In the news this week, Turkey is in a bind in Syria both in its war with the Syrian army and its migrant-overrun border. The economy is still taking its hits and the Fed is trying to staunch the bleed out. The Israeli elections are over but the deadlock remains the same but with a few new problems. And the Coronavirus has the whole world in a panic.
Thank you for listening!
Kimberly Rogers-Brown
BeastWatchNews.com
DISCLAIMER! WHEN I SAY THE WORD “JEWS”, I MEAN THE CHABAD CABAL AND OTHER JEWISH LEADERSHIP AND THOSE FROM THE HOUSE OF JUDAH WHO SUBSCRIBE TO CHABAD’S EVIL DOCTRINES. I DO NOT MEAN ALL JEWISH PEOPLE!
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But first, let me introduce a new member of my team, Heather Hossley. She has been working with me for a few months now and will sometimes be the voice behind the script.
Also, for now, I am cutting back on some features of BWN. The videos I’ve been producing every week are very time and energy consuming. For now, there will be only the podcast and the article by which you can read along with the audio.
We are coming into the Passover season which means there are lots of preparations to keep me busy. Plus, I am writing a book which takes a lot of time. Thus, Heather will be taking some items off of my plate. Your continued support is very much appreciated. Here’s Heather.
Thank you, Kimberly. Let’s begin with the latest on the Coronavirus.
CORONAVIRUS
Iran now has the highest number of deaths from coronavirus outside China. Friday prayers and other gatherings have been cancelled but some Iranian men disobeyed authorities this week and are now under arrest. The two Iranian men who defied coronavirus warnings videotaped themselves defiantly licking holy shrines in Qom. They could face prison and flogging.
The countries around Iran have now closed their borders to Iranians. One Iranian MP has died from the virus. Twenty-three other MPS of the 290 members of parliament have also tested positive.
A clinic in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas was torched last Friday because some people believed that coronavirus patients from another city were quarantined in it.
The reason Iran has become such an epicenter is because of businessmen from Iran and China traveling back forth. These nations are partners in crime, making plans for the destruction of Israel and the United States.
Iran has tried to hide the coronavirus’s outbreak by not quarantining high-risk areas and yielding to its clerical establishment to not bar the public from visiting major religious sites. The moment Iran would have admitted to the coronavirus outbreak there would be the moment that the world would know how much trade was going on between Iran and China. So, Iran adopted the policy of denial through not taking measures to stop the spread of the disease and is now paying the price.
According to Politico.com, The Iranian government’s policy blunders are now responsible for Iran’s status as the main center of contamination and exporter of the coronavirus outside China. But ongoing U.S. sanctions have made matters worse by making the Iranian regime more skittish about taking any public health measures—such as reducing contacts with its main trading partners or declaring a public health emergency—that could further damage its already ailing economy. History shows that continuing Iran’s isolation as it grapples with coronavirus risks backfiring on the United States and the rest of the world.
Iran, in its panic, has now freed over 54,000 prisoners to combat the spread. The Washington Post reports, New accounts of coronavirus infections in Iran’s prisons have alarmed Western hostage negotiators seeking to ensure the safety of American and European detainees in the country’s notoriously cramped and unsanitary facilities, according to diplomats.
Families of Westerners detained at Tehran’s Evin prison, where some of the detainees are locked in cells with 10 to 20 other prisoners, are pleading with the Iranian government to grant their relatives medical furloughs or allow house arrest.
The angst of family members of prisoners is not unfelt here, but the question still must be asked whether the right reaction is to let the prisoners out of prison where they can further spread the disease among the population? Might not a better solution be to rearrange cells and cell blocks to isolate sick prisoners from others? To even use one entire facility as a quarantine area, perhaps?
The UAE has sent 7.5 tons of medical supplies worth over $300,000 including gloves, surgical masks and respirators to Iran.
Iran is also mobilizing 300,000 soldiers nationwide to keep the peace. It wasn’t clear if Khamenei’s order would set them in motion helping sanitize streets, direct traffic and track possible contacts those ill with the virus had with others, as initially suggested. Or maybe they are being deployed to keep an eye on the 54,000 prisoners that has now been released back into the general population and to recapture them once this crisis is over.
