southfront--2020-10-08--Double-Tap Strike Hit Historical Cathedral In Nagorno-Karabakh, Journalists Injured (Videos, Photos)

On October 8 , a double-tap strike hit the historical Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in the town of Shushi in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
The first strike caused serious material damage to the cathedral , which was restored after the Azerbaijani-Armenian war in the 1990s .
When a group of civilians and journalists gathered at the cathedral to check the damage , the second strike occurred .
According to RT ’ s reporter Murad Gazdiev , ten people , including three journalists , were injured as a result of the second strike on the cathedral .
One of the injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russian “ Segodnya.ru ” He sustained a serious injury and is now undergoing surgery in Stepanakert .
Azerbaijani forces , which have been attacking Nagorno-Karabakh since September 27 , were held responsible for the double-tap strike .
However , the remains of one of the projectiles used in the attack indicate that the Turkish Air Force may be behind it , according to the Abkhazian Network News Agency .
At least two Turkish F-16s fighter jets are deployed in Azerbaijan .
The projectile used in the strikes on Ghazanchetsots Cathedral appears to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first attack by Azerbaijani forces on civilian targets in Nagorno-Karabakh .
A new infographic by the Armenian Unified Infoceter revealed that Azerbaijani attacks on the region have so far claimed the lives of 22 civilians and injured 95 others .
Azerbaijani forces intensified their shelling on civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh over the last few days .
This is escalating the situation in the region .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • New Video Reveals How Syrian Militants Are Being Recruited To Fight For Azerbaijan

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On October 8, a double-tap strike hit the historical Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in the town of Shushi in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The first strike caused serious material damage to the cathedral, which was restored after the Azerbaijani-Armenian war in the 1990s. When a group of civilians and journalists gathered at the cathedral to check the damage, the second strike occurred.
Azerbaijan shelled Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, the symbol of Shushi, which had been restored and reconsecrated in the aftermath of the war in the 90s#StopAzerbaijaniAggression pic.twitter.com/QYZa7KfMGg — Armenian Unified Infocenter (@ArmenianUnified) October 8, 2020
BREAKING: We just got back from the church in #Shushi 20 kilometer from #Stepanakert. The church got hit some hours ago, terrible destruction inside. Thank god, the kids plus parents who were in the basement hiding didnt got injured. #KarabakhWar @BILD pic.twitter.com/SalupTprqP — Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) October 8, 2020
A year ago, the restored Upper Mosque was opened in #Shushi (1&2). Today, #Azerbaijan shelled & damaged the Holy Savior (Ghazanchetsots) Cathedral in Shushi (3&4).#Artsakh takes care of #Islamic spiritual sites, Azerbaijan destroys #Christian ones.#StopAzerbaijaniAggression pic.twitter.com/gzbzTFF1XM — Tigran Avinyan ?? (@AvinyanTigran) October 8, 2020
Video after the second strike on the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral that wounded 10, including 3 journalists. You can see the hole in the roof is much larger than after the first strike. 786/https://t.co/PRVnOGpftD pic.twitter.com/WSrEsOFdC9 — Rob Lee (@RALee85) October 8, 2020
According to RT’s reporter Murad Gazdiev, ten people, including three journalists, were injured as a result of the second strike on the cathedral.
One of the injured journalists was Yuriy Kotenok, editor-in-chief of the Russian “Segodnya.ru” He sustained a serious injury and is now undergoing surgery in Stepanakert.
Yuriy Kotenok, editor-in-chief of the Russian https://t.co/hMsqAc5HS0 who was injured during the Cathedral’s bombing is undergoing surgery in Stepanakert
Сейчас оперируют главного редактора «Сегодня․ру» Юрия Котёнока, пострадавшего от бомбардировки со стороны Азербайджана pic.twitter.com/6Zq1PKqOUF — Armenian Unified Infocenter (@ArmenianUnified) October 8, 2020
Azerbaijani forces, which have been attacking Nagorno-Karabakh since September 27, were held responsible for the double-tap strike. However, the remains of one of the projectiles used in the attack indicate that the Turkish Air Force may be behind it, according to the Abkhazian Network News Agency.
At least two Turkish F-16s fighter jets are deployed in Azerbaijan. The projectile used in the strikes on Ghazanchetsots Cathedral appears to be “NATO-made.”
ANNA NEWS reports the ID of the bomb used on the cathedral in Shushi is NATO-made. Working on verfying if it was Turkish F-16s pic.twitter.com/nmGAJV6THj — 301?? (@301_AD) October 8, 2020
This was not the first attack by Azerbaijani forces on civilian targets in Nagorno-Karabakh. A new infographic by the Armenian Unified Infoceter revealed that Azerbaijani attacks on the region have so far claimed the lives of 22 civilians and injured 95 others.
The civilian casualties caused by #AzerbaijaniAggression pic.twitter.com/brnXAYMUB7 — Armenian Unified Infocenter (@ArmenianUnified) October 8, 2020
Azerbaijani forces intensified their shelling on civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh over the last few days. This is escalating the situation in the region.
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southfront--2020-10-08--Azerbaijan Showcases Battle Tanks, IFVs Captured From Armenian Forces (Videos)

On October 8 , the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan showcased a number of military vehicles which were captured from @ @ @ @ @ were recently captured in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh , where a battle between Azerbaijani @ @ @ @ @ ongoing since September 27 .
• Five to ten T-72 battle tanks , most of @ @ @ @ @ damaged ; The Azerbaijani MoD also released a video showing fire support for Azerbaijani troops @ @ @ @ @ frontlines in Nagorno-Karabakh .
The heavy and precision fire power of the Azerbaijani military dealt @ @ @ @ @ forces in the early days of the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh .
Now , however , @ @ @ @ @ more balanced .
In the last 48 hours , Armenian troops , backed by volunteers @ @ @ @ @ by Azerbaijani forces and launched successful limited counter-attacks .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • @ @ @ @ @ Militants Are Being Recruited To Fight For Azerbaijan

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On October 8, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan showcased a number of military vehicles which were captured from Armenian forces.
The vehicles were recently captured in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a battle between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops has been ongoing since September 27.
The captured military vehicles are:
Five to ten T-72 battle tanks, most of them appeared to be heavily damaged;
Two BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles;
One BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle.
The Azerbaijani MoD also released a video showing fire support for Azerbaijani troops and logistical supplies heading to frontlines in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The heavy and precision fire power of the Azerbaijani military dealt a serious blow to Armenian forces in the early days of the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh. Now, however, the situation is a bit more balanced.
In the last 48 hours, Armenian troops, backed by volunteers, repelled several ground attacks by Azerbaijani forces and launched successful limited counter-attacks.
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southfront--2020-10-08--New Video Reveals How Syrian Militants Are Being Recruited To Fight For Azerbaijan

A new video revealing how Syrian militants are recruited to fight as mercenaries for Azerbaijan has surfaced online .
The video , that was filmed in the Turkish-occupied area of Afrin in northern Syria , was leaked by activists .
On October 8 , the Ministry of Defense of Armenia shared the video as a solid evidence of Syrian militants involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict .
In the video , a Sheikh [ Islamic scholar ] is seen calling a gathering of men , who are believed to be militants , to support Azerbaijan ’ s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being tested in its east and west , and our battle is now in Azerbaijan as it is our battle in the Levant , ” the sheikh says .
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , Turkey transported more than 1,000 Syrian militants to Azerbaijan to support the ongoing attack on Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
Dozens of Syrian militants have been killed on Nagorno-Karabakh frontlines , so far .
However , more are planning to join the battle against Armenian forces .
Syrian militants were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 2,000 .
The high-death rate in their ranks suggests that many of them will not get paid by the end of the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • Turkey Kept Its Fighter Jets In Azerbaijan To ‘ Deter Armenia ’ – Report

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A new video revealing how Syrian militants are recruited to fight as mercenaries for Azerbaijan has surfaced online.
The video, that was filmed in the Turkish-occupied area of Afrin in northern Syria, was leaked by activists. On October 8, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia shared the video as a solid evidence of Syrian militants involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In the video, a Sheikh [Islamic scholar] is seen calling a gathering of men, who are believed to be militants, to support Azerbaijan’s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Our [Islamic] nation is now being tested in its east and west, and our battle is now in Azerbaijan as it is our battle in the Levant,” the sheikh says.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Turkey transported more than 1,000 Syrian militants to Azerbaijan to support the ongoing attack on Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Dozens of Syrian militants have been killed on Nagorno-Karabakh frontlines, so far. However, more are planning to join the battle against Armenian forces.
Syrian militants were promised a monthly payment of $1,500 to 2,000. The high-death rate in their ranks suggests that many of them will not get paid by the end of the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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southfront--2020-10-08--Military Situation In Iraq On October 8, 2020 (Map Update)

Click to see the full-size image A brief overview of the recent developments in Iraq : • Turkish Parliament extends @ @ @ @ @ forces in Iraq and Syria until October 2021 ; • ISIS elements targeted the village @ @ @ @ @ with 3 mortar shells ; • An ISIS senior official was arrested by Iraqi security @ @ @ @ @ 7 Iraqi policemen were killed in ISIS attacks on a police station in Hawija area @ @ @ @ @ :

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A brief overview of the recent developments in Iraq:
Turkish Parliament extends approval of use of military forces in Iraq and Syria until October 2021;
ISIS elements targeted the village of Zagniyah north of Baquba with 3 mortar shells;
An ISIS senior official was arrested by Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk;
7 Iraqi policemen were killed in ISIS attacks on a police station in Hawija area;
Turkish warplanes targeted alleged PKK positions in the Matin mountain.
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southfront--2020-10-08--Matters of International Justice: Challenging Trump’s ICC Sanctions

