[Hints] Voices from the Blätterwald - 2020-09-05

1. English Videos
1. TikTok Struggles as Calls for Ban Grow
2. OMG I'm Speechless! Unbelievable Mainstream News from Spain - UNREAL!
2. English News and Articles
1. Belarus
2. Covid19: Italian Antibody Data
3. Beirut
4. Covid in the USA
5. Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership
6. Mali
7. Erdogan converts another historic church into a mosque - The centuries-old Chora church, which has served as a museum since 1945, will soon be open to Muslim worship.
8. Covid in Sweden
9. Eastern Mediterranean – the “Black Hole” of Region’s Political Landscape
10. Coronavirus: the (EU) Commission signs first contract with AstraZeneca - Through the contract, all Member States will be able to purchase 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine
11. Unleash the Privateers! - The United States should issue letters of marque to fight Chinese aggression at sea.
3. Translated News in English
1. Protest and counter-protest in Berlin - Rally of the Corona deniers at the Brandenburg Gate dissolved
2. ATTORNEY GENERAL SUSPECTED : Was the corruption hunter corrupt himself?
3. New sequences of the Ibiza video emerged - they could exonerate Strache
4. Berlin prohibits corona demonstrations at the weekend & Counter protests to the forbidden anti-corona demonstration in Berlin are allowed to take place
5. Networked registers: (Ministry of the Interior) Seehofer (CSU) is serious about tax ID as a citizen number
6. (Minister for Health) Jens Spahn (CDU) buys 4 million villa in Dahlem & Spahn financed the purchase of villas in part with a savings bank loan - previously he sat on the bank's board of directors for years
7. Germany: Both leaders of socialist Left Party to quit
8. Albright star guest at Greens - Group talks with former US Secretary of State about transatlantic relationship

I. English Videos

1

-> TikTok Struggles as Calls for Ban Grow

2

-> OMG I'm Speechless! Unbelievable Mainstream News from Spain - UNREAL!

II. English News and Articles

1

-> Belarus authorities arrest 33 alleged Russian mercenaries for election interference
July 30 (UPI) -- Authorities in Belarus on Thursday said that 33 Russian mercenaries were arrested on suspicion of terrorism.
...
source: upi
-> Belarus suspects Russian mercenaries of 'terrorism'
Russia is demanding an explanation for what may be the arrest of over 30 alleged Russian mercenaries in Belarus, accused of plotting, quote, "acts of terrorism" ahead of the Belarus presidential election.
...
source: yahoo
-> Belarus election: Lukashenko wins another term, election commission says
However, the main challenger has rejected the results and demanded that President Lukashenko "hand over power." Exit polls on Sunday sparked protests throughout the country — with opponents saying the vote was rigged.
...
source: dw
-> Lukashenko Challenger Makes 'Difficult Decision' to Leave Belarus
The main challenger in Belarus's disputed presidential election said Tuesday she made a "difficult decision" to leave the country, after a second night of street clashes between police and opposition supporters left a protester dead.
...
source: the moscow times
-> Lithuania ready to grant asylum to Belarusian opposition candidate Tikhanovskaya
According to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, a national one-year visa was granted to Tikhanovskaya
...
source: tass
-> In Belarus, they seriously fear the Ukrainian scenario
Protest demonstrations in Belarus in the form in which they are now taking place - according to the Ukrainian scenario - must be suppressed. And the current government has enough strength and resources to do this. This was stated by the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of the Republic of Belarus Oleg Gaidukevich on the air of the TV channel "Russia 1" .
...
source: vesti ru translate
source: vesti ru
-> Yellow plums: Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters not to go out to the square
Former presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters to show prudence: not to participate in clashes with the police, not to go out to the square in protest and to abide by the law. She stated this in a video message.
...
source: vesti ru translate
source: vesti ru

2

-> Covid19: Italian Antibody Data
The Italian health and statistics authorities ISS and ISTAT have published the results of their first nationwide coronavirus antibody study based on close to 65,000 participants.
The study found a nationwide IgG antibody prevalence of 2.5%. The highest prevalence was found in the northern region of Lombardy (7.5%), the lowest prevalence was found in the southern region of Sicily (0.3%). (See chart below).
...
source: swprs