The coronavirus is affecting Jewish schools in New York. SAR Academy in the Bronx became the first of three schools in New York to announce class cancellations in light of the coronavirus threat. SAR Academy called the closure “precautionary measures” in light of a “suspected” case of coronavirus among a community member. The other two New York area schools that announced closures were Westchester Day School and Westchester Torah Academy, which are located in suburban New York.
Jpost is reporting that Israel is considering quarantining for 14 days all Americans arriving in Israel.
In the interview, Dr. Tal Brosh, head of the infectious disease unit at Assuta Ashdod and member of a Health Ministry committee that evaluates the coronavirus threat, said that such a quarantine is “under discussion, of course” among officials.
Dr. Brosch said: “I would recommend it, but let’s complete the discussions first.”
As of Wednesday morning, Jpost reports that as many as 100,000 Israelis are now in quarantine! The Health Ministry on Wednesday expanded its list of restrictive orders, which will likely lead to thousands more Israelis going into home isolation. By some reports, as many as 100,000 people are currently in isolation.
According to Reuters, Israel on Wednesday ordered travelers arriving from Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland to go into home quarantine over coronavirus concerns and canceled a military exercise with troops from the U.S. European Command.
There is good reason now for such drastic measures in Israel. Coronavirus is spreading in the US. But, on the other hand, Netanyahu just lost his election. Are these numbers and subsequent moves designed to keep him in office? To send a message to Israelis that it would be dangerous to “put him out” or keep him from working toward getting the additional 3 seats he needs to form his coalition government?
President Trump signaled on Monday afternoon that he is considering additional travel restrictions into America to try to contain the spread of coronavirus, as six deaths were reported in Washington state and the number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed 100. These are scattered across at least 15 states with 27 cases in Washington alone.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is considering “using a national disaster program to pay hospitals and doctors for their care of uninsured people infected with the coronavirus.”
TheAtlantic.com reports that the number of cases reported in every chart and table is far too low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [flawed] testing procedures missed the bulk of the cases [by focusing] exclusively on travelers, rather than testing more broadly, because that seemed like the best way to catch cases entering the country. “Community spread” has now arrived in the United States.
In Washington State, the coronavirus has been spreading undetected for weeks. Now different projections estimate that 20 to 1,500 people have already been infected in the greater Seattle area. In California, too, the disease appears to be spreading, although the limited testing means that no one is quite sure how far.
In total, fewer than 500 people have been tested across the country. The current “official” case count inside the United States [on Wednesday] stood at 43 (excluding cruise-ship cases). This number is wrong, yet it’s still constantly printed and quoted. In other contexts, we’d call this what it is: a subtle form of misinformation.
Meanwhile, South Korean officials have been testing more than 10,000 people a day, driving up the country’s reported-case count. Same goes for Italy: high test rate, high number of cases. In China, the official data say the country has more than 80,000 cases, but the real number might be far, far higher because of all the people who had mild(er) cases and were turned away from medical care, or never sought it in the first place. That may be cause for reassurance …because the total number of cases is the denominator in the simple equation that yields a fatality rate: deaths divided by cases. More cases with the same number of deaths means that the disease is likely less deadly than the data show.
This is good and bad news. The deaths are being counted better and with greater accuracy than the diagnosed cases. Good news because the death rate goes down. But the bad news is that the flu you think you have, or recently had, might actually have been coronavirus and not seasonal flu.
As the US increases testing, the number of cases will grow quickly so don’t panic because the seasonal flu actually has a higher death rate than coronavirus.
But, here is more good and bad news about death rates. As reported last week, the death rate appears to vary by …age. …Older adults have been hit the hardest. The death rate soars to 14.8% in those 80 and older; among those ages 70 to 79, the COVID-19 death rate in China seems to be about 8%; it’s 3.6% for those ages 60 to 69; 1.3% for 50 to 59; 0.4% for the age group 40 to 49; and just 0.2% for people ages 10 to 39. No deaths in children under 9 have been reported.