On September 2 , US sanctions – the sort normally reserved for fully fledged terrorists and decorated drug traffickers – were imposed on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court , Fatou Bensouda and her colleague Phakiso Mochochoko , head of Jurisdiction , Complementarity and Cooperation .
For Balkees Jarrah , senior counsel for Human Rights Watch , it was a “ stunning perversion of US sanctions , devised to penalize rights abusers and kleptocrats , to target those prosecuting war crimes ” .
This followed from the authorisation by the Trump administration of economic and travel sanctions against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Executive Order 13928 , “ The entry of such aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States and denying them entry will further demonstrate the resolve of the United States in opposing the ICC ’ s overreach by seeking to exercise jurisdiction of the United States and its allies.
” On June 11 , US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his objection to how the Court ’ s Office of the Prosecutor had , in November 2017 “ announced its intention to investigate our brave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missions in Afghanistan.
” This was not a “ prosecution of justice ” so much as “ a persecution of Americans.
” Bensouda ’ s original November 2017 request to investigate was less dramatic , focusing “ solely upon war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed since 1 May 2003 on the territory of Afghanistan as well as war crimes closely linked to the situation in Afghanistan allegedly committed since 1 July 2002 on the territory of other States Parties to the Rome Statute.
” President Trump ’ s executive measures are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ add a few holes to what is already a complex investigative process .
They grant the US Secretary of State the power of designating such foreign persons as have engaged or assisted efforts by the ICC to investigate or prosecute crimes allegedly committed by Americans or personnel of certain United States allies .
Included are also those who have assisted , supported or provided services to or in support of such persons .
Engaging in prohibited interactions with such individuals is unlawful , opening the subject to civil and criminal fines .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of incarceration might follow , pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act .
This pugilistic approach to the ICC has not been well received by numerous signatories of the Rome Statute , which established the court .
A statement endorsed by countries from several continents was issued on June 23 affirming “ unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution.
” Using the stock language familiar with US diplomacy , the states claimed to “ remain committed to an international rule-based order.
” Such rules-based orders can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe .
International law remains susceptible to political pull , influence and manipulation .
Accusations have been levelled against the ICC for its purported biases , notably against African states .
Rwandan President Paul Kagame repeated that common line of criticism in 2018 .
“ The ICC was supposed to address the whole world , but it ended up covering only Africa.
” A decade prior , Kagame had taken issue with the efforts of Luis Moreno-Ocampo , the then ICC chief prosecutor , to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir .
“ If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against somebody who needs to be held accountable , in the end you are not helping people understand whether this person needs to be held accountable.
” Those keen on more expeditious procedures have also taken the court to task for inefficiency .
The court ’ s proceedings have been derided as , according to Elizabeth Wilmshurst of Chatham House , too “ cumbersome ” and “ lengthy ” .
Money has been spent for poor returns .
The Ivory Coast ’ s ex-President Laurent Gbagbo was acquitted of war crimes charges in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kenyatta , saw crimes against humanity charges against him dropped in 2014 .
Context is all , and the court ’ s weaknesses have as much to do with problems of state cooperation – or its absence – as they do with feasibility and focus .
( In Kenyatta ’ s case , prosecutors complained that the Kenyan government had refused to submit vital evidence . )
Having a supremely powerful international court with razor sharp teeth , abundant resources and the means to satisfy the cravings of civil society , seems improbable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latest efforts from Washington go further , an attempt defang the fundamental workings of the court itself .
With that in mind , a domestic legal experiment is underway in the United States .
In an attempt to counter the Trump administration , the Open Society Justice Initiative , along with four prominent academics of the law , have filed an action challenging the lawfulness of Executive Order 13928 , along with implementing regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control .
The plaintiffs admit to having history of involvement with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecutions ” .
They express no desire to stop engaging with it .
They also admit to having assisted “ two high-ranking officials within the Court ’ s Office of the Prosecutor – by educating , training or advising them and members of their Office , and by undertaking public advocacy in support of their mission and work.
” The plaintiffs cite several grounds , notably that the Executive Order and accompanying regulations “ impermissibly restrict [ their ] First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by prohibiting them from providing the speech-based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including in connection with ICC investigations and prosecutions the US supports .
They also argue that the Executive Order is decidedly vague in what acts it prohibits , leading to “ arbitrary enforcement.
” The executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative , James Goldston , had a whole spray for the administration in a statement .
“ By issuing this outrageous order , the Trump administration has betrayed Washington ’ s long-standing support for international justice , snubbed its allies , and violated the US constitution.
” Going to court served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a judicial institution and the victims it serves.
” Despite the predictable theatre that often accompanies these policy announcements , the burdens imposed on the ICC are not insuperable .
The main site of the investigation remains Afghanistan , where the alleged crimes , including those committed by US personnel , took place .
Most of the evidence will be gathered in Afghanistan .
Witnesses and relevant individuals in the US may be interviewed by remote means .
This act of US imperial machismo , despite its punchy seriousness , may fall flat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scholar at Selwyn College , Cambridge .
He lectures at RMIT University , Melbourne .
Email : bkampmark @ gmail.com MORE ON THE TOPIC : • AntiWar About Censorship Of SouthFront On YouTube And Facebook • Can China Confront and Defeat the U.S. Navy ?

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Submitted by Dr. Binoy Kampmark
On September 2, US sanctions – the sort normally reserved for fully fledged terrorists and decorated drug traffickers – were imposed on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda and her colleague Phakiso Mochochoko, head of Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation. For Balkees Jarrah, senior counsel for Human Rights Watch, it was a “stunning perversion of US sanctions, devised to penalize rights abusers and kleptocrats, to target those prosecuting war crimes”.
This followed from the authorisation by the Trump administration of economic and travel sanctions against employees of the ICC. According to Executive Order 13928, “The entry of such aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States and denying them entry will further demonstrate the resolve of the United States in opposing the ICC’s overreach by seeking to exercise jurisdiction of the United States and its allies.”
On June 11, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his objection to how the Court’s Office of the Prosecutor had, in November 2017 “announced its intention to investigate our brave warriors for alleged crimes arising from counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan.” This was not a “prosecution of justice” so much as “a persecution of Americans.”
Bensouda’s original November 2017 request to investigate was less dramatic, focusing “solely upon war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed since 1 May 2003 on the territory of Afghanistan as well as war crimes closely linked to the situation in Afghanistan allegedly committed since 1 July 2002 on the territory of other States Parties to the Rome Statute.”
President Trump’s executive measures are both threatening and disruptive, attempting to add a few holes to what is already a complex investigative process. They grant the US Secretary of State the power of designating such foreign persons as have engaged or assisted efforts by the ICC to investigate or prosecute crimes allegedly committed by Americans or personnel of certain United States allies. Included are also those who have assisted, supported or provided services to or in support of such persons. Engaging in prohibited interactions with such individuals is unlawful, opening the subject to civil and criminal fines. If a “natural person”, 20 years of incarceration might follow, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
This pugilistic approach to the ICC has not been well received by numerous signatories of the Rome Statute, which established the court. A statement endorsed by countries from several continents was issued on June 23 affirming “unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution.” Using the stock language familiar with US diplomacy, the states claimed to “remain committed to an international rule-based order.”
Such rules-based orders can be the stuff of exaggeration and make believe. International law remains susceptible to political pull, influence and manipulation. Accusations have been levelled against the ICC for its purported biases, notably against African states. Rwandan President Paul Kagame repeated that common line of criticism in 2018. “The ICC was supposed to address the whole world, but it ended up covering only Africa.” A decade prior, Kagame had taken issue with the efforts of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the then ICC chief prosecutor, to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. “If you use a fraudulent mechanism or institution against somebody who needs to be held accountable, in the end you are not helping people understand whether this person needs to be held accountable.”
Those keen on more expeditious procedures have also taken the court to task for inefficiency. The court’s proceedings have been derided as, according to Elizabeth Wilmshurst of Chatham House, too “cumbersome” and “lengthy”. Money has been spent for poor returns. The Ivory Coast’s ex-President Laurent Gbagbo was acquitted of war crimes charges in 2019. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, saw crimes against humanity charges against him dropped in 2014.
Context is all, and the court’s weaknesses have as much to do with problems of state cooperation – or its absence – as they do with feasibility and focus. (In Kenyatta’s case, prosecutors complained that the Kenyan government had refused to submit vital evidence.) Having a supremely powerful international court with razor sharp teeth, abundant resources and the means to satisfy the cravings of civil society, seems improbable, and even undesirable. But the latest efforts from Washington go further, an attempt defang the fundamental workings of the court itself.
With that in mind, a domestic legal experiment is underway in the United States. In an attempt to counter the Trump administration, the Open Society Justice Initiative, along with four prominent academics of the law, have filed an action challenging the lawfulness of Executive Order 13928, along with implementing regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The plaintiffs admit to having history of involvement with the ICC “including in its investigations and prosecutions”. They express no desire to stop engaging with it. They also admit to having assisted “two high-ranking officials within the Court’s Office of the Prosecutor – by educating, training or advising them and members of their Office, and by undertaking public advocacy in support of their mission and work.”
The plaintiffs cite several grounds, notably that the Executive Order and accompanying regulations “impermissibly restrict [their] First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by prohibiting them from providing the speech-based services and assistance” so described, including in connection with ICC investigations and prosecutions the US supports. They also argue that the Executive Order is decidedly vague in what acts it prohibits, leading to “arbitrary enforcement.”
The executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, James Goldston, had a whole spray for the administration in a statement. “By issuing this outrageous order, the Trump administration has betrayed Washington’s long-standing support for international justice, snubbed its allies, and violated the US constitution.” Going to court served to “end this reckless assault on a judicial institution and the victims it serves.”
Despite the predictable theatre that often accompanies these policy announcements, the burdens imposed on the ICC are not insuperable. The main site of the investigation remains Afghanistan, where the alleged crimes, including those committed by US personnel, took place. Most of the evidence will be gathered in Afghanistan. Witnesses and relevant individuals in the US may be interviewed by remote means. This act of US imperial machismo, despite its punchy seriousness, may fall flat.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
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southfront--2020-10-08--Armenian Forces Repelled Two Azerbaijani Attacks On Southern Nagorno-Karabakh

