national commission of inquiry involving legal experts and “independent
representatives.”“The formation of any new mechanism to examine the
incidents over the past two months in Iran is useless and represents a
violation of the country’s national sovereignty,” it said in a
statement.Iran “does not recognize the mission,” the ministry added.A
broader-than-expected majority of the 47-member council backed launching
the probe, with 25 votes in favor, 16 abstaining and only six countries
— Armenia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuela —
opposed.Tehran accused Germany and other countries which supported the
resolution of making “false and provocative allegations about violating
men, women and children’s rights, which Iran denies.”“This resolution
was made under pressure from certain political lobbies that depend on
false information spread by anti-Iranian media,” the foreign ministry
charged.It decried a “strategic error by Germany and certain Western
countries” and said “this blindness will be detrimental to their
interests.”During Thursday’s session, UN rights chief Volker Turk
insisted that “the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must
come to an end.”Turk said more than 300 people had been killed since
Amini’s death. He told reporters he had offered to visit Iran but had
received no response from Tehran.
Manhunt continues for Jerusalem
bomb attack suspects; police on high alert in city-Security officials
say will place particular emphasis on securing places of worship,
shopping centers and recreation sites over the weekend, two days after
deadly terror attack-By TOI staff and Emanuel Fabian-NOV 25,22-Today,
1:58 pm 3
Police said Friday that bolstered forces would remain
deployed in Jerusalem as the manhunt continued for a suspected terror
cell that detonated explosive devices at two bus stops in Jerusalem on
Wednesday, killing a teenager and wounding more than 20 others.Police
said in a statement that officers from the force, along with the Shin
Bet, were looking for “anyone involved” in the terror attack.Immediately
after the deadly bombing, it was ordered that the number of officers
across Jerusalem be ramped up, especially in crowded areas.Police said
Friday they aimed to increase the police presence throughout the city to
give “a sense of security to all the city’s residents and
visitors.”There was to be a particular emphasis on places of worship,
shopping centers and recreation sites that were expected to be busy over
the weekend.Police said that while the public should not panic, they
should remain alert and report any suspicious activity or
individuals.Police chief Kobi Shabtai visited the center of Jerusalem,
accompanied by local police chief Doron Turgeman.Shabtai was briefed on
the force’s “extensive deployment and increased preparation” for the
upcoming weekend, police said.A 16-year-old yeshiva student, Aryeh
Schupak, was killed and 22 people were hurt in the two attacks,
including one person listed as critical and another three in
serious-moderate condition, according to medical officials.Aryeh
Schupak, 16, killed in a bombing attack at the entrance of Jerusalem,
November 23, 2022. (Courtesy)-The first explosion occurred close to the
main entrance of Jerusalem in Givat Shaul, shortly after 7 a.m., a peak
commuter hour. The second blast occurred shortly after 7:30 a.m., at
Ramot Junction, where heavily trafficked roads meet, in the capital’s
northwest.Schupak, who was killed in the first bombing, was a dual
Israeli-Canadian citizen.The head of the police operations division said
the “two high-quality, powerful explosive devices [capable of] a high
level of damage” were hidden behind the bus stop and in a bush. The
remotely detonated devices were packed with nails and ball bearings to
maximize casualties, according to police officials.No terror group has
claimed responsibility for the attacks.On Thursday, previously unseen
footage of the attack was posted on the Telegram social media service by
an Iranian hacker group that said the film came from surveillance
cameras used by a major Israeli security organization.Details of the
investigation into the bombing were placed under a gag order by a court
at the request of police.Due to the nature of the attacks, with two
near-identical bombs exploding within half an hour of each other at two
bus stops, Deputy Commissioner Sigal Bar Zvi said Wednesday police
suspected an organized cell was behind it, rather than just one
person.The bombings came during a time of heightened tensions, following
a series of Palestinian attacks that left 30 people in Israel and the
West Bank dead since the start of the year, including Wednesday’s
attack.In recent months, there have been several stabbing and attempted
stabbing attacks in Jerusalem, mostly in the Old City. Last month, a
Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint near
Jerusalem.In the spring, the military launched a major anti-terror
offensive in West Bank following the attacks.The operation has netted
more than 2,000 arrests in near-nightly raids, but has left over 130
Palestinians dead, many of them — though not all — while carrying out
attacks or during clashes with security forces.Bombings on buses and in
public places were a hallmark of the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005,
but mostly subsided over the last 17 years, which Israeli officials
attributed to increased security measures, including the West Bank
security barrier, and better intelligence.In 2016, the Hamas terror
group was accused of bombing a bus in Jerusalem, leaving 21 people
injured. And in 2011, a bomb hidden in a backpack exploded at a bus stop
outside the Jerusalem International Convention Center, killing two and
injuring dozens more.