What this should tell you is that the lab working on developing this virus had a specific target population – the elderly. The Georgia Guidestones specify that the earth’s population must be maintained at no more than 500,000,000.
If you have not heard of the Georgia Guidestones, here is some information. The stones display the “ten commandments” of the New World Order. They look like a giant set of tombstones calling for massive depopulation, a single world language, and a World Court. A tablet in front of the monument declares “LET THESE BE GUIDESTONES TO AN AGE OF REASON.” It’s kind of hard to be reasonable when you’re talking about wiping out 90% of the planet’s inhabitants.
Seasonal Flu vs Coronavirus
There is confusion about the efficacy of alternative medicines in the fight against coronavirus. Will vitamin C, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, umcka, mullein leaf, garlic, and elderberry cure this virus? Let’s take a look at how to prevent and cure coronavirus for a minute.
First, what you need to understand is that all viruses attack the immune system. Prevention of coronavirus is exactly the same as for all other viruses: Stay home if you’re sick, wash your hands regularly and do it for at least 20 seconds with regular soap (not antibacterial soap because viruses can mutate with antibacterial soap just like with antibiotics). Employ brisk rubbing. Also, avoid public areas and touching others and do not touch your face during this time. The ill should cover their mouths when coughing and sneezing.
Those are the instructions.
Now, there is an online fight over whether natural treatments are effective in killing the virus. The answer is no – technically. Natural treatments under fire by scientists include vitamin C, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, umcka, mullein leaf, garlic, and elderberry. Scientists say these will not cure this virus which is technically true.
But the technicality they use is actually a lie. Here is the truth about the technicality that scientists don’t want you to know. YHVH put on earth everything we need to cure our illnesses. Natural treatments along with prevention do work. How do they work? By inducing your own body to heal itself.
There isn’t a pharmakeia spell (a drug) on the earth that cures disease! Rather these create more diseases in our bodies!
What cures disease is your own body’s immune system and YHVH made herbs and plants that trigger your own divinely created immune system.
Vitamin C, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, umcka, mullein leaf, garlic, elderberry and other natural God-given ingredients strengthen your immune system. But you have to start taking these before you become ill or very quickly when getting symptoms.
Scientists warn about the toxic effects of mega doses of vitamin C but, again, they are lying. Vitamin C does not have a toxic level! The problem with taking high oral doses is the resultant gut upset and diarrhea. The way around that is to simply create your own pharmacy with injectable vitamin C (easily obtained in the US) and some syringes. Now you can take as much vitamin C as you want.
A combination of oregano oil (a 250mg capsule full), 2 250mg olive leaf extract and a dropper full of liquid umcka in a glass of water and taken 3 times a day, work together well for all kinds of respiratory diseases including bronchitis. These even reduce seasonal allergies if taken over a long period of time (several months). One person who used oregano oil and olive leaf for cat allergies saw a reduction in reaction to cat after a few weeks of taking the medicine.
REFUGEES FROM TURKEY TO EUROPE
Another possible spread of the coronavirus to Europe and elsewhere may come from Turkey’s release of Syrian refugees into Europe.
The Intelligencer section of NYmag.com says, Syria closed at least one border crossing with Iraq last week. Still, the virus has already had plenty of time to spread via these routes. The aforementioned borders, traversing miles of uninhabited desert, are also difficult to seal completely. It is likely too late for border closures and evacuations to halt or even slow the spread of COVID-19 in the Middle East.
The recent intensification of the Syrian conflict has sent more Syrian refugees pouring over the border to Turkey. The intended destination for many of these Syrians (along with economic migrants from Afghanistan, Iran (the epicenter country), Pakistan, and other Muslim countries) is to the European Union, which they hope to enter via Greece. On February 28, the Turkish government announced that it would stop trying to control its land and sea borders with Europe, setting these migrants loose in an attempt to pressure Europe to support Ankara’s military intervention in the Syrian war.