On October 8 , Armenian forces repelled two attacks by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the southern part of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
The first attack started at 8:30 AM local time by a battalion-sized Azerbaijani force , according to Shushan Stepanyan , Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia .
The attack was repelled by Armenian forces .
More than 20 Azerbaijani service members were allegedly killed in the failed attack .
Three military vehicles were also destroyed .
At around 2 PM , the Azerbaijani forces launched a second attack on the Nagorno-Karabakh ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two directions .
However , Armenian forces repelled the attack , killing several Azerbaijani soldiers and destroying nine armored vehicles .
The ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has not announced any new gains in Nagorno-Karabakh , yet .
This indicates that the Armenian claims are truthful .
Azerbaijani forces captured a number of positions in Nagorno-Karabakh in the last few days .
The situation changed on October 7 .
Armenian troops , backed by volunteers , carried out a number of successful counter-attacks in the region .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To Deter Armenia – Report • Azerbaijan Official Claims Armenian Suicide Drone Was Downed .
It Is Actually Israeli-Made Drone Supplied To Baku

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On October 8, Armenian forces repelled two attacks by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the southern part of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The first attack started at 8:30 AM local time by a battalion-sized Azerbaijani force, according to Shushan Stepanyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. The attack was repelled by Armenian forces.
More than 20 Azerbaijani service members were allegedly killed in the failed attack. Three military vehicles were also destroyed.
At around 2 PM, the Azerbaijani forces launched a second attack on the Nagorno-Karabakh’s southern part, this time from two directions. However, Armenian forces repelled the attack, killing several Azerbaijani soldiers and destroying nine armored vehicles.
The ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has not announced any new gains in Nagorno-Karabakh, yet. This indicates that the Armenian claims are truthful.
Azerbaijani forces captured a number of positions in Nagorno-Karabakh in the last few days. The situation changed on October 7. Armenian troops, backed by volunteers, carried out a number of successful counter-attacks in the region.
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southfront--2020-10-08--Turkey Kept Its Fighter Jets In Azerbaijan To ‘Deter Armenia’ – Report

Turkey has kept a number of its F-16 fighter jets in Azerbaijan after a joint exercise that was held in July , the Middle East Eye reported on October 8 , citing sources familiar with the issue .
The sources told the London-based outlet that the fighter jets were kept as a deterrent against any possible Armenian attacks on Azerbaijan .
New York Times journalist Christiaan Triebert shared on October 7 satellite images , proving that at least two Turkish F-16s were deployed in Azerbaijan ’ s Ganja International Airport .
Armenia claims that one of the Turkish F-16s deployed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of one of its Su-25 warplanes on September 29 .
The Middle East Eye ’ s sources denied the Armenian accusations , claiming that the F-16s are not supporting Azerbaijani operations in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh .
According to the sources , the Turkish F-16s were moved from Ganja following an Armenian rocket strike that targeted the airport on October 4 .
The presence of Turkish troops , warplanes and Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in Azerbaijan indicate that Ankara is playing a key role in the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh .
Baku is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Turkish forces .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • Azerbaijan Official Claims Armenian Suicide Drone Was Downed .
It Is Actually Israeli-Made Drone Supplied To Baku • Syrian Militants Playing “ Children ’ s Games ” Waiting To Join The Fray In Nagorno-Karabakh

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Turkey has kept a number of its F-16 fighter jets in Azerbaijan after a joint exercise that was held in July, the Middle East Eye reported on October 8, citing sources familiar with the issue.
The sources told the London-based outlet that the fighter jets were kept as a deterrent against any possible Armenian attacks on Azerbaijan.
“The F-16s have been there as a deterrent against any Armenian attacks on civilian populations and military installations within Azerbaijan,” the outlet quoted one of the sources as saying.
New York Times journalist Christiaan Triebert shared on October 7 satellite images, proving that at least two Turkish F-16s were deployed in Azerbaijan’s Ganja International Airport.
We compared the approximate measurements and visual characteristics (canard wings, color, etc.) with a variety of aircraft, including those operated by the Azerbaijani Air Force (MiG-21, MiG-29, Su-25, L-39). The Turkish-operated F-16 is the closest match. pic.twitter.com/dRCGUshyYp — Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) October 7, 2020
Armenia claims that one of the Turkish F-16s deployed in Azerbaijan was behind the shot down of one of its Su-25 warplanes on September 29.
The Middle East Eye’s sources denied the Armenian accusations, claiming that the F-16s are not supporting Azerbaijani operations in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the sources, the Turkish F-16s were moved from Ganja following an Armenian rocket strike that targeted the airport on October 4.
The presence of Turkish troops, warplanes and Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in Azerbaijan indicate that Ankara is playing a key role in the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku is, without a doubt, receiving support from Turkish forces.
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southfront--2020-10-09--Billionaires’ Media: The Smearing of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

