US drone strike in Kabul kills 10 civilians: Live news
Al Jazeera – The death of civilians including children in a United States drone strike on Sunday in Kabul has been widely critcised.
The US said it killed Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) suicide bombers intending to attack Kabul airport. However, Al Jazeera found that the drone strike also killed 10 civilians, ranging from two to 40 years old.
Meanwhile, several rockets have been fired at Kabul’s international airport, a day before the deadline for the US troops to pull out of Afghanistan ends.
The White House, which confirmed the attack, said that evacuation operations at the airport were not interrupted, adding that US President Joe Biden was briefed about the latest rocket attack on Monday morning aimed at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul.
A US official told the Reuters news agency that some of the rockets were intercepted by a missile defence system.
The ISIL (ISIS) armed group claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Nasher News said on its Telegram channel, adding that six Katyusha rockets were fired at the airport.
The attack comes a day after the US forces launched second drone attack in Afghanistan after Thursday’s suicide bombing at the airport that left nearly 200 people dead. At least 13 US troops were also among those killed.
The US said it had wanted to take out suicide bombers in the latest drone attack in Kabul but media reports say several children were killed in the incident that destroyed a car laden with explosives.
Kabul families say children killed in US drone attack
Al Jazeera – The Ahmadi and Nejrabi families had packed all their belongings, waiting for word to be escorted to Kabul airport and eventually moved to the United States, but the message Washington sent instead was a rocket into their homes in a Kabul neighbourhood.
The Sunday afternoon drone attack, which the US claimed was conducted on an Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K) target, killed 10 members of the families, ranging from two to 40 years old.
Aimal Ahmadi, whose nieces and nephews were among those killed, is still in disbelief. Like others in the neighbourhood, he is incensed that his brother and nephews and nieces were never recognised in the media as what they were, a family going about their life.
They were innocent, helpless children
AIMAN AHMADI, RELATIVE OF VICTIMS
For hours, he and the rest of the surviving family had to listen to Afghan and international media refer to their loved ones, whose remains they had to gather with their own hands, simply as suspected ISKP targets.
“They were innocent, helpless children,” Ahmadi says of the majority of the victims, including two-year-old Malika. Had he not gone out to buy groceries, Ahmadi himself could have very easily been one of the victims.
He says his brother, 40-year-old engineer Zemarai, had just arrived home from work. Because the families were expecting to go to the US, Zemarai asked one of his sons to park the car inside the two-floor house. He wanted his older boys to practice driving before they arrived in the US.
Several of the children quickly packed into the car, wanting to take the short ride from the street to the garden of the family home.
“When the car had come to a stop, that’s when the rocket hit,” Aimal told Al Jazeera.
China bans exams for six- and seven-year-olds over concerns about ‘physical and mental health’
RT – The Chinese government has announced that written examinations for six- and seven-year-olds have been banned over concerns about the impact they have on the “physical and mental health” of students.
The reform, part of China’s education overhaul, is designed to reduce the pressure on “overburdened” students within the country’s exam-focused schooling system, which begins when pupils are young and leads up to a university entrance exam.
A statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Education cited how “too-frequent” testing results in students being “under huge exam pressure” from a young age that “harms their mental and physical health.”
Alongside ending examinations for young students, the Chinese government is introducing limits on exams for other pupils to once per term, but permitting mid-term and mock examinations for students in junior high school.
Other changes included an order back in July by Beijing officials for all private tutoring firms to become nonprofits and prohibiting tutoring agencies from operating during weekends and holidays. Written homework has also been banned for students in the first and second grades, with older years limited to just 1.5 hours of homework a night.
Veterans open email, find they’re prohibited from ‘disrespecting’ Biden, Kamala and others
WND – Amid the crisis taking place in Afghanistan, the Office of Naval Intelligence found time to remind active duty and retired service members not to say anything unflattering about the president’s deadly debacle.
And while being scolded to speak as if seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, the email instructed recipients to be equally happy in discussing the vice president, Congress, the secretary of defense and others according to The Daily Wire, which what it was said were the contents of the Aug. 23 communication.
“Given the heightened political and social atmosphere surrounding Afghanistan, it is important to remind our uniformed personnel (active duty and reservists on temporary active duty) and military retirees of their responsibilities and obligations under Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Department of Defense Directive 1344.10,” the email read.
“While it is vital to protect the constitutional right of freedom of expression for these groups, consistent with mission accomplishment, national security, and good order and discipline, it’s important to remember certain limitations. Namely, uniformed personnel and military retirees are prohibited from disrespecting senior government leadership (e.g. the President, Vice President, Congress, Secretary of Defense, Service Secretaries, etc.),” the email said.