The virus is not yet officially present in Turkey or Syria. Turkey closed its border with Iran a week ago but has not yet closed its border with Syria. Refugees trying to escape the war between Turkey and the Syrian army continue to amass at the Turkey border. How long will it be before these refugees, weakened by their ordeal, become infected?
There will be more about Turkey’s war in Syria in a little bit. Right now, let’s look at the impact of the Coronavirus on the economy.
ECONOMY
The stock market is on the brink of a big downward slide. The kind of slide that sparked the Great Depression 90 year ago. The US Fed is trying to stop it.
Is it possible that the powers-that-be are actually stirring the panic pot for people to test how far citizens in each country can be pushed? They are testing for how easily people will enter facilities – special quarantine areas and FEMA camps. They want to know if they can quickly change people’s behavior by making them do self-quarantines, a situation which will tell the authorities just how compliant individuals are likely be. Will they sneak out or will that have to be incarcerated? Can “we” frighten them enough to stop traveling when “we” tell them to or will “we” have to close national borders to increase the scare? Just how strong is the resiliency of the American consumer because it is American consumers upon whom the stock markets rest. If the powers-that-be are planning a “big” event like a huge war or other crisis, the coronavirus, whether contrived or coincidental, is providing a real-word test of all operational areas.
Not to agree with Russia’s President Putin who is now charging the West over false rumors about the coronavirus in Russia, thoughts like these should be considered. Putin charges that the West is conspiring against Moscow using fake coronavirus case numbers. Putin insists that there are no coronavirus cases in Russia as yet, according to the Moscow times.
But hold on! Slate.com’s article accuses Russia of leveraging COVID-19 for online disinformation [and] China has also been using the internet to control the story to its own advantage, through rabid censorship of keywords related to the virus on Chinese social media and messaging platforms.
In late February, State Department officials accused Russia of using fake profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to spread false rumors about the coronavirus—for instance, that the CIA had developed the virus as a biological weapon.
Knowing the United States’ history of malign CIA operations, is Putin perhaps not that far off? Consider that this flu may have been designed as a bio-weapon to begin culling the earth’s population. The Book of Revelation tells us that a huge chunk of people will die but YHVH will be control of that, not the New World Order.
Meanwhile, …the U.S. government and Facebook [are] preparing for the possibility that coronavirus conspiracy theories or other false information about the disease’s spread might be leveraged to dissuade voters from voting in the 2020 elections.
Now back to the actions taken by the US Fed this week. The US central bank has slashed interest rates in response to mounting concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus. The Fed’s action has had the desired effect of rocking the market again.
But according to Zero Hedge’s Tyler Durdan, Yesterday’s G7 meeting heard the great and the good say that they were prepared to use fiscal measures to fight the virus, where appropriate, and that central banks were also standing by. Then there was a brief interlude where we all thought: ‘is that it?’ Obviously markets did not like that; and then the Fed stepped in within an emergency 50bp rate cut, taking Fed Funds to 1.25%.
Guess what? The market didn’t like that either. Equities tanked, the S&P went down 2.8%; bond yields plunged, with the 10-year US Treasury down around 15bp yesterday and a further 2bp [on Wednesday] morning and …[the] USD tanked against most crosses.
For the Fed, and for all of us, the fact that their precious equity market tanked is deeply concerning. So is the fact that the 10-year is sub-1%.
So, it’s the equity market, the one where they hide the derivatives and other manipulated investments, that they are worried about. There isn’t enough money in the entire world to pay the debt on what is owed on those fake investments!
Analysts say it’s difficult to predict the extent of the damage coronavirus can do to the U.S. economy.
What he means is that it is difficult to predict just how much money the world’s leading 200 billionaires will lose if the market crashes. They’re not worried about the US or any other economy. They’re worried about their own pockets!
ISRAEL ELECTIONS
Now to Israel.