On Sept. 17 , Toronto-based The Globe and Mail newspaper published an extraordinary and very lengthy article vilifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and calling him “ a top voice of misinformation on social media.
” The headline for the piece summarizes its range : “ How a Kennedy became a ‘ superspreader ’ of hoaxes on COVID-19 , vaccines , 5G and more ” .
[ 1 ] For more than a decade , Kennedy Jr. has raised issues about vaccine safety through the organization he founded , Children ’ s Health Defense .
The Globe and Mail piece stated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the end of what can only be called a smear piece , the print edition of The Globe and Mail stated , “ This article was originally published by Tortoise , a different kind of newsroom committed to a slower , wiser news .
To try Tortoise , Globe readers can get a 30-day free trial and a special half price offer… ” Strangely , the article made no mention of Children ’ s Health Defense , or of Kennedy ’ s Jr. ’ s August 29 speech in Berlin , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told them that the COVID-19 pandemic is a “ crisis of convenience for the elites ” who are “ destroying the middle class , ” “ using the quarantine to bring 5G into our communities ” for “ surveillance and data-mining ” , and shifting us all “ to digital currencies ” and a cashless society that will benefit “ the billionaires.
” Similarly , the Tortoise article didn ’ t mention that on August 17 , Children ’ s Health Defense filed a lawsuit against Facebook , Mark Zuckerberg and three fact-checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health information .
[ 2 ] So what ( or who ) is Tortoise Media ?
Tortoise Media was launched in April 2019 by three people : James Harding , former editor at Rupert Murdoch ’ s Times newspaper , and subsequently head of BBC News until resigning in October 2017 ; Matthew Barzun , former US ambassador to the UK ; and Katie Vanneck-Smith , former president of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones .
Initial financial backing for London-based Tortoise was provided by banker Bernie Mensah , Global Head @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Merrill Lynch , tech investor Saul Klein , and two anonymous backers .
[ 3 ] The Tortoise Media website now lists Harding as Editor ; Vanneck-Smith as Publisher ; Matthew Barzun as Chairman ; and Ceci Kurzman ( former founder of Nexus Management ) as Independent Director .
The website also currently lists 27 major funding partners , including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board , Edelman , Facebook , Google , and the Rockefeller Foundation .
[ 4 ] This article will focus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considered one of the largest public-relations firms in the world , with some 67 offices worldwide .
Tortoise Media used a November 2018 Kickstarter campaign to launch a drive for a membership boutique – a “ redistributive model ” for news funding by which expensive membership tiers provide funding for less expensive ( or free ) memberships .
By June of 2019 , Tortoise Media had 8,000 members , with 40 per cent of them under the age of 30 .
Businesses are funding memberships to be distributed by charitable organizations , academies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ fill Tortoise ’ s demographic gaps , such as those outside London , teenagers , the elderly , and the working class.
” [ 5 ] Press Gazette also noted that only three months after the April 2019 launch , seven major brand names “ including Santander bank and PR firm Edelman ” had signed up to fund memberships .
[ 6 ] A Tortoise membership costs from 5 pounds sterling per month ( or 50 pounds per year ) for someone under-30 , to 24 pounds per month ( for other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( for businesses and wealthy sponsors ) .
The first 5,000 founding student members receive free membership .
By November 2019 , Tortoise Media was claiming “ nearly 20,000 members , ” with numbers climbing rapidly because of widespread corporate support subsidizing memberships .
[ 7 ] Tortoise hosts frequent “ ThinkIns ” ( editorial meetings and conversations ) between partners and members , between partners and stakeholders , and between partner companies and their employees .
“ We believe in opening up journalism , ” their website states , “ so we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 21st Century .
We want to do this with our members and with our partners .
We want to give everyone a seat at the table.
” Tortoise calls its members “ family.
” The Tortoise Media website stresses that “ we don ’ t take ads…Instead , our journalism is funded by our members and our partners .
We establish partnerships with businesses willing to back a new form of journalism , enable the public debate , share their expertise and communicate their point of view.
” But Tortoise hastens to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , know that we are a journalistic enterprise .
Our independence is non-negotiable .
If we ever have to choose between the relationship and the story , we ’ ll always choose the story.
” With regard to the September 17 piece smearing RFK Jr. , Tortoise Media didn ’ t have to choose between the relationship with two of its funding partners ( the Gates Foundation , Facebook ) and “ the story ” because all three were nicely aligned .
Back in autumn 2018 , when buzz was circulating about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emily Bell , the director of a digital journalism center at Columbia University ’ s graduate school of journalism , wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian .
Bell called the Tortoise venture “ mysterious , ” but noted that mainstream media is under financial “ pressure ” and may be in need of a “ redistributive model of news funding , ” such as that being created by Tortoise .
[ 8 ] “ There is an acceptance that billionaires might be the answer after all , ” wrote Bell in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ examples such as Apple founder Steve Job ’ s widow Laurene Powell Job ’ s purchase of The Atlantic ; Salesforce founder Mark Benioff ’ s purchase of Time magazine ; and Amazon head Jeff Bezos ’ buy-up of the Washington Post .
[ 9 ] What Bell glaringly omitted is the fact that over the past decade , Facebook , Google , etc .
have taken major ad revenues away from the mainstream media , enriching the firms ’ executives and shareholders while gutting newsrooms across the globe .
As thousands of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stepped in to become media owners , furthering their control of information and public discourse on key issues .
Tortoise Media ’ s funding partners include two of the wealthiest billionaires on the planet : Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg .
Of course , that should remind Canadian readers that The Globe and Mail ( which published the Tortoise Media piece ) is owned by the richest family in Canada , the Thomsons , “ who have seen their fortune increase by nearly $ 9 billion during the pandemic , up to $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March.
” [ 10 ] Strangely , The Guardian ’ s Emily Bell expressed hope that Tortoise would “ encourage a rush of 1 % wealth into more deprived areas of [ news ] coverage , ” such as “ income inequality , racism , the health service , climate change , the march of authoritarianism , the inexorable rise of misogyny , the challenges of artificial intelligence and the collapse of democratic institutions.
” [ 11 ] This a very naive position , as though news coverage of such issues has nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but only they are covered .
Indeed , the loss of so many professional journalists means that mainstream news outlets increasingly rely on corporate press releases , think tank reports , corporate pundits , and spin – the very backbone of PR firms like Tortoise funding partner Edelman , which exist to manage such issues for their clients .
In fact , PR Watch has called Edelman “ the world ’ s largest PR company , synonymous with astroturf-style front groups and dirty tricks.
” [ 12 ] Shortly after Tortoise Media was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participated in a global-pandemic exercise called Event 201 , which was held in New York City in October 2019 and involved 15 lead participants .
Independent journalist Rosemary Frei , who has written extensively about COVID-19 , told me by email that Event 201 “ simulated a novel-coronavirus pandemic – and eerily reflected what started to roll out in the real world shortly after that , including measures against the virus causing the markets to crash.
” Frei told me , “ One of the event ’ s main sponsors was the Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ a representative from the foundation was among the 15 lead participants .
Another lead participant was Matthew Harrington , the Global Chief Operating Officer at Edelman.
” According to Frei , citing video footage from Event 201 that she ’ d mentioned in her March 29 blog entry ( rosemaryfrei.ca/blog ) , “ One of the central predictions in Event 201 was ‘ overwhelming amounts of dis- and misinformation circulating over the internet ’ .
[ Edelman ’ s ] Harrington opined at the roundtable that , in response , social-media platforms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ etc . ]
must recognize they are broadcasters and partner “ with the scientific and health communities to counterweight [ misinformation ] , if not flood the zone , [ with ] accurate information.
” Frei told me , “ Harrington also said ‘ there needs to be a centralized response around the communications approach , that then is cascaded to informed advocates representing the NGO communities , the medical professionals , etc.
’ and ‘ centralized on an international basis ’ .
” With Edelman and the Gates Foundation worried about dis- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these two Tortoise partners appear to have joined forces with Tortoise partners Facebook and Google , which during the pandemic lockdown have been censoring public health information from a variety of websites .
A Facebook spokesperson recently told The Guardian that “ we have removed 7m [ million ] pieces of Covid-19-related misinfo between April and June… ” [ 13 ] One of the perks that Tortoise provides to its members is a “ daily news feed ” of selected articles from other sites , along with its own pieces .
It looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ centralized response ” on “ an international basis ” .
With Edelman ’ s help , and its 67 offices worldwide , that is potentially possible .
That may help explain Tortoise Media ’ s Sept. 17 article expressing concern that “ Since February , Mr. Kennedy Jr. ’ s social-media support has tripled from 229,000 followers to 665,000 today.
” [ 14 ] Ironically , those numbers come nowhere close to the millions of people reached through the media by Bill Gates , who has been pouring hundreds of millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe and North America .
In a feature article for the Columbia Journalism Review ( August 21 , 2020 ) , Tim Schwab stated : “ As philanthropists increasingly fill in the funding gaps at news organizations – a role that is almost certain to expand in the media downturn following the coronovirus pandemic – an underexamined worry is how this will affect the ways newsrooms report on their benefactors .
Nowhere does this concern loom larger than with the Gates Foundation , a leading donor to newsrooms and a frequent subject of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schwab examined “ nearly twenty thousand charitable grants the Gates foundation had made through the end of June [ 2020 ] and found more than $ 250 million going toward journalism.
” Recipients included the BBC , NBC , Al-Jazeera , ProPublica , National Journal , The Guardian , Univision , Medium , the Financial Times , The New York Times , The Atlantic , the Texas Tribune , Gannett , Washington Monthly , Le Monde , the Seattle Times , the Center for Investigative Reporting , Participant , the Pulitzer Center on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the International Center for Journalists , and the American Press Institute .
Schwab called the list incomplete because the Gates Foundation doesn ’ t have to report everything it funds .
Schwab stated : “ In the same way that the news media has given Gates an outsize voice in the pandemic , the foundation has long used its charitable giving to shape the public discourse on everything from global health to education [ favouring charter schools ] to agriculture [ pro-GMOs ] – a level of influence that has landed Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most powerful people in the world.
” [ 16 ] Germany ’ s major newspaper Der Spiegel recently reported that , like other news outlets , it has received “ around 2 – 3 million euros over three years ” from the Gates Foundation , and noted that this raises “ questions about a covert agenda to influence the news.
” [ 17 ] Gates responded that for any news outlet funded by him , “ what they actually write in those articles is totally up to them.
” [ 18 ] But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ When Gates gives money to newsrooms , it restricts how the money is used – often for topics , like global health and education , on which the foundation works – which can help elevate its agenda in the news media.
” [ 19 ] Noting that critical coverage of Gates is “ rare , ” Schwab stated that “ a larger worry is the precedent the prevailing coverage of Gates sets for how we report on the next generation of tech billionaires-turned philanthropists , including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s where a site like Tortoise Media comes in , with its courting of the under-30 age group , its ThinkIns , its free subscriptions for the disadvantaged , its daily news feeds for members , its consideration of members and partners as “ family ” , and its partnership with a major PR firm .
When PR Watch called Edelman “ synonymous with astroturf-style front groups and dirty tricks ” in August 2014 , it was referring to past scandals such as the revelation in 2008 that the firm had created fake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ astroturfing campaign assisting its client Walmart during a battle with unions .
PR Watch could not have known that , just months later in November 2014 , another scandal would erupt that would expose Edelman ’ s PR tactics in detail .
In November 2014 , Greenpeace released documents that revealed Edelman ’ s internal PR advice for its client TransCanada Corp. in an effort to win the Canadian public ’ s support for a tar sands pipeline called Energy East .
Greenpeace called the advice “ dirty tricks ” .
The documents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ permanent campaign ” to turn Canadians into “ champions ” for the pipeline , which would move tar sands bitumen across six provinces .
Edelman further recommended that “ Third-party voices must also be identified , recruited and heard to build an echo chamber of aligned voices ” in the media .
In order to “ neutralize risk , ” Edelman suggested “ detailed background research on key opposition groups ” such as Council of Canadians , Equiterre , the David Suzuki Foundation , Avaaz , and Ecology Ottawa .
They also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for our opponents , distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources.
” [ 22 ] Even the mainstream media called these “ creepy tactics , ” with one columnist referring to “ communications black ops , phony grassroots campaigns , squadrons of dutiful Twitter trolls and search-and-destroy missions on opponents…rooting out skeletons in the closets ” of opponents .
[ 23 ] TransCanada Corp. had to distance itself from Edelman ’ s advice , and later cancelled the Energy East pipeline project .
This background on Edelman ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to what extent Tortoise Media is adopting a somewhat similar strategy .
Readers of the smear piece on RFK Jr. may have been wondering what the “ and more ” part of the “ hoaxes on COVID-19 vaccines , 5G and more ” headline refers to .
Quite likely , it refers to Kennedy Jr. ’ s comment in Berlin about the billionaires shifting us all into “ digital currencies ” to their benefit .
The Gates Foundation is part of the “ Better Than Cash Alliance , ” which in 2016 allied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Norenda Modi government to remove several banknotes – the 500 Rupee and the 1,000 Rupee – from circulation .
That would be like suddenly removing all ten-dollar and 20-dollar bills from circulation in North America and declaring that holders of those notes would have to deposit them in a bank by a certain deadline or they would be worthless .
[ 24 ] Besides the Gates Foundation and USAID , the “ Better Than Cash Alliance ” includes Mastercard and Visa , the Ford Foundation , Omidyar Network ( EBay ) , banking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] USAID and its corporate partners knew in advance that only 55 % of India ’ s population had a bank account , and 95 % of all transactions were conducted in cash .
So the sudden change had a huge affect on India ’ s poorest , working in the informal sector for cash .
As a result of this decree , there was massive famine and thousands of people died because they had no way to buy food .
Furthermore , thousands of small businesses went under .
[ 26 ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Bill Gates , he expressed concerns about poor countries and insisted “ Our foundation is about saving lives.
” [ 27 ] But that certainly wasn ’ t true in India in November 2016 .
As Columbia Journalism Review ’ s Tim Schwab stated : “ Bill Gates has shown how seamlessly the most controversial industry captain can transform his public image from tech villain to benevolent philanthropist .
Insofar as journalists are supposed to scrutinize wealth and power , Gates should probably be one of the most investigated people on earth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 28 ] But if Tortoise Media and its “ family ” of partners and members have their way , that ’ s how things will remain .
Joyce Nelson is a freelance writer and author .
She can be reached via www.joycenelson.ca • [ 1 ] Alexi Mostrous , “ How a Kennedy became a ‘ superspreader ’ of hoaxes on COVID-19 , vaccines , 5G and more , ” The Globe and Mail , September 17 , 2020 .
• [ 3 ] Emily Bell , “ Can James Harding ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s club ?
” The Guardian , October 22 , 2018 .
• [ 5 ] Charlotte Tobitt , “ ’ Slow News ’ venture Tortoise creates ‘ inclusive ’ members ’ model with potential to partner with local publishers , ” Press Gazette , June 28 , 2019 .
• [ 7 ] Freddy Mayhew , “ Tortoise claims nearly 20,000 members as it eyes move into podcasting , ” Press Gazette , November 8 , 2019 .
• [ 10 ] Derrick O ’ Keefe , “ COVID sucks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Canada ’ s richest have raked in $ 37 billion since March , ” Ricochet , September 17 , 2020 .
• [ 13 ] Niamh McIntyre and Ben Quinn , “ Engagement with anti-vaccine Facebook posts trebles in one month , ” The Guardian , September 19 , 2020 .
• [ 17 ] Veronika Hackenbroch and Marc Pitzke , “ Bill Gates on COVID-19 : ‘ It ’ s Mind-Blowing That We ’ re Not Further Along , ” Der Spiegel , Sept. 16 , 2020 .
• [ 22 ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company ’ s PR blitz to safeguard its backup plan , ” The Guardian , November 18 , 2014 .
• [ 24 ] Joyce Nelson , “ Resisting the Push for a Cashless Society , ” Bypassing Dystopia : Hope-Filled Challenges to Corporate Rule , Comox : Watershed Sentinel Books , 2018 , pp .
48-50 .

