The post UN lifts sanctions against Syria’s al-Sharaa before historic White House visit first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revised its child fatality figure from the Gaza war sharply downward, reporting more than 14,500 deaths on May 6 but then 7,797 on May 8. OCHA also revised downward its figure for women fatalities from more than 9,500 deaths to 4,959 deaths. The Jerusalem Post first reported the changes on May 11.

The UN attributed its original, higher figures to the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, whose figures OCHA has cited continually for the past two months. The UN gave no source for the lower figures in its May 8 update, but the figures precisely match those in a May 2 report from a different Hamas-controlled organization, the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Expert Analysis

“This change may signal that the UN has finally recognized the lack of evidence behind Hamas’s original claims that more than 14,000 children and 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza. If so, the UN should state clearly that it has lost confidence in sources whose credibility it has affirmed for months. While this change may only reflect the conclusion of one UN office out of the many operating in Gaza, it is a clear step forward.” — David Adesnik, FDD Senior Fellow and Director of Research

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/05/11/un-halves-its-estimate-of-women-and-children-killed-in-gaza/

The post UN Halves Its Estimate of Women and Children Killed in Gaza first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, issued a call for peace and understanding in the region from his office in Geneva, Switzerland, before admonishing any prospective retaliatory move by Israel against its Islamic attackers. He cautioned:

The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law

Any restrictions on the movement of people and goods to implement a siege must be justified by military necessity or may otherwise amount to collective punishment.

As Breitbart News reported, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has approved a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s massive terror attack on the Jewish state, which has killed over 900 people and wounded 2,500 more, according to reports.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/10/10/u-n-warns-israel-retaliatory-siege-of-gaza-prohibited-under-international-law/

The post U.N. Warns Israel: Retaliatory Siege of Gaza ‘Prohibited’ Under International Law first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Russia seeks to rejoin UN’s human rights council first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The deal, which allows Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, is set to expire Monday. The deal was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July and has been extended three times.

Russia has threatened to back out of the deal, blaming the West for blocking its exports as a result of restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/news/3987267-un-chief-russian-bank-swift-putin-black-sea-grain-deal

The post UN proposes adding Russian bank unit to SWIFT if Putin extends Black Sea grain deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“Raising the alert of Russian nuclear forces is a bone-chilling development,” Guterres said while addressing media on Monday in New York. “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility.”

He added: “It’s time to stop the horror unleashed on the people of Ukraine, and get on the path of diplomacy and peace.”

A few days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in late February, President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. Putin blamed his move on NATO and economic sanctions imposed by Western countries.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/united-nations-secretary-general-russia-ukraine-nuclear-war-possible-2022-3?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=yahoo.com

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The post UN secretary-general: Nuclear war is ‘back within the realm of possibility’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

It seems we may have been a little optimistic. Is it really possible that half of the people in the United States are bought in to all the foolishness? Are we to believe that the constant brainwashing has worked on the general population?  

Our blessings have become political issues. We’re supposed to banish God’s blessings on account of some prognosticators who’ve been wrong about nearly everything for all these years? Maybe if world leaders attend more conferences they can coordinate the destruction of God’s blessings. Government has stuck its nose where it has no business.  It’s a global movement with no front man. There’s no one to question. It’s a consensus!  

It’s all UN commissions and university findings, sometimes financed by large grants. The system seems compromised. What are they supposed to do? Tell their benefactors that their theory holds no water? Even if it did, the premise that man or government is going to control the weather is preposterous. Don’t these people believe in God?

If we thought a big change was in the offing, we still don’t know. Watching the supervisor explain wasn’t very satisfying. The “goalposts might move?” We just want to know which direction the country is going. Is that too much to ask? Arizona and Nevada must be embarrassed to have every other state in the union wrapped up and they’re still working on it? Is it just a perception, or does the delayed outcome provide more opportunity for shenanigans? We may be in limbo as to the future direction of our governance, but it doesn’t look good.  

Meanwhile, Europe isn’t doing so well. They’re well ahead of the United States in attempting to go green. Now they’re in recession and facing what might turn out to be a brutal Winter. You’ve probably heard, the crypto currencies just lost big. It’s amazing how much wealth has just evaporated out of the market. We hope your money wasn’t in crypto.