The Israeli elections are over now and Israel is once again deadlocked without a clear governing coalition. With 99% of votes counted, the Likud party is projected to win 36 parliamentary seats. Netanyahu’s main rival, the centrist Blue and White coalition led by retired army Gen. Benny Gantz, is projected to win 33 seats. Neither candidate has a sure path to building a majority coalition. Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious partners only seem to have captured 58 seats — three seats short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
Rival Benny Gantz has moved to prevent Netanyahu from serving as Prime Minister during his trial even if he can make a coalition. Blue and White on Wednesday confirmed it was working on getting a majority to support a law that would prevent an indicted prime minister from serving, which would effectively oust the premier. Gantz proposed such a law after the September election, but it was struck down at the time by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman. However, Liberman could support it this time, according to a senior source who has spoken with Liberman about the matter, placing Netanyahu on the defensive.
The bloc that opposes [Netanyahu] has 62 seats but that bloc is split into 3 factions. If Avigdor Lieberman sides with Gantz, it will be Gantz who forms a coalition government.
Netanyahu [is] on trial …for bribery, fraud and breach of trust but is thought to be seeking support for a legislative mechanism to grant him immunity.
Netanyahu is fighting back against Gantz as if the two were still running for office. Netanyahu has accused Gantz of trying to steal the election and claimed that Gantz is connected to supporters of terrorism.
It has also come to light that Netanyahu was aware that the business intelligence firm CGI Group had been hired to spy on Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz. A few months ago, news broke that while Benny Gantz was IDF chief of staff, his personal cell phone had been hacked by Iranian intelligence operatives. The story was embarrassing for Gantz, now the leader of the Blue and White Party, but nothing much came of it. Even in the two previous elections over the past months, the issue hardly arose.
But this week, Israeli news reports noted that the cyber-security firm hired by Gantz to do a forensic analysis of the phone, CGI Group, had been hired by the Likud. Though the reporting didn’t say this–clearly the implication was that the firm would reveal what it had learned about Gantz’s phone dump.
News1 also indicates that the phone likely had sensitive military-security information, which the Iranians could have exploited. He further claims that Gantz withheld the most embarrassing content of the phone from the Shin Bet and that this severely compromised the agency’s ability to investigate the hack. He also claimed that the Iranians would likely put the cell phone content on the Dark Web, where other intelligence agencies could access it to blackmail Gantz.
A well-informed Israeli security source rebuts most of Yitzhak’s claims. The source [said] the investigation of the hack indicated there was no sensitive security data on the phone. Further, he said that whatever personal content was on the phone was of no interest to the security agency. He did not indicate that it felt Gantz had acted duplicitously or concealed anything.
The leaking of this dirty gossip is a desperation move, a last gasp by Netanyahu trying to cling to power; and willing to use any tactic, no matter how dirty, to tear down his opponent. If there was any indication that the female recipient was not a consenting party to these videos, that would be different. That would constitute sexual harassment and Gantz would and should be judged poorly for that.
The question to ask, though, is whether Gantz is any better for Israel than Netanyahu? But, there you have it. Nothing has changed in Israel. But then there is always the terror, theft, lies and videotape.
Moving on…
TURKEY IN SYRIA
Turkey has gotten itself between a rock and hard place. Russia is accusing the country of falling short of its treaty obligations and the US said this week it will not send more munitions and supplies to continue arming Turkey for its Syria war.
Turkish officials claim Russia is not urging the Assad regime to uphold the pact’s cease fire agreement.
But Russian defense ministry spokesman said opposition fortifications had merged with Turkish outposts in Idlib, allegedly resulting in daily attacks on Russia’s Hmeimim air base in Syria. In other words, its Turkey’s fault that the Assad regime is still engaged in firing on enemy forces in Idlib Province.
In fact, Turkey has amassed troops in Idlib for its Operation Spring Shield on March 1, after incessant violations of the Idlib cease-fire agreement, including attacks on Turkish observation posts that killed over 50 soldiers in the past month.
Turkish officials have been warning Russia and other countries that the humanitarian crisis in Idlib threatens its national security and [has created] another refugee influx at its borders.