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Written by Joyce Nelson; Originally appeared at Global Research
On Sept. 17, Toronto-based The Globe and Mail newspaper published an extraordinary and very lengthy article vilifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and calling him “a top voice of misinformation on social media.” The headline for the piece summarizes its range: “How a Kennedy became a ‘superspreader’ of hoaxes on COVID-19, vaccines, 5G and more”. [1]
For more than a decade, Kennedy Jr. has raised issues about vaccine safety through the organization he founded, Children’s Health Defense. The Globe and Mail piece stated:
“Like other conspiracy theorists, [RFK Jr.] has gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic by adapting his anti-vaccine messages to fit the crisis, firing off false allegations against Microsoft founder Bill Gates [on COVID-19 vaccines, and other issues] and about the safety of 5G telecom networks. Since February, Mr. Kennedy Jr.’s social media support has tripled from 229,000 followers to 665,000 today.”
Screenshot from The Globe and Mail
At the end of what can only be called a smear piece, the print edition of The Globe and Mail stated, “This article was originally published by Tortoise, a different kind of newsroom committed to a slower, wiser news. To try Tortoise, Globe readers can get a 30-day free trial and a special half price offer…”
Strangely, the article made no mention of Children’s Health Defense, or of Kennedy’s Jr.’s August 29 speech in Berlin, where he addressed a huge rally. He told them that the COVID-19 pandemic is a “crisis of convenience for the elites” who are “destroying the middle class,” “using the quarantine to bring 5G into our communities” for “surveillance and data-mining”, and shifting us all “to digital currencies” and a cashless society that will benefit “the billionaires.”
Similarly, the Tortoise article didn’t mention that on August 17, Children’s Health Defense filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and three fact-checking companies, charging them with censoring truthful public health information. [2]
So what (or who) is Tortoise Media?
“Slower, Wiser News”?
Tortoise Media was launched in April 2019 by three people: James Harding, former editor at Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper, and subsequently head of BBC News until resigning in October 2017; Matthew Barzun, former US ambassador to the UK; and Katie Vanneck-Smith, former president of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.
Initial financial backing for London-based Tortoise was provided by banker Bernie Mensah, Global Head of Emerging Markets for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, tech investor Saul Klein, and two anonymous backers. [3]
The Tortoise Media website now lists Harding as Editor; Vanneck-Smith as Publisher; Matthew Barzun as Chairman; and Ceci Kurzman (former founder of Nexus Management) as Independent Director. The website also currently lists 27 major funding partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Edelman, Facebook, Google, and the Rockefeller Foundation. [4] This article will focus on the Gates Foundation, and Edelman – considered one of the largest public-relations firms in the world, with some 67 offices worldwide.
Tortoise Media used a November 2018 Kickstarter campaign to launch a drive for a membership boutique – a “redistributive model” for news funding by which expensive membership tiers provide funding for less expensive (or free) memberships.
By June of 2019, Tortoise Media had 8,000 members, with 40 per cent of them under the age of 30. Businesses are funding memberships to be distributed by charitable organizations, academies, and other groups in order to “fill Tortoise’s demographic gaps, such as those outside London, teenagers, the elderly, and the working class.” [5] Press Gazette also noted that only three months after the April 2019 launch, seven major brand names “including Santander bank and PR firm Edelman” had signed up to fund memberships. [6]
A Tortoise membership costs from 5 pounds sterling per month (or 50 pounds per year) for someone under-30, to 24 pounds per month (for other individuals) and 250 pounds per month (for businesses and wealthy sponsors). The first 5,000 founding student members receive free membership. By November 2019, Tortoise Media was claiming “nearly 20,000 members,” with numbers climbing rapidly because of widespread corporate support subsidizing memberships. [7]
Tortoise hosts frequent “ThinkIns” (editorial meetings and conversations) between partners and members, between partners and stakeholders, and between partner companies and their employees. “We believe in opening up journalism,” their website states, “so we can examine issues and develop ideas for the 21st Century. We want to do this with our members and with our partners. We want to give everyone a seat at the table.” Tortoise calls its members “family.”
The Tortoise Media website stresses that “we don’t take ads…Instead, our journalism is funded by our members and our partners. We establish partnerships with businesses willing to back a new form of journalism, enable the public debate, share their expertise and communicate their point of view.” But Tortoise hastens to add: “Our partners, of course, know that we are a journalistic enterprise. Our independence is non-negotiable. If we ever have to choose between the relationship and the story, we’ll always choose the story.”
With regard to the September 17 piece smearing RFK Jr., Tortoise Media didn’t have to choose between the relationship with two of its funding partners (the Gates Foundation, Facebook) and “the story” because all three were nicely aligned.
Billionaires’ Media
Back in autumn 2018, when buzz was circulating about the upcoming launch of Tortoise Media, Emily Bell, the director of a digital journalism center at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism, wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian. Bell called the Tortoise venture “mysterious,” but noted that mainstream media is under financial “pressure” and may be in need of a “redistributive model of news funding,” such as that being created by Tortoise. [8]
“There is an acceptance that billionaires might be the answer after all,” wrote Bell in her praise for the Tortoise approach, citing examples such as Apple founder Steve Job’s widow Laurene Powell Job’s purchase of The Atlantic; Salesforce founder Mark Benioff’s purchase of Time magazine; and Amazon head Jeff Bezos’ buy-up of the Washington Post. [9]
What Bell glaringly omitted is the fact that over the past decade, Facebook, Google, etc. have taken major ad revenues away from the mainstream media, enriching the firms’ executives and shareholders while gutting newsrooms across the globe. As thousands of journalists have been jettisoned, billionaires have stepped in to become media owners, furthering their control of information and public discourse on key issues.
Tortoise Media’s funding partners include two of the wealthiest billionaires on the planet: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
Of course, that should remind Canadian readers that The Globe and Mail (which published the Tortoise Media piece) is owned by the richest family in Canada, the Thomsons, “who have seen their fortune increase by nearly $9 billion during the pandemic, up to $50.6 billion from $41.7 billion in March.” [10]
Strangely, The Guardian’s Emily Bell expressed hope that Tortoise would “encourage a rush of 1% wealth into more deprived areas of [news] coverage,” such as “income inequality, racism, the health service, climate change, the march of authoritarianism, the inexorable rise of misogyny, the challenges of artificial intelligence and the collapse of democratic institutions.” [11] This a very naive position, as though news coverage of such issues has nothing to do with how they are covered, but only that they are covered.
Indeed, the loss of so many professional journalists means that mainstream news outlets increasingly rely on corporate press releases, think tank reports, corporate pundits, and spin – the very backbone of PR firms like Tortoise funding partner Edelman, which exist to manage such issues for their clients. In fact, PR Watch has called Edelman “the world’s largest PR company, synonymous with astroturf-style front groups and dirty tricks.” [12]
Event 201
Shortly after Tortoise Media was launched, two of its funding partners participated in a global-pandemic exercise called Event 201, which was held in New York City in October 2019 and involved 15 lead participants.
Independent journalist Rosemary Frei, who has written extensively about COVID-19, told me by email that Event 201 “simulated a novel-coronavirus pandemic – and eerily reflected what started to roll out in the real world shortly after that, including measures against the virus causing the markets to crash.” Frei told me, “One of the event’s main sponsors was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” and “a representative from the foundation was among the 15 lead participants. Another lead participant was Matthew Harrington, the Global Chief Operating Officer at Edelman.”
According to Frei, citing video footage from Event 201 that she’d mentioned in her March 29 blog entry (rosemaryfrei.ca/blog), “One of the central predictions in Event 201 was ‘overwhelming amounts of dis- and misinformation circulating over the internet’. [Edelman’s] Harrington opined at the roundtable that, in response, social-media platforms [Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.] must recognize they are broadcasters and partner “with the scientific and health communities to counterweight [misinformation], if not flood the zone, [with] accurate information.”
Frei told me, “Harrington also said ‘there needs to be a centralized response around the communications approach, that then is cascaded to informed advocates representing the NGO communities, the medical professionals, etc.’ and ‘centralized on an international basis’.”
With Edelman and the Gates Foundation worried about dis- and misinformation circulating over the internet, these two Tortoise partners appear to have joined forces with Tortoise partners Facebook and Google, which during the pandemic lockdown have been censoring public health information from a variety of websites. A Facebook spokesperson recently told The Guardian that “we have removed 7m [million] pieces of Covid-19-related misinfo between April and June…” [13]
One of the perks that Tortoise provides to its members is a “daily news feed” of selected articles from other sites, along with its own pieces. It looks like Tortoise Media is intended to be a “centralized response” on “an international basis”. With Edelman’s help, and its 67 offices worldwide, that is potentially possible.