It wasn’t clear exactly who had received the email, but the context made it clear that non-military employees of the agency were also rebuked lest they be too unflattering.
“Even for civilians, you are reminded of the danger that your public comments will/could be attributed to ONI or the Department of Defense,” the email read.
“While you are entitled to your opinion and to share your opinion amongst those you know and trust, being too vocal in criticism of, say, the President or members of the military and civilian leadership may reflect poorly on ONI,” the email read.
Second-Largest US Mortgage Lender To Accept Payment In Bitcoin
ZeroHedge – Several years ago, the prevailing bear case against bitcoin was that there simply was no use for the digital currency: one can buy up all of it, but besides selling to a “greater fool” there was simply no other use for the digital token. Since then thing have changed a lot: not only is institutional adoption now rampant with corporations and asset managers loading up, but increasingly merchants are bracing for the inevitable popular adoption of cryptos as a payment mechanism, with both Walmart and Amazon quietly building out an internal infrastructure to accept and transact in various cryptocurrencies. And soon, Americans will be able to pay down their mortgage debt in bitcoin first, and soon other cryptos.
Last week, United Wholesale Mortgage – second-largest mortgage lender in the US – announced it was planning to accept Bitcoin for home loans in 3Q21 and is evaluating on accepting other cryptocurrencies like ether.
The revelation that United Wholesale Mortgage will start taking crypto payments sometime in Q3 was made during its earnings call last week. The company said it would will start taking bitcoin payments first, and is researching in consideration of adding ether and other cryptocurrencies later. Its CEO, Mat Ishbia, stated:
We’ve evaluated the feasibility, and we’re looking forward to being the first mortgage company in America to accept cryptocurrency to satisfy mortgage payments.
The company, which emerged as a result of a SPAC merger in January, is not directly connected to customers. Instead, it uses brokers to link customers and loans. According to bitcoin.com, the company didn’t explain if the cryptocurrency received would be kept as such or exchanged for fiat money.
If the company manages to achieve its goal, we might see mortgages paid in crypto before the end of this year. The cryptocurrency payments space has been warming up all this year due to the heightened interest in digital assets. In March, one of the biggest payment processors, Paypal, introduced a new feature called “Checkout with crypto,” which enables users to pay with cryptocurrency in millions of online stores.
However, there is still a roadblock for the adoption of cryptocurrency payments in the U.S. Cryptocurrency can be considered property in the country, and paying with crypto can be considered a sale. This means that depending on the buying price, crypto holders might have to pay capital gains tax even when using bitcoin to pay for their mortgage loans.
In other countries with less stringent regulations, crypto is already used for real estate payments. As Bitcoin.com notes, this is the case in Venezuela, which recently recorded one of its first public sales of a property paid for with cryptocurrency. This payment method is said to have many advantages such as not depending on the approval of banks, cutting paperwork, and slashing processing times from two weeks to just hours.
Fifth Circuit cancels hearing on Texas ‘heartbeat’ abortion law days before it takes effect
The law, which prohibits abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, is set to go into effect on Wednesday
Fox News – A Texas law that would ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected is set to go into effect on Wednesday after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals canceled a hearing that was supposed to take place Monday.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, filed emergency motions asking the court to either put the law on hold with a stay or send the case back to district court, but the Fifth Circuit turned them down on Sunday, the Texas Tribune reported.
“If this law is not blocked by September 1, abortion access in Texas will come to an abrupt stop,” Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement published by the Tribune.
The law not only prohibits abortion if there is a fetal heartbeat – which can be detectable as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant – but it also allows anyone other than government employees to sue someone who performs, assists with, or pays for an abortion in violation of the law.
Opponents of the law are concerned that this provision could result in people flooding the courts with lawsuits against doctors, nurses or even friends who drive women to clinics.
The law only allows for exceptions “if a physician believes a medical emergency exists that prevents compliance[.]”
While the law does not criminalize abortions, it does impose stiff civil penalties, calling for statutory damages of at least $10,000 per abortion. It also seeks to limit defenses, stating that those who perform abortions cannot use as a defense that they relied on a court decision that was later overruled.
Healthcare Workers Sue Health Networks, Governor, and State and Over Vaccine Mandate
Activist Post – An increasing number of Americans, including healthcare workers, are opposed to employer vaccine mandates. Vaccine side effects, injuries, deaths have been reported for decades (see 1, 2, 3). They continue to be reported about the COVID jabs as well (see 1, 2, 3, 4).
Earlier this month, an attorney claimed that this will eventually lead to a “tidal wave of lawsuits”. One was recently filed by healthcare workers in Maine.
From The Press Herald:
The lawsuit argues that the requirement that all Maine health care workers receive the COVID-19 vaccination violates their religious-freedom rights.