The Donald Trump administration will not provide fresh supplies of ammunition to Turkey for its ongoing offensive into Syria’s contested Idlib Province. However, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, announced the U.S. would provide an additional $108 million in humanitarian assistance for Syrians in response to the crisis. Craft, who traveled to Turkey’s border with Syria, said the funds would provide food, shelter, clothing and other material for people in Syria and the region.
Turkey’s borders have been overrun and it is left with few options since President Erdogan has alienated both Russia and the US from itself in its effort to turn Russia and the US on each other in Syria. That strategy did not work.
Every avenue of protection is now gone for Turkey. There is no other way out but 1) a complete stand down or 2) a dangerous escalation in the war.
The Syrian refugees are the real losers as they are now caught in the crossfire as they try to get out of the country.
Associated Press reports that Greek authorities fired tear gas and stun grenades Wednesday morning to repulse a push by migrants to cross its land border from Turkey, as pressure continued along its frontier after Turkey said its own border with Europe was open to whoever wanted to cross.
Turkish authorities said one person was killed and five were wounded by fire coming from the Greek side — an assertion the Greek government strongly rejected as “fake news.”
The clashes were near the border village of Kastanies, along a border fence that covers much of the frontier not demarcated by the Evros river.
Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders and send migrants into Europe last week. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s action triggered days of violent clashes at the land border, where thousands of migrants and refugees have gathered.
[The] Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas categorically denied any migrants had been wounded or killed by Greek authorities.
“The Turkish side creates and disperses fake news targeted against Greece. Today they created yet another such falsehood,” he said. “There is no such incident with fire from the Greek authorities,” he said.
During the clashes earlier Wednesday, reporters on the Greek side of the border heard what sounded like gunfire, though it was unclear whether this was live ammunition. A group of people could be seen carrying something which could have been a person between them, and running to the Turkish border post. Shortly afterward, and ambulance was heard leaving.
Reporters on the Turkish side of the border saw at least four ambulances leave the area.
The head of emergency services at Edirne’s Trakya University Hospital, Burak Sayhan, told journalists six people had been admitted to the emergency department Wednesday, including one who was dead on arrival. He said one person had been shot in the head, two had gunshot wounds to their lower and upper extremities and one had a broken nose.
Greece’s sea border with Turkey has also come under pressure. In the past few days, hundreds of people have headed to Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast in dinghies. One child died when the rubber dinghy he was in capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos earlier this week.
No [migrant] boats appeared to be arriving on the islands Wednesday amid gale-force winds and rough seas.
Greece sent a navy ship to the island of Lesbos Wednesday to house more than 400 new arrivals. Tension has mounted with some local residents on the island, where the main migrant camp is massively overcrowded.
The government has called the situation a direct threat to Greece’s national security and has imposed emergency measures to carry out swift deportations and freeze asylum applications for one month. Migrants have been reporting being summarily pushed back across the border into Turkey.
The mass movement of migrants and refugees to Greece’s borders, the majority of who appeared to be from Afghanistan, has appeared organized. Buses, minibuses, cars and taxis were organized in Istanbul to ferry people to the border, while some of those who managed to cross have said they were told by Turkish authorities to go to Greece and that the border was open.
Turkey’s announced that it wouldn’t stop those wishing to cross into Europe came amid a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive into Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, where Turkish troops are fighting.
The offensive has killed dozens of Turkish troops and sent nearly a million Syrian civilians toward Turkey’s sealed border. However, Oleg Zhuravlev, head of the Russian military’s coordination center in Syria, said Tuesday the claims about a humanitarian crisis in Idlib were false.
On Greece’s land border with Turkey, Greek authorities said Turkish police were firing tear gas at the Greek border and the authorities guarding it, and supplied video they said backed their assertion.
Turkey, for its part, accused Greece of mistreating refugees.
In an address to legislators from his ruling party on Wednesday, Erdogan called on Greece and other European nations to respects migrants’ rights. He screened a photograph depicting Greeks who reportedly found refuge in Syria in 1942, saying: “Greeks who try all kinds of methods to keep refugees away from their countries — from drowning them at sea to shooting at them with bullets — should not forget that they may need to be shown the same mercy someday.”