Gates & Media
That may help explain Tortoise Media’s Sept. 17 article expressing concern that “Since February, Mr. Kennedy Jr.’s social-media support has tripled from 229,000 followers to 665,000 today.” [14]
Ironically, those numbers come nowhere close to the millions of people reached through the media by Bill Gates, who has been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into mainstream news outlets across Europe and North America.
In a feature article for the Columbia Journalism Review (August 21, 2020), Tim Schwab stated: “As philanthropists increasingly fill in the funding gaps at news organizations – a role that is almost certain to expand in the media downturn following the coronovirus pandemic – an underexamined worry is how this will affect the ways newsrooms report on their benefactors. Nowhere does this concern loom larger than with the Gates Foundation, a leading donor to newsrooms and a frequent subject of favorable news coverage.” [15]
Schwab examined “nearly twenty thousand charitable grants the Gates foundation had made through the end of June [2020] and found more than $250 million going toward journalism.” Recipients included the BBC, NBC, Al-Jazeera, ProPublica, National Journal, The Guardian, Univision, Medium, the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Texas Tribune, Gannett, Washington Monthly, Le Monde, the Seattle Times, the Center for Investigative Reporting, Participant, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the National Press Foundation, the International Center for Journalists, and the American Press Institute.
Schwab called the list incomplete because the Gates Foundation doesn’t have to report everything it funds.
Schwab stated: “In the same way that the news media has given Gates an outsize voice in the pandemic, the foundation has long used its charitable giving to shape the public discourse on everything from global health to education [favouring charter schools] to agriculture [pro-GMOs] – a level of influence that has landed Bill Gates on Forbes’ list of the most powerful people in the world.” [16]
Germany’s major newspaper Der Spiegel recently reported that, like other news outlets, it has received “around 2 – 3 million euros over three years” from the Gates Foundation, and noted that this raises “questions about a covert agenda to influence the news.” [17] Gates responded that for any news outlet funded by him, “what they actually write in those articles is totally up to them.” [18]
But according to CJR’s Tim Schwab, “When Gates gives money to newsrooms, it restricts how the money is used – often for topics, like global health and education, on which the foundation works – which can help elevate its agenda in the news media.” [19]
Noting that critical coverage of Gates is “rare,” Schwab stated that “a larger worry is the precedent the prevailing coverage of Gates sets for how we report on the next generation of tech billionaires-turned philanthropists, including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.” [20]
But that’s where a site like Tortoise Media comes in, with its courting of the under-30 age group, its ThinkIns, its free subscriptions for the disadvantaged, its daily news feeds for members, its consideration of members and partners as “family”, and its partnership with a major PR firm.
“Dirty Tricks”
When PR Watch called Edelman “synonymous with astroturf-style front groups and dirty tricks” in August 2014, it was referring to past scandals such as the revelation in 2008 that the firm had created fake “grassroots” bloggers for a digital astroturfing campaign assisting its client Walmart during a battle with unions. PR Watch could not have known that, just months later in November 2014, another scandal would erupt that would expose Edelman’s PR tactics in detail.
In November 2014, Greenpeace released documents that revealed Edelman’s internal PR advice for its client TransCanada Corp. in an effort to win the Canadian public’s support for a tar sands pipeline called Energy East. Greenpeace called the advice “dirty tricks”.
The documents unveiled Edelman’s plan for a “permanent campaign” to turn Canadians into “champions” for the pipeline, which would move tar sands bitumen across six provinces.
As CBC News reported:
“It starts with getting people to simply click on an Energy East project website to request more information about the project. Edelman says it can turn the ‘average citizen into issue activists’. ‘Using targeted messaging and behaviour tracking to directly appeal to the individual’s trigger points and develop them from a supporter to an activist to a champion,’ said one of the documents… It says advocacy can develop from people simply signing a petition and develop into testifying at public meetings or lending their personal stories for ads and promotions. ‘They provide us with a rich base of advocates who passionately understand and support our cause and are willing – more often than not – to do what’s asked of them’.” [21]
Edelman further recommended that “Third-party voices must also be identified, recruited and heard to build an echo chamber of aligned voices” in the media. In order to “neutralize risk,” Edelman suggested “detailed background research on key opposition groups” such as Council of Canadians, Equiterre, the David Suzuki Foundation, Avaaz, and Ecology Ottawa. They also advised: “Add layers of difficulty for our opponents, distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources.” [22]
Even the mainstream media called these “creepy tactics,” with one columnist referring to “communications black ops, phony grassroots campaigns, squadrons of dutiful Twitter trolls and search-and-destroy missions on opponents…rooting out skeletons in the closets” of opponents. [23] TransCanada Corp. had to distance itself from Edelman’s advice, and later cancelled the Energy East pipeline project.
This background on Edelman’s PR tactics does make one wonder to what extent Tortoise Media is adopting a somewhat similar strategy.
Cashless Society
Readers of the smear piece on RFK Jr. may have been wondering what the “and more” part of the “hoaxes on COVID-19 vaccines, 5G and more” headline refers to. Quite likely, it refers to Kennedy Jr.’s comment in Berlin about the billionaires shifting us all into “digital currencies” to their benefit.
The Gates Foundation is part of the “Better Than Cash Alliance,” which in 2016 allied with USAID and pushed India’s Norenda Modi government to remove several banknotes – the 500 Rupee and the 1,000 Rupee – from circulation. That would be like suddenly removing all ten-dollar and 20-dollar bills from circulation in North America and declaring that holders of those notes would have to deposit them in a bank by a certain deadline or they would be worthless. [24]
Besides the Gates Foundation and USAID, the “Better Than Cash Alliance” includes Mastercard and Visa, the Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network (EBay), banking giant CitiGroup and others. [25]
USAID and its corporate partners knew in advance that only 55% of India’s population had a bank account, and 95% of all transactions were conducted in cash. So the sudden change had a huge affect on India’s poorest, working in the informal sector for cash. As a result of this decree, there was massive famine and thousands of people died because they had no way to buy food. Furthermore, thousands of small businesses went under. [26]
In Der Spiegel’s recent interview with Bill Gates, he expressed concerns about poor countries and insisted “Our foundation is about saving lives.” [27] But that certainly wasn’t true in India in November 2016.
As Columbia Journalism Review’s Tim Schwab stated: “Bill Gates has shown how seamlessly the most controversial industry captain can transform his public image from tech villain to benevolent philanthropist. Insofar as journalists are supposed to scrutinize wealth and power, Gates should probably be one of the most investigated people on earth – not the most admired.” [28] But if Tortoise Media and its “family” of partners and members have their way, that’s how things will remain.
Joyce Nelson is a freelance writer and author. She can be reached via www.joycenelson.ca
[1] Alexi Mostrous, “How a Kennedy became a ‘superspreader’ of hoaxes on COVID-19, vaccines, 5G and more,” The Globe and Mail, September 17, 2020.
[2] Julia Woodford, “Woodford Files,” Vitality Magazine, Fall 2020.
[3] Emily Bell, “Can James Harding’s Tortoise be more than a rich person’s club?” The Guardian, October 22, 2018.
[4] www.tortoisemedia.com/partners/
[5] Charlotte Tobitt, “’Slow News’ venture Tortoise creates ‘inclusive’ members’ model with potential to partner with local publishers,” Press Gazette, June 28, 2019.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Freddy Mayhew, “Tortoise claims nearly 20,000 members as it eyes move into podcasting,” Press Gazette, November 8, 2019.
[8] Bell, op. cit.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Derrick O’Keefe, “COVID sucks, unless you’re a billionaire. Canada’s richest have raked in $37 billion since March,” Ricochet, September 17, 2020.
[11] Bell, op. cit.
[12] Nick Surgery, PR Watch, “Edelman Makes a Climate Change Pledge, but Forgets About ALEC,” Truthout, August 17, 2014.
[13] Niamh McIntyre and Ben Quinn, “Engagement with anti-vaccine Facebook posts trebles in one month,” The Guardian, September 19, 2020.
[14] Mostrous, op. cit.
[15] Tim Schwab, “Journalism’s Gates keepers,” Columbia Journalism Review, August 21, 2020.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Veronika Hackenbroch and Marc Pitzke, “Bill Gates on COVID-19: ‘It’s Mind-Blowing That We’re Not Further Along,” Der Spiegel, Sept. 16, 2020.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Schwab, op. cit.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Margo McDiarmid, “Energy East pipeline ‘advocates’ targeted in TransCanada PR move,” CBC News, November 18, 2014.
[22] Suzanne Goldenberg, “Revealed: Keystone company’s PR blitz to safeguard its backup plan,” The Guardian, November 18, 2014.
[23] Jeffrey Jones, “PR trickery tarnishes oil patch’s credibility,” The Globe and Mail, November 19, 2014.
[24] Joyce Nelson, “Resisting the Push for a Cashless Society,” Bypassing Dystopia: Hope-Filled Challenges to Corporate Rule, Comox: Watershed Sentinel Books, 2018, pp. 48-50.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Quoted in Hackenbroch and Pitzke, op. cit.
[28] Schwab, op. cit.
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southfront--2020-10-09--Armenia Blamed Azerbaijan For False Accusations Of Attacks On Civilian Areas