All the threats the world is facing are real. The international powers know there will probably never be a better time to take what they want. It is our fervent hope that the United States doesn’t stumble into a destructive war. But you have to wonder if that’s not what’s going to happen with these geniuses at the helm. They clearly don’t represent people who believe in God. 

Mark

P. S.  Please remember Mr. Terry Gooch of Springfield, Missouri in your prayers.

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – November 11, 2022 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Relief work in frontline states – Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova – has mainly been shouldered by ordinary citizens volunteering to drive, cook or house refugees, with the help of non-governmental organisations and local authorities.

But with the war now in its third week and the number of refugees swelling, it is becoming difficult to provide sufficient help.

In Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, one NGO described the situation at the train station as “tragic”.

“There is nowhere to direct the refugees. They are stressed and confused, all kinds of help is needed, and above all, premises,” tweeted Fundacja Brata Alberta, an NGO that in normal times helps individuals with mental disabilities.

In Hrubieszow, a Polish town on the Ukrainian border, Mayor Marta Majewska said she had spent all the town’s crisis reserve of 100,000 zlotys ($22,889), as well as 170,000 zlotys from the local province, to run a refugee reception centre.

“I am most worried about electricity bills,” she told Radio Zet. “The city cannot bear it at all.”

FILLING UP FAST

In Warsaw, the biggest temporary reception centre was about 70% full by Thursday. Refugees now make up over 10% of the Polish capital’s population, Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said.

Close to 4,000 Ukrainian children are now attending school in Warsaw, he added, with city authorities setting up 76 “preparatory classes” in which they learn Polish.

Trzaskowski separately called for other nations to step in, urging airlifts and a global system to manage the influx.

“We’re getting overwhelmed… We cannot improvise anymore,” he told U.S. television network MSNBC. “We need relocation in Europe and we need relocation in the world.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday the United States would welcome those fleeing the conflict.

“We’re going to welcome Ukraine refugees with open arms if in fact they come all the way here,” he told a group of U.S. lawmakers. He gave no details.

In Przemysl, near Poland’s busiest border crossing and a transit hub for refugees, Vice-Mayor Boguslaw Swiezy said he was seeing a decline in the number of volunteers, some of whom are students, others people taking time off work.

The Polish government will start reimbursing local governments’ costs for handling refugees from next week, once a new law comes into force, the interior ministry said.

Romania’s capital Bucharest was turning a convention centre and indoor arena, Romexpo, into its biggest refugee shelter yet, while Hungary was studying whether to turn museums, sports arenas and public buildings in Budapest into shelters.

The Hungarian government is also providing subsidies to employers who take on refugees to help cover accommodation and travel costs. In the Czech Republic, Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib called for more government funds to help accommodate refugees.

‘I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT’

And the refugees just keep arriving.

Dasha, a 31-year-old psychotherapist from Kyiv, arrived on Friday at Medyka, Poland’s busiest border crossing with Ukraine, where temperatures overnight dropped to -9 degrees Celsius (15.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

She left Kyiv on the first day of the invasion and stayed in the western city of Lviv but has now left Ukraine on the advice of her husband, who is in the army reserve.

“It’s tough in Kyiv, they are encircling the city,” she told Reuters, with two little dogs on their leashes.

“I’m going to Wroclaw (in southwest Poland), I have some friends there,” she said before bursting into tears. “I don’t know what to do next.”

Inna, a 55-year old woman fleeing Dnipropetrovsk, said she had travelled 24 hours to reach Medyka.

“My town was bombed this morning… I just can’t talk, I am so overwhelmed,” she sobbed.

She did not know where she would spend Friday night.

The United Nations bases its relief plans on 4 million people fleeing abroad, but has said it may need to revise the number higher.

The Polish Border Guard said 1.5 million people had entered Poland from Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.

Nearly 365,000 people have so far fled into Romania, 219,000 to Hungary and 176,000 to Slovakia, officials said. Nearly 200,000 have reached the Czech Republic, which does not share a border with Ukraine.

Others are reaching or are seen getting to German, Sweden and other countries in Western Europe.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special military operation to disarm its neighbour and dislodge its “neo-Nazi” leaders. Kyiv and its Western allies say this is a baseless pretext to invade a country of 44 million people.