He also accused EU countries of hypocritical behavior, saying they had rushed to Greece’s help “with money, boats and soldiers” to prevent a new influx of migrants but ignored Turkey’s plight concerning 3.7 million Syrian refugees on its territory.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia pledged to help Greece to deal with pressure along its border.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country was ready to deploy guards at the Greek-Turkish border, while his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini said the growing number of migrants “poses a security threat not just for Greece.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that there are some 130,000 migrants on the move that the EU has to stop on its borders, and that “Hungary will take an active role in doing so.”
The four countries have been known for their tough stance against migrants and rejected an EU plan to redistribute refugees in member states.
Meanwhile, European Council head Charles Michel was meeting with Erdogan in Ankara Wednesday, while EU Vice President Joseph Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic were holding talks with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Erdogan, Borell said that the EU delegation asked Turkey “not to encourage the further movement of refugees and migrants toward the EU borders.”
“We had the opportunity to express our understanding of the difficult situation Turkey is currently facing but also stressed that the current developments at the European borders is not leading to any solution,” he said.
Borell also told reporters that Turkish officials’ response was that Turkey was not encouraging people to move but that “they cannot prevent people from doing so.”
Greek authorities said there were about 15,000 people along the Greek-Turkish land border on Wednesday. They said that between Saturday morning and Wednesday morning, they had blocked 27,832 attempts to cross the border, and had arrested a total of 220 people who managed to cross.
Ankara has come under harsh criticism from some European countries.
“The people are being used by President Erdogan as a political football, as weapons and as instruments of pressure on the European Union,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Tuesday.
Turkey shot down a Syrian fighter jet in Syria’s Idlib province Tuesday, marking the third such incident in as many days, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued …near the Turkish border.
State-run Syrian media [also] said troops shot down a Turkish drone, keeping up a clash in the skies over [Idlib] that has gone on for days and [which] signaled a new stage in the 9-year-old war.
Russian officials have said they hold Turkey responsible for the collapse of a cease-fire agreement reached in Sochi, Russia in 2018, saying Ankara had not held up its end to rein in militants who continued attacking Syrian and Russian targets.
RUSSIA ANNOUNCES NEW WEAPONS “LIKE NOTHING THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN”
Vladimir Putin has said Russia has developed unique offensive weapons, “strike systems the world has never seen”, [not to start a war] but rather to maintain “strategic balance” and “strategic stability” in the world.
“We are not going to fight against anyone,” Mr Putin said in an interview with the state-run news agency. We are going to create conditions so that nobody wants to fight against us.”
Giving an example of the new systems, the Russian president mentioned new “hypersonic offensive systems” – a weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound that became operational towards the end of 2019.
Having these systems in place allows the Kremlin to “maintain strategic stability and strategic balance” that the US tried to “upset” with their missile defense systems, he added.
Putin first mentioned developing …hypersonic weapons in his state of the nation address in March 2018.
In 2019, he described a build-up of NATO’s forces near Russia’s western borders and the US withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as being among the top security threats to Russia.
“It is essential not only for us, but also for global security,” Mr. Putin concluded.
Ah! Finally! Putin admits that he views the US as Russia’s enemy and now says that the globe is in danger from the US. Well, there you have it, folks! Russia’s reason for one day taking out the perceived bully with their new weapons!
TRUMP AND THE TALIBAN
Very quickly, President Trump negotiated a peace treaty between the US government and the Taliban it was announced this week.
U.S. and Taliban negotiators signed a historic agreement Saturday in Qatar that could end 19 years of war in Afghanistan and allow President Donald Trump to begin the promised withdrawal of American troops.
The four-page pact spells out a timetable for the United States to withdraw its 13,000 troops from Afghanistan; in exchange, the Taliban agreed to sever its ties with al-Qaida, the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks against the U.S.
But after the much ‘hoorah’, Trump had to blast the Taliban one day after Trump said he had a “good talk” with the terrorist group. The White House has called on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments.
The elements of humanity’s demise – disease, economic crash and war – continue inexorably toward a final conclusion!