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan claimed on October 9 that Armenian forces had carried out a series of artillery strikes on civilian settlements .
In a statement , the ministry claimed that Armenian forces targeted the Azerbaijani towns and cities of Barda , Aghdam , Mingachevir and Aghjabedi .
No videos or photos confirming the strikes were shared .
Shushan Stepanyan , Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia , denied Azerbaijan ’ s claims , calling them “ obvious fabrication.
” Stepanyan also warned Azerbaijan against launching any attacks on civilian areas in Nagorno-Karabakh , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September 27 .
Over the last two weeks , Azerbaijan made false accusations against Armenian on several occasions to justify attacks on civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh .
A day earlier , Azerbaijan claimed that it shot down an Armenian drone that was on its way to attack civilian areas in the country .
However , the supposed “ drone ” turned out to be an Israeli-made IAI Harpo loitering munition of the Azerbaijani military .
Later on the same day , Azerbaijani forces carried out a double-tab strike on the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journalists were injured .
Azerbaijani attacks on settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh have , so far , claimed the lives of 22 civilians and injured more than 90 others .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • Debris , Likely From S-300 Missile , Drops In Russia , As Azerbaijan And Armenian Officials Rush To Moscow

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On October 9, The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan claimed that Armenian forces had carried out a series of artillery strikes on civilian settlements.
In a statement, the ministry claimed that Armenian forces targeted the Azerbaijani towns and cities of Barda, Aghdam, Mingachevir and Aghjabedi. No videos or photos confirming the strikes were shared.
Shushan Stepanyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, denied Azerbaijan’s claims, calling them “obvious fabrication.” Stepanyan also warned Azerbaijan against launching any attacks on civilian areas in Nagorno-Karabakh, where a heated battle has been ongoing since September 27.
“We once more warn Azerbaijan against any attempts to provoke us by targeting populated centers and civilian infrastructure, as the Artsakh Defense Army’s response will be decisive,” Stepanyan said in a statement.
Over the last two weeks, Azerbaijan made false accusations against Armenian on several occasions to justify attacks on civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh.
A day earlier, Azerbaijan claimed that it shot down an Armenian drone that was on its way to attack civilian areas in the country. However, the supposed “drone” turned out to be an Israeli-made IAI Harpo loitering munition of the Azerbaijani military.
Later on the same day, Azerbaijani forces carried out a double-tab strike on the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh. At least ten civilians and journalists were injured.
Azerbaijani attacks on settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh have, so far, claimed the lives of 22 civilians and injured more than 90 others.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
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southfront--2020-10-09--Omnibus Collisions: Coronavirus Policing and Overreach in Victoria

In her September 17 speech to parliament , the Attorney General of the Australian state of Victoria , Jill Hennessy , explained various provisions of the COVID-19 Omnibus ( Emergency Measures ) and Other Acts Amendment Bill .
Of most interest was the proposal that would dramatically inflate the scope of public health power in ostensibly preventing a spread of COVID-19 .
“ The broader class of persons who may be appointed as authorised officers may include public sector employees from Victoria and other jurisdictions .
For example , health services staff , WorkSafe officers such as Inspectors , Victoria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The formulation seemed an odd one : health services staff as designated officers to halt transmission perhaps , but unqualified members of the Victoria Police , along with Protective Service Officers ?
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was the proposed appointer ; the appointees ( “ authorised officers ” ) would be anybody deemed to possess appropriate skills , attributes or experience .
Such elevated , muscularly vested officers would have the power to detain anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 , or anyone who had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for a period “ reasonably necessary to eliminate a serious risk to public health , ” provided it was “ reasonably believed ” they would fail to comply with a direction of self-quarantine .
Hennessy evaded the severe implications of such a broadly worded provision , arguing for convenience and efficiency , the two traditional hallmarks of the authoritarian mentality .
The appointment power would focus upon “ individuals with particular attributes , such as connection to particular communities ” .
“ Contact tracing ” would be able to take place in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for any oversight limitations , these appointments would be subject to a “ specific instrument ” outlining specific authority and limitations authorised by the Secretary and Chief Health Officer .
This was something that did not escape the notice of some members of the Victorian Parliament .
Greens MP Tim Read noted how the Omnibus Bill , in that draft form , gave police , protective services officers and private security guards powers to unilaterally determine who constituted a high risk with little regard to medical expertise .
“ Currently only public servants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make that decision ” .
Enforcing directions was a separate function of law enforcement .
“ So the bill would allow police to both make health directions on individuals and then to enforce them.
” The Omnibus Bill also saw various legal advocates spring into action .
Michael Borsky QC went for understatement in claiming that detaining someone for hypothetical future conduct was a “ very unusual legal construct ” .
The provision was “ open to abuse ” .
Nor did impress the legal heads at the Victorian Bar , where there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criteria for appointing such officers was deemed too “ broad and generic ” .
Their lack of precision “ potentially opened the door for those who are not trained as health professionals to be appointed ‘ authorised officers ’ .
” Granting such individuals unilateral powers of detention against individuals not abiding by a public health direction was another point of concern .
An officer ’ s “ reasonable belief ” was a “ standard of validation ” vast and subjective .
The Victorian Bar also suggested some measure of accountability : that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ reviewed by the Chief Health Officer ( or senior delegate ) within a short , stipulated period ( preferably not longer than 24 hours ) .
” The talents of Victorian policing have already been found wanting during one of the most extreme lockdown measures in the developed world .
Reem Mussa , humanitarian advisor on forced migration to Médicins Sans Frontières , remembered the terror caused by the appearance of five hundred police “ on housing estates [ in Melbourne ] , trapping residents inside with no coherent health strategy or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or with access to medication and essentials.
” 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been found on the estates in July .
Panic coursed through the various administrative arms of government .
In September , a very public display of policing mismanagement took place with the arrest of Ballarat resident Zoe Buhler , a pregnant mother apprehended in front of her children and husband in their home for a Facebook post inciting protest against the lockdown rules .
No police officer thought it necessary to explain the offence of incitement , nor accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It was such conduct that prompted Greg Barns of the Australian Lawyers Alliance to argue for limits on police powers when linked to pandemic controls .
The Police Accountability Project , based at the Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre in Melbourne , has also been alarmed by the aggressive , untutored policing formula pursued in the state .
“ The policing we have seen in Victoria to date and the scale of the policing we have seen [ on July 4 ] and today in Flemington & North Melbourne , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Over the course of the lockdown , the PAP project has noted ten concerns about how harsh Stage 4 restrictions have been enforced .
A few are worth noting .
Police , for instance , were ill trained to make complex assessments about exemptions requiring health expertise .
“ Police ignored genuine health based exemptions and continually resorted to lock-down responses because it more closely aligned with their training.
” They had failed to comprehend the public health impacts of their work , and that most pressing of points that policing “ undermines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curfews had been “ applied in a discriminatory , abusive and harmful manner.
” With such a stunning resume of faults and blunders , it is a wonder how the drafters in the Attorney-General ’ s department took leave of their senses .
On October 8 , the Victorian government quietly trimmed parts of the proposed bill dealing with detention .
Finding themselves in retreat , a flutter of qualifications were made .
“ We have always said we would negotiate in good faith , ” claimed a less than chastened Hennessy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have made such amendments that will continue “ to deliver the temporary , necessary changes we need to respond to the challenges the pandemic presents ” .
According to , the proposed table of changes will still preserve the power to appoint police and protective services officers as authorised officers , but with fewer powers .
They will still be able to exercise considerable discretion in , for instance , searching property without a warrant if “ necessary for the purpose of investigation , eliminating or reducing the risk to public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police and security personnel pseudo-health officers remain .
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College , Cambridge .
He lectures at RMIT University , Melbourne .
Email : bkampmark @ gmail.com