3

-> Beirut deadly blast: What we know so far
Lebanon is in mourning after two massive explosions rocked the capital city, Beirut. Rescue teams are searching for survivors and people are looking for answers to what caused the disaster. Here's what we know so far.
...
source: dw
source: tass
-> Beirut deadly blast: What makes ammonium nitrate so dangerous?
...
Ammonium nitrate in its pure form is not dangerous. It is, however, heat sensitive. At 32.2 degrees Celsius (89.96 degrees Fahrenheit), ammonium nitrate changes its atomic structure, which in turn changes its chemical properties.
When large quantities of ammonium nitrate are stored in one place, heat is generated. If the amount is sufficiently vast, it can cause the chemical to ignite. Once a temperature of 170 C is reached, ammonium nitrate starts breaking down, emitting nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas. Any sudden ignition causes ammonium nitrate to decompose directly into water, nitrogen and oxygen, which explains the enormous explosive power of the salt.
...
source: dw
source: bbc

4

-> Covid in the USA
To understand the dynamics of the Covid-19 pandemic in the USA, it is not sufficient to look at the aggregated figures at the national level. The US is not experiencing one single long wave, but several regional “short waves” that have been delayed by lockdowns or the spread of the virus itself.
...
source: swprs

5

-> Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership
The investment and security pact would vastly extend China’s influence in the Middle East, throwing Iran an economic lifeline and creating new flash points with the United States.
...
The partnership, detailed in an 18-page proposed agreement obtained by The New York Times, would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects. In exchange, China would receive a regular — and, according to an Iranian official and an oil trader, heavily discounted — supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.
The document also describes deepening military cooperation, potentially giving China a foothold in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades. It calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing — all to fight “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes.”
...
The critics have cited previous Chinese investment projects that have left countries in Africa and Asia indebted and ultimately beholden to the authorities in Beijing. A particular concern has been the proposed port facilities in Iran, including two along the coast of the Sea of Oman.
One at Jask, just outside of the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf, would give the Chinese a strategic vantage point on the waters through which much of the world’s oil transits. The passage is of critical strategic importance to the United States, whose Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, in the gulf.
...
source: ny times
source: forbes

6

-> Soldiers seize Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
Soldiers in Mali have detained the country's president, as well as the prime minister and other top officials in an apparent coup attempt.
...
source: bbc
source: dw
source: tass
-> African Union suspends Mali following coup
The African Union has demanded the release of Mali's President Keita, who resigned after being detained at gunpoint by mutinous soldiers. The EU and UN Security Council have condemned the coup.
...
source: dw

7

-> Erdogan converts another historic church into a mosque - The centuries-old Chora church, which has served as a museum since 1945, will soon be open to Muslim worship.
Following the transformation of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today declared that another ancient church-turned-mosque now functioning as a museum will be converted back into a mosque.
...
source: al-monitor

8

-> Covid in Sweden
A new data analysis shows Swedish all-cause mortality since 1851 (see chart below). The covid peak in 2020 is clearly visible and comparable to the strong seasonal flu waves of the 1980s and 1990s (despite a younger population at the time). The much stronger 1918 Spanish flu is also clearly visible.
...
source: swprs

9

-> Eastern Mediterranean – the “Black Hole” of Region’s Political Landscape
Since the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Eastern Mediterranean region has been in turmoil. Hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions have been displaced in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and the threat of conflict in the region still looms large.
...
... On August 18, Nordic Monitor reported that UN rapporteurs had “sent a joint letter in June to the Turkish government seeking further information about its role” and the circumstances surrounding “the recruitment, financing, transportation and deployment of Syrian fighters” to Libya to take part in military operations “in support of the Government of National Accord (GNA)” (headed by Fayez al-Sarraj), and “the role of Turkish private military and security companies”, such as SADAT International Defense Consultancy, “in those operations and the relationship between such companies and the Turkish government”.
...
There was yet another flare up in tensions in the Libyan crisis on August 18, when Turkey, Qatar and the GNA signed an accord on tripartite military cooperation. It has been reported that the GNA also agreed to allow Turkey to “set up a military naval base in the city of Misrata” (Libya). A number of observers believe this could lead to a further rise in tensions in the Libyan conflict.
...
The most recent rise in tensions occurred when Turkey’s Oruc Reis research ship left port to “map out sea territory” (possibly for oil and gas drilling) near the Greek island of Kastellorizo despite warnings from Athens not to proceed with the mission. The act “prompted alarm in the Greek military, and fears of a clash near” the island. On August 13, Greek frigate Limnos and one of Oruc Reis’ Turkish naval escorts, the Kemal Reis, were involved in a mini-collision in the Eastern Mediterranean. ... On August 15, citing Greek defense publication Army Voice, Geopolitics News reported that a Greek military helicopter had spotted a Turkish Type 209 submarine in an area near the Cape of Sounion, “about 50 km southeast of Athens”. “Another Turkish sub was reportedly spotted west of Rhodes by a Greek frigate, and one more in the Karpathos island area”.
...
In the current climate, the reaction of the United States to the actions taken by its former ally in the region, Ankara, have also been noteworthy. US Senator and democrat Bob Menendez (serving as the Ranking Member (most senior Democrat) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) as well as junior US Senator and member of the Democratic Party Chris Van Hollen wrote a letter (dated August 13) to US Secretary of State. The officials “expressed their grave concern regarding Turkey’s provocative actions in the Mediterranean” and urged Mike Pompeo to “immediately begin to work with the European Union on a coordinated response to Turkey’s increasing provocations and illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean” and to “follow the law and impose sanctions on Turkey”. They also called on “Turkey to remove its ships from Greece’s EEZ and to resolve this matter in accordance with international law”.
...
source: neo