2nd sinkhole opens on main Tel Aviv
highway, causing traffic chaos but no injuries-Three lanes of Ayalon
blocked near La Guardia interchange after second sinkhole opens on
thoroughfare within a number of weeks-By TOI staff-NOV 25,22-Today, 9:54
am 1
A sinkhole opened up on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway on Friday
morning, two months after a similar incident closed sections of the
thoroughfare for a number of weeks.The incident took place at the La
Guardia interchange on the major intracity freeway in the Gush Dan
region, close to the Hagana Train Station.No injuries or damage to
property were reported.Three of the five lanes going south were blocked
to traffic and drivers were asked to seek alternative routes, police
said.Safety experts from Ayalon Highways, the company that operates the
road, were dispatched to the scene and are examining the scope of the
damage caused. Some lanes will remain shut until road safety can be
assured, authorities said.The Ayalon Highway is built over the channel
of the Ayalon Stream, putting it at a higher risk for
sinkholes.Additionally, huge amounts of infrastructure and construction
work in the area have caused sinkholes to open and severe flooding to
occur.Several sinkholes have been discovered in Israel in recent months,
including two recent incidents in Tel Aviv.On Sunday, police were
alerted to the sinkhole on the corner of Ibn Gabirol and Zeitlin streets
in the city, right by Rabin Square.The sinkhole may have been caused by
the construction of the Green Line of the Tel Aviv light rail system
that is taking place in the area, upsetting the subterranean soil,
according to Hebrew media reports.In September, a part of the Ayalon
Highway was shut down for two weeks after a 15-meter-deep (50-foot)
sinkhole emerged at Hashalom Interchange. It was allegedly caused by
construction work on the nearby Azrieli Spiral Tower, which is slated to
become Tel Aviv’s second-tallest building.Earlier this month, a
sinkhole appeared in a parking spot between two buildings in Hod
Hasharon. Emergency services that arrived at the scene ordered an
evacuation of nearby buildings until municipal engineers examined the
hole to assess its cause.In July, a man was killed when a sinkhole
opened underneath a swimming pool during a party at a home in the
central town of Karmei Yosef.
Musk to grant amnesty to suspended
Twitter accounts, drawing hate speech concerns-Experts say move will
spur rise in harassment, hatred, misinformation; billionaire says
platform to return accounts that haven’t ‘broken the law or engaged in
egregious spam’By AP and TOI staff-NOV 25,22-Today, 7:54 am 3
SAN
FRANCISCO, United States — New Twitter owner Elon Musk said Thursday
that he is granting “amnesty” for suspended accounts, which online
safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and
misinformation.The billionaire’s announcement came after he asked in a
poll posted to his timeline to vote on reinstatements for accounts that
have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.” The yes vote was
72%.“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox
Dei,” Musk tweeted using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the
people, the voice of God.”Musk used the same Latin phrase after posting a
similar poll last last weekend before reinstating the account of former
US President Donald Trump, which Twitter had banned for encouraging the
Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Trump has said he won’t return to
Twitter but has not deleted his account.Such online polls are anything
but scientific and can easily be influenced by bots.In the month since
Musk took over Twitter, groups that monitor the platform for racist,
antisemitic and other toxic speech say it’s been on the rise on the
world’s de facto public square.That has included a surge in racist abuse
of World Cup soccer players that Twitter is allegedly failing to act
on.The uptick in harmful content is in large part due to the disorder
following Musk’s decision to lay off half the company’s 7,500-person
workforce, fire top executives, and then institute a series of
ultimatums that prompted hundreds more to quit. Also let go were an
untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Among
those resigning over a lack of faith in Musk’s willingness to keep
Twitter from devolving into a chaos of uncontrolled speech were
Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth.Major advertisers have
also abandoned the platform.On Oct. 28, the day after he took control,
Musk tweeted that no suspended accounts would be reinstated until
Twitter formed a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints
that would consider the cases.On Tuesday, he said he was reneging on
that promise because he’d agreed to at the insistence of “a large
coalition of political-social activists groups” who later ”broke the
deal” by urging that advertisers at least temporarily stop giving
Twitter their business.A day earlier, Twitter reinstated the personal
account of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which was banned in
January for violating the platform’s COVID misinformation policies.Musk,
meanwhile, has been getting increasingly chummy on Twitter with
right-wing figures. Before this month’s US midterm elections he urged
“independent-minded” people to vote Republican.A report from the
European Union published Thursday said Twitter took longer to review
hateful content and removed less of it this year compared with 2021. The
report was based on data collected over the spring — before Musk
acquired Twitter — as part of an annual evaluation of online platforms’
compliance with the bloc’s code of conduct on disinformation. It found
that Twitter assessed just over half of the notifications it received
about illegal hate speech within 24 hours, down from 82% in 2021.On
Thursday however, it seemed like Musk had personally been involved in
deleting one Twitter account that posted antisemitic content and praised
Palestinian terrorism against Israelis.A Twitter user alerted Musk to
the account — called Jisr Collective — by tagging him in a post of
screenshots of the account’s tweets, one of which praised twin terrorist
bomb blasts in Jerusalem on Wednesday as “spectacular.”Musk replied
that such posts were “not ok.” A short while after, the account no
longer appeared to be active.
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