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Submitted by Dr. Binoy Kampmark
In her September 17 speech to parliament, the Attorney General of the Australian state of Victoria, Jill Hennessy, explained various provisions of the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) and Other Acts Amendment Bill. Of most interest was the proposal that would dramatically inflate the scope of public health power in ostensibly preventing a spread of COVID-19. “The broader class of persons who may be appointed as authorised officers may include public sector employees from Victoria and other jurisdictions. For example, health services staff, WorkSafe officers such as Inspectors, Victoria Police members and Protective Service Officers.”
The formulation seemed an odd one: health services staff as designated officers to halt transmission perhaps, but unqualified members of the Victoria Police, along with Protective Service Officers? The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was the proposed appointer; the appointees (“authorised officers”) would be anybody deemed to possess appropriate skills, attributes or experience. Such elevated, muscularly vested officers would have the power to detain anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or anyone who had been in close contact with a positive case, for a period “reasonably necessary to eliminate a serious risk to public health,” provided it was “reasonably believed” they would fail to comply with a direction of self-quarantine.
Hennessy evaded the severe implications of such a broadly worded provision, arguing for convenience and efficiency, the two traditional hallmarks of the authoritarian mentality. The appointment power would focus upon “individuals with particular attributes, such as connection to particular communities”. “Contact tracing” would be able to take place in “a culturally safe manner.” A for any oversight limitations, these appointments would be subject to a “specific instrument” outlining specific authority and limitations authorised by the Secretary and Chief Health Officer.
This was something that did not escape the notice of some members of the Victorian Parliament. Greens MP Tim Read noted how the Omnibus Bill, in that draft form, gave police, protective services officers and private security guards powers to unilaterally determine who constituted a high risk with little regard to medical expertise. “Currently only public servants with the relevant skills and experience can make that decision”. Enforcing directions was a separate function of law enforcement. “So the bill would allow police to both make health directions on individuals and then to enforce them.”
The Omnibus Bill also saw various legal advocates spring into action. Michael Borsky QC went for understatement in claiming that detaining someone for hypothetical future conduct was a “very unusual legal construct”. The provision was “open to abuse”. Nor did impress the legal heads at the Victorian Bar, where there was much head shaking. The proposed criteria for appointing such officers was deemed too “broad and generic”. Their lack of precision “potentially opened the door for those who are not trained as health professionals to be appointed ‘authorised officers’.”
Granting such individuals unilateral powers of detention against individuals not abiding by a public health direction was another point of concern. An officer’s “reasonable belief” was a “standard of validation” vast and subjective. The Victorian Bar also suggested some measure of accountability: that decisions made by such authorised officers be “reviewed by the Chief Health Officer (or senior delegate) within a short, stipulated period (preferably not longer than 24 hours).”
The talents of Victorian policing have already been found wanting during one of the most extreme lockdown measures in the developed world. Reem Mussa, humanitarian advisor on forced migration to Médicins Sans Frontières, remembered the terror caused by the appearance of five hundred police “on housing estates [in Melbourne], trapping residents inside with no coherent health strategy or plans to keep them safe, fed or with access to medication and essentials.” 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been found on the estates in July. Panic coursed through the various administrative arms of government.
In September, a very public display of policing mismanagement took place with the arrest of Ballarat resident Zoe Buhler, a pregnant mother apprehended in front of her children and husband in their home for a Facebook post inciting protest against the lockdown rules. No police officer thought it necessary to explain the offence of incitement, nor accept her offer to remove the offending post. It was such conduct that prompted Greg Barns of the Australian Lawyers Alliance to argue for limits on police powers when linked to pandemic controls.
The Police Accountability Project, based at the Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre in Melbourne, has also been alarmed by the aggressive, untutored policing formula pursued in the state. “The policing we have seen in Victoria to date and the scale of the policing we have seen [on July 4] and today in Flemington & North Melbourne, has caused and continues to do harm.”
Over the course of the lockdown, the PAP project has noted ten concerns about how harsh Stage 4 restrictions have been enforced. A few are worth noting. Police, for instance, were ill trained to make complex assessments about exemptions requiring health expertise. “Police ignored genuine health based exemptions and continually resorted to lock-down responses because it more closely aligned with their training.” They had failed to comprehend the public health impacts of their work, and that most pressing of points that policing “undermines public health responses.” The policing of curfews had been “applied in a discriminatory, abusive and harmful manner.” With such a stunning resume of faults and blunders, it is a wonder how the drafters in the Attorney-General’s department took leave of their senses.
On October 8, the Victorian government quietly trimmed parts of the proposed bill dealing with detention. Finding themselves in retreat, a flutter of qualifications were made. “We have always said we would negotiate in good faith,” claimed a less than chastened Hennessy. Giving little away, the Attorney-General claims to have made such amendments that will continue “to deliver the temporary, necessary changes we need to respond to the challenges the pandemic presents”.
According to Guardian Australia, the proposed table of changes will still preserve the power to appoint police and protective services officers as authorised officers, but with fewer powers. They will still be able to exercise considerable discretion in, for instance, searching property without a warrant if “necessary for the purpose of investigation, eliminating or reducing the risk to public health”. The daft dangers of making police and security personnel pseudo-health officers remain.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
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southfront--2020-10-09--Syrian Army Eliminated Senior Militant Commander In Greater Idlib

On October 8 , the Syrian Arab Army ( SAA ) eliminated a commander of Turkish-backed militants in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib .
Opposition sources said the commander , Nowruz al-Hamdo , was killed in a rocket strike by the army on his hometown , Kansafra in the southern countryside of Idlib .
Members of al-Hamdo ’ s family were reportedly injured in the strike .
Al-Hamdo , who is known by his nom de guerre “ Abu Haidara , ” was a senior military commander of the Mountain Hawks Brigade .
The faction is a part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkish-backed coalition based in Greater Idlib .
The coalition is allied to Hay ’ at Tahrir al-Sham and many other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the framework of the al-Fateh al-Mubeen Operations Room .
The elimination of al-Hamdo is a blow to Turkish-backed factions in Greater Idlib and a response to their violations of the March 5 Russian-Turkish agreement .
The situation in Greater Idlib is stable .
However , this may change soon as Turkey is failing to honor its commitments under the March 5 agreement , under which all terrorists should be removed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TOPIC : • Turkey Allegedly Eliminates PKK “ Special Forces Commander ” And Other Presumed Successes In Syria And Iraq

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On October 8, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) eliminated a commander of Turkish-backed militants in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib.
Opposition sources said the commander, Nowruz al-Hamdo, was killed in a rocket strike by the army on his hometown, Kansafra in the southern countryside of Idlib. Members of al-Hamdo’s family were reportedly injured in the strike.
Al-Hamdo, who is known by his nom de guerre “Abu Haidara,” was a senior military commander of the Mountain Hawks Brigade.
The faction is a part of the National Front for Liberation, a Turkish-backed coalition based in Greater Idlib. The coalition is allied to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and many other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the framework of the al-Fateh al-Mubeen Operations Room.
The elimination of al-Hamdo is a blow to Turkish-backed factions in Greater Idlib and a response to their violations of the March 5 Russian-Turkish agreement.
The situation in Greater Idlib is stable. However, this may change soon as Turkey is failing to honor its commitments under the March 5 agreement, under which all terrorists should be removed from the region.
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southfront--2020-10-09--Number Of Syrian Militants Killed In Nagorno-Karabakh Exceeded 100: Monitoring Group

At least 107 Turkish-backed Syrian militants have been killed while fighting for Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ( SOHR ) reported on October 9 .
According to the London-based monitoring group , more than 26 Syrian militants were killed by Armenian forces in the last 48 hours only .
The total number of Syrian militants supporting the Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno-Karabakh is no less than 1,450 .
At least 250 were transported by Turkey to the disputed region ’ s frontlines last week .
In spite of the ever increasing international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still recruiting Syrian militants to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh .
“ More than 400 fighters from the Sultan Murad Division , the Hamza Division and other factions , are preparing to be transferred by the Turkish government to Azerbaijan in the next few hours and days , ” the SOHR said in its report .
A day earlier , Syrian activists leaked a video revealing how Turkey is using radical rhetoric to recruit militants for the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh .
Turkey ’ s involvement in the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh appears to be larger than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was confirmed that Ankara deployed F-16 fighter jets in Azerbaijan prior to the attack .
MORE ON THIS TOPIC : • Turkish Parliament Speaker Says Turkey May Officially Join Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict , “ No Need ” Just Yet

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At least 107 Turkish-backed Syrian militants have been killed while fighting for Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on October 9.
According to the London-based monitoring group, more than 26 Syrian militants were killed by Armenian forces in the last 48 hours only.
The total number of Syrian militants supporting the Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno-Karabakh is no less than 1,450. At least 250 were transported by Turkey to the disputed region’s frontlines last week.
Despite the ever increasing international pressure and mounting losses, Turkey is still recruiting Syrian militants to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“More than 400 fighters from the Sultan Murad Division, the Hamza Division and other factions, are preparing to be transferred by the Turkish government to Azerbaijan in the next few hours and days,” the SOHR said in its report.
A day earlier, Syrian activists leaked a video revealing how Turkey was using radical rhetoric to recruit militants for the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey’s involvement in the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh appears to be larger than was originally thought. Recently, it was confirmed that Ankara deployed F-16 fighter jets in Azerbaijan prior to the attack.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
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