10

-> Coronavirus: the (EU) Commission signs first contract with AstraZeneca
Today, the first contract the European Commission has negotiated on behalf of the EU Member States with a pharmaceutical company entered into force following the formal signature between AstraZeneca and the Commission. The contract will allow the purchase of a vaccine against COVID-19 for all the Member States of the EU as well as the donation to lower and middle income countries or the re-direction to other European countries.
Through the contract, all Member States will be able to purchase 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with an option for further 100 million doses, to be distributed on a population-based pro-rata basis.
...
source: eu commission

11

-> Unleash the Privateers! - The United States should issue letters of marque to fight Chinese aggression at sea.
Naval strategists are struggling to find ways to counter a rising Chinese Navy. The easiest and most comfortable course is to ask for more ships and aircraft, but with a defense budget that may have reached its peak, that may not be a viable strategy. Privateering, authorized by letters of marque, could offer a low-cost tool to enhance deterrence in peacetime and gain advantage in wartime. It would attack an asymmetric vulnerability of China, which has a much larger merchant fleet than the United States. Indeed, an attack on Chinese global trade would undermine China’s entire economy and threaten the regime’s stability. Finally, despite pervasive myths to the contrary, U.S. privateering is not prohibited by U.S. or international law.
...
source: United States Naval Institute
-> U.S. Privateering Is Legal
Issuing letters of marque presents international legal risks—some real, others imagined—but these are manageable. Further, since a conflict with China might, to paraphrase Dean Acheson, threaten the power, position, and even the existence of the United States, the demands of the conflict would limit the salience of law.1 Such a conflict would result in thousands of U.S. service member deaths and the nearly certain loss of dozens of U.S. Navy ships. The proper frame of reference is spring 1942, when the United States was reeling from the harsh realities of war with Imperial Japan, and not the regional conflicts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, in which the United States had overwhelming military superiority. A conflict with China would be World War III, not Gulf War III. Military and civilian leaders, as well as the public at large, should judge risks in those terms.
...
source: United States Naval Institute
ref:
United States Naval Institute
The United States Naval Institute (USNI), based in Annapolis, Maryland, is a private, non-profit, professional military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense and security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds several annual conferences.
Established in 1873, the Naval Institute currently has about 50,000 members, mostly active and retired personnel of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The organization also has members in over 90 countries.
The organization has no official or funding ties to the United States Naval Academy or the U.S. Navy, although it is based on the grounds of the Naval Academy through permission granted by a 1936 Act of Congress.
The Naval Institute's mission is "to provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security". The Institute also has a Vision of "[g]iving voice to those who seek the finest Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard."[1]

III. Translated News in English

1

-> Protest and counter-protest in Berlin - Rally of the Corona deniers at the Brandenburg Gate dissolved
In order to protest against the requirements to contain the corona pandemic, several thousand people passed through Berlin on Saturday - without a mask and without a gap. Until the police stepped in.
...
source: rbb translate
source: rbb
source: orf at
-> Berlin: Tag der Freiheit! Eine Massendemo wird verboten.