Health care workers in Maine filed a class-action lawsuit against the state, the governor and major Maine health networks Wednesday, arguing that the state’s requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 tramples on their religious freedoms.
The lawsuit also asks a federal judge in Bangor to impose a temporary order preventing the mandate from going into effect. Since Gov. Janet Mills announced the requirement under a state statute earlier this month, some health care workers have voiced vehement opposition, packing public meetings and mounting public demonstrations against the requirement.
The prospect of health care workers quitting or being fired by the Oct. 1 deadline places added pressure on already-taxed health care systems in Maine that were already stressed by COVID protocols, and among the already-dwindling ranks of small-town emergency medical workers, some of whom have not been vaccinated.
Health care workers sue Mills and state, seeking to reverse vaccine mandate
The lawsuit argues that the requirement that all Maine health care workers receive the COVID-19 vaccination violates their religious-freedom rights.
Health care workers in Maine filed a class-action lawsuit against the state, the governor and major Maine health networks Wednesday, arguing that the state’s requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 tramples on their religious freedoms.
The lawsuit also asks a federal judge in Bangor to impose a temporary order preventing the mandate from going into effect. Since Gov. Janet Mills announced the requirement under a state statute earlier this month, some health care workers have voiced vehement opposition, packing public meetings and mounting public demonstrations against the requirement.
The prospect of health care workers quitting or being fired by the Oct. 1 deadline places added pressure on already-taxed health care systems in Maine that were already stressed by COVID protocols, and among the already-dwindling ranks of small-town emergency medical workers, some of whom have not been vaccinated.
In addition to Mills, the lawsuit names state Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Nirav Shah, Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, and health care providers Maine Health, Genesis Healthcare, Northern Light Health Foundation, and Maine General Health. To win a temporary halt to the requirement, the plaintiffs must show that they are likely to succeed on the merits of the case, and that in balancing the interests at hand, stopping the mandate is in the public’s interest.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor, was brought by a Florida-based group, Liberty Counsel, which advocates for the rights of Christian Americans and opposes actions they believe curtail religious freedom or contradict Christian beliefs, including a woman’s right to an abortion, the use of fetal tissue in medical research and the right of same-sex couples to marry, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies Liberty Counsel as a hate group.
Ida weakens to tropical storm after knocking out power to New Orleans
NBC – Hurricane Ida weakened to a tropical storm Monday after slamming into coastal Louisiana as one of the strongest storms to make landfall in the region, cutting off power to more than 1 million homes and businesses, including the entire city of New Orleans.
The powerful weather system continued to pose a danger for multiple states as it swept inland, and was expected to trigger major search and rescue operations. But the missions are getting complicated by inoperable 911 lines reported throughout southeastern Louisiana, including the heavily populated Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
At least one person, a 60-year-old man, died in Ascension Parish, south of Baton Rouge, after a tree fell on his home, authorities said.
The damage is “really catastrophic” in southeastern Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday on NBC’s “TODAY,” and officials believe the death toll could rise “considerably.”
Thousands Call Cajun Navy for Rescue from Hurricane Ida Floods
Breitbart – Thousands of stranded people called on the Cajun Navy for rescue after Hurricane Ida slowly made its way out of Louisiana and into Mississippi. The Category 4 hurricane dumped an estimated 24 inches of rain in the area.
As Ida degraded to a tropical storm, members of the Cajun Navy sprang into action to respond to calls for help from those stranded by the flooding, according to an article posted by L’Observateur. Rescues began in LaPlace, Louisiana, late Sunday afternoon.
Residents of the flood-stricken area took to social media to ask for help for people stranded in their homes. One person posted a message saying her mother was trapped in her home and begging for help.
Officials with the Cajun Navy, an all-volunteer water rescue organization, asked for people needing assistance or knowing of someone needing rescue to post their information on the group’s website.
The volunteers and organizers spent Sunday night making preparations to resume rescue operations at first light on Monday morning.
Officials with the Louisiana Cajun Navy tweeted a thank you message to Costco for donating food supplies to distribute to families in need in the wake of Hurricane Ida.
Tropical Storm Ida moved into southwest Mississippi and spread its massive rain bands into the northern areas of the state and throughout Alabama. It is predicted to continue moving slowly to the north-northeast into recently flooded areas in Tennessee.
Holy Cow — Australian Beef Prices Hit Record High As Food Inflation Concerns Persist
ZeroHedge – After decades of low inflation and relatively cheap food prices, those days appear over as food inflation soars worldwide. The latest observation that food prices are out of control is in Australia.