(Additional reporting by Mari Saito in Medyka, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Robert Muller in Prague, Anita Komuves and Krisztina Than in Budapest, Jeff Mason in Washington; Writing by Gwladys Fouche, additional writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Gareth Jones and Angus MacSwan),

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-03-11/eastern-europes-aid-effort-under-strain-as-ukraine-refugees-keep-arriving

The post Eastern Europe Under Strain as Ukraine Refugees Keep Coming first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

EXCLUSIVE: The United States is warning it will destroy potential Iranian long-range missile shipments delivered to the Maduro regime in Venezuela, a senior administration official tells Fox News.

“The transfer of long-range missiles from Iran to Venezuela is not acceptable to the United States and will not be tolerated or permitted,” said Elliott Abrams, the State Department Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela.

“We will make every effort to stop shipments of long-range missiles, and if somehow they get to Venezuela they will be eliminated there,” added a senior administration official.

TRUMP’S GERMAN AMBASSADOR TRIED TO SECRETLY NEGOTIATE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT’S EXIT

The officials provided no information that such shipments were imminent. They only claimed that Iran and Venezuela are a likely pair for arms deals.

“Iran has announced its intention to engage in arms sales, and Venezuela is an obvious target because those two pariah regimes already have a relationship,” said Abrams. “Venezuela is paying in gold to buy gasoline from Iran, and there is an Iranian presence in the country. Venezuela’s economy has collapsed, so every bar of gold for Iran is tens of thousands of dollars the Venezuelan people need for food and medicine.”

Last week, a United Nations embargo on Iran buying and selling conventional weapons expired. The Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to convince the United Nations Security Council to extend the embargo.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The post US threatens to destroy Iranian missiles shipped to Venezuela first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

MATAMOROS, Mexico — More than 1,700 people live nearly on top of one another steps from the U.S.-Mexico border, squeezed into tents crammed together like Tetris blocks. Many of the mostly Central American migrants have been living here for months, terrified of venturing outside in this city the Gulf Cartel calls home.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court said the Trump administration can continue its “Remain in Mexico” program that has, to date, sent some 60,000 asylum-seekers to Mexico to wait for five-plus months while their immigration cases are decided. The decision reverses an appeals court decision that said the policy, officially called Migrant Protection Protocols, violates the law and is causing “extreme and irreversible harm.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t weigh in on the legality of the policy but allows it to continue while lower court challenges continue. But as the legal battle plays out, the asylum-seekers living through the consequences of the policy are in a paralyzing state of limbo. Most are likely to still live in this Matamoros tent camp when the spring rains hit and turn the ground they’re sleeping on into mud.

TENTS LINE THE AREA NEAR THE RIO GRANDE AT A MIGRANT CAMP IN MATAMOROS, MEXICO ON MARCH 3, 2020. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

The ambiguous legal landscape has compounded the sense of helplessness. And the administration is also staying ahead of the courts, ramping up ever more restrictive policies to keep out migrants. They include sending asylum-seekers to Guatemala to seek protection there and fast-tracking the deportation of Mexican asylum seekers.

“One day they put a law in place, and the next day they take it away,” said Alejandro, an asylum seeker fleeing political persecution who asked to withhold his last name for fear he would be returned to Nicaragua. “We have no idea if the U.S. is going to actually review our cases, or if they’re just going to send us to Guatemala or Honduras. We are just waiting, in a complete state of limbo.”

A GROUP OF CHILDREN PLAY “PAPA CALIENTE,” OR HOT POTATO, WITH A BASKETBALL ON MARCH 3. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

Many of them have been living for months in shelters and overcrowded tent camps in cartel-controlled territory, mere feet from the U.S. border. Their informal shelters dot the U.S.-Mexico border, stretching from Tijuana to Matamoros. As the U.S. has turned its attention to the coronavirus and 2020 elections, their ongoing plight is a stark reminder of how President Donald Trump has effectively pushed the immigration crisis to foreign soil, out of sight and mind for the American public.

In Matamoros, the tent camp was supposed to be a short-term fix to address the pile-up of thousands of asylum seekers with nowhere to live. Instead, it’s become a permanent make-shift city with no clear oversight, leader, or authority in control.

MIGRANTS AT A CAMP IN MATAMOROS, MEXICO PLAY GAMES AND RELAX ON MARCH 2. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

The United Nations refugee agency says Mexico’s National Institute of Migration oversees the camp, noting that it installed portable toilets and metal tarps. But the Migration Institute denies it holds the role. Asked who is in charge, the agency’s spokesman told VICE News, “the migrants themselves.”

The encampment is also not considered a refugee camp, as those are