-> Ausschnitte der Reden auf der Demo “Das Ende der Pandemie – Der Tag der Freiheit” am 1.8.20, Berlin

-> KenFM am Set: Demo “Das Ende der Pandemie – Der Tag der Freiheit” am 1.8.2020 in Berlin (Teil 2)

2

-> ATTORNEY GENERAL SUSPECTED : Was the corruption hunter corrupt himself?
Hesse's Minister of Justice reacts to the corruption affair with the Frankfurt Attorney General. The head of the agency that fought against corruption in the health system is said to have "changed sides". Now the unity is dissolved.
...
source: faz translate
source: faz

3

-> New sequences of the Ibiza video emerged - they could exonerate Strache
The expected turn in the affair surrounding the leaked Ibiza video and the then overthrown former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache: As the daily newspaper Austria reports, new text passages from the files of the public prosecutor's office relieved the former FPÖ politician. The transcript of another five minutes of the video suggests that Strache apparently refused to commit illegal acts for donations from an alleged Russian oligarch's niece.
...
However, the copy that has now emerged paints a different picture. Accordingly, the main suspect, who was also present in the villa, said to Strache and his former party colleague Gudenus: “Look, she (the wrong oligarch) wants to hear: I bring 270 million, within so and so much time I get it back, and you get it. ”The ex-vice chancellor replies:“ Yes, but that doesn't matter. ”Strache then said in the intercepted conversation:“ No way, I won't do it. And with me only straight stories, very straight stories ”.
Another text passage from the video transcript should show that Strache refused the decoy's offer. In it, Strache replied to the statement that illegal offers in the East “would be completely common”: “No, no. But now we're being honest. Every other shit makes you vulnerable, and I don't want to be vulnerable. I want to sleep peacefully. I want to get up in the morning and say: I'm clean. "
The material could also relieve the former FPÖ club chairman Johann Gudenus: According to the transcript, he said that "we are not doing anything illegal, period."
...
source: welt translate
source: welt
ref:
Ibizagate

4

-> Berlin prohibits corona demonstrations at the weekend
Berlin has banned several demonstrations against the Corona measures. The reason is that the participants do not adhere to hygiene rules. Berlin should not be misused as a “stage for corona deniers, Reich citizens and right-wing extremists”.
...
source: welt translate
source: welt
source: faz
-> Counter protests to the forbidden anti-corona demonstration in Berlin are allowed to take place
The police's decision to ban demonstrations against the Corona policy in Berlin has led to controversy. The Berlin Senate Administration defends itself against the charge of having made a political decision. The counter-protests are still allowed. Right-wing extremists meanwhile incite the "storm on Berlin".
...
source: welt translate
source: welt
-> Assembly against corona policy permitted subject to conditions (No. 42/2020)
The meeting against the corona policy of the federal and state governments planned for August 29, 2020 by the initiative “lateral thinking 711” can take place after an urgent ruling by the Berlin Administrative Court; however, the organizer must comply with conditions when holding them.
...
source: berlin translate
source: berlin
-> Violations of protective conditions - Demo disbanded - protests continue
Despite the dissolution of an anti-corona demo in Berlin, the protests continue in the capital. An approved rally with tens of thousands of participants runs around the Victory Column.
...
source: tagesschau translate
source: tagesschau
source: orf at
source: spon

5

-> Networked registers: (Ministry of the Interior) Seehofer (CSU) is serious about tax ID as a citizen number
The Ministry of the Interior has drawn up a draft law for a cross-register identity management, with which the tax number becomes a personal identification number.
...
source: heise translate
source: heise

6

-> (Minister for Health) Jens Spahn (CDU) buys 4 million villa in Dahlem
As reported by the online business magazine “Business Insider”, it is said to be a listed property from the 1920s.
...
source: tagesspiegel translated
source: tagesspiegel
-> Spahn financed the purchase of villas in part with a savings bank loan - previously he sat on the bank's board of directors for years
Health Minister Jens Spahn's purchase of a villa is causing national discussions.
Spahn's lawyer initially denied the purchase price of more than four million euros to Business Insider - but has since admitted.
To finance the property, Spahn also used a loan from a savings bank, where he sat on the board of directors for years.
...
source: businessinsider translated
source: businessinsider

7

-> Germany: Both leaders of socialist Left Party to quit
After eight years in their posts, Katja Kipping and Berndt Riexing said they are stepping down as leaders of the socialist party. An October convention will decide who will take the party into next year’s election.
...
source: dw
source: tagesspiegel

8

-> Albright star guest at Greens - Group talks with former US Secretary of State about transatlantic relationship
Madeleine Albright has only had good experiences with the Greens. As Secretary of State in the administration of then US President Bill Clinton, she worked closely with her German counterpart Joschka Fischer at the turn of the millennium. After their political careers were over, Albright even got the Greens a job at their Washington-based consulting firm.
...
source: nd translate
source: nd
-> Madeleine Albright - The deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it for Iraq's non existent WMD's