Australian cattle futures are at record-highs as farm operators hold back livestock from slaughterhouses to rebuild herds after years of drought forced many cattle operators to cull herds. Supply disruptions have resulted in the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Index soaring to A$10.082 ($7.26) a kilogram. From the 2020 low, prices have more than doubled in a year.
A$10.082 ($7.26) per kilogram is the highest price paid back to 1997 when the contracts began trading. Bloomberg notes the high prices “has raised the risks that the nation’s steaks will slip off global menus — while worldwide demand for beef is robust in many markets.”
The surge in prices could mean the nation’s beef producers, number two in the world behind Brazil, might lose that spot as exports slump. This means Australian global importers will go elsewhere for cheaper meat. In the first six months, beef exports slumped 24% versus the same period last year.
Soaring beef prices means exports drop as global importers look elsewhere for affordable meat.
This Will Not End Well: Police Now Being Authorized to Draw Blood from DUI Suspects
Free Thought Project – Multiple states now have policies in action where drinking and driving can get your blood drawn by force — for a misdemeanor. While many states require a medically trained professional to conduct the blood draw, Georgia has upped the ante by training cops to draw your blood.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety received an impaired driving grant this month and is using it to train police officers to be vampires. While police won’t actually suck out your blood with their teeth, they will use a syringe to remove your blood from your body — even if you do not consent.
“A blood test is often the key piece of evidence needed to convict a DUI driver in court, but the barriers law enforcement officers are facing in getting blood drawn during a DUI investigation are resulting in too many of these cases going to trial without any toxicology evidence,” Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said.
The agency claims that not only will the blood evidence help prosecute cases, this could also be a deterrent if a driver knows a cop is also a phlebotomist.
“Knowing law enforcement will be able to gather forensic evidence and better prosecute the case, we’re hoping to get voluntary compliance with people not getting behind the wheel and driving,” said Roger Hayes, GOHS Law Enforcement Services Director.
But forced blood draws and increased DUI stops have done nothing to deter drunk drivers. In spite of their increased presence over the last decade, DUI checkpoints and Soviet-style roadblocks have not proven to significantly decrease DUIs.
However, low cost, free enterprise solutions are showing real results. Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are always a better option for folks who live in areas with ‘vampire cops’ and who want to leave home for some boozing. This drain in revenue from DUIs may be reason as to why cops have begun to go after people who have been drinking — even if they are in an Uber!However, low cost, free enterprise solutions are showing real results. Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are always a better option for folks who live in areas with ‘vampire cops’ and who want to leave home for some boozing. This drain in revenue from DUIs may be reason as to why cops have begun to go after people who have been drinking — even if they are in an Uber!
Lawyers who challenged Michigan’s 2020 election results penalized
CS Monitor – On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker charged nine lawyers allied with Donald Trump who filed a lawsuit to contest Michigan’s presidential ballots with abusing the court system. Judge Parker ordered 12 hours of legal education for each attorney.
ine lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump face financial penalties and other sanctions after a judge Wednesday said they had abused the court system with a lawsuit that challenged Michigan’s election results in favor of Joe Biden.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said the lawsuit last fall was a sham intended to deceive the court and the public, just a few days after Mr. Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state was certified.
“Despite the haze of confusion, commotion, and chaos counsel intentionally attempted to create by filing this lawsuit, one thing is perfectly clear: Plaintiffs’ attorneys have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way,” Ms. Parker said in the opening of a scathing 110-page opinion.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six Republican voters who wanted Ms. Parker to decertify Michigan’s results and impound voting machines. The judge declined in December, calling the request “stunning in its scope and breathtaking in its reach.”
The state and Detroit subsequently asked Ms. Parker to order sanctions against Sidney Powell, L. Lin Wood, and seven other attorneys who were part of the litigation.
The judge agreed, telling the state and city to tally the costs of defending the lawsuit and submit the figures within 14 days.
Ms. Parker said lawyers for Trump supporters filed affidavits stuffed with sinister “speculation and conjecture” about the vote-counting process without checking for evidence to support the claims.
“Individuals may have a right – within certain bounds – to disseminate allegations of fraud unsupported by law or fact in the public sphere,” the judge said. “But attorneys cannot exploit their privilege and access to the judicial process to do the same.”
Ms. Parker ordered 12 hours of legal education, including six hours in election law, for each attorney. Her decision will also be sent to the states where the lawyers are licensed for possible disciplinary action there.
It was one of the few efforts to wrench fines or other penalties from dubious post-election lawsuits across the United States. There was no immediate response to messages seeking comment from attorneys for Mr. Wood and Ms. Powell.
“I appreciate the unmistakable message she sends with this ruling – those who vow to uphold the Constitution must answer for abandoning that oath,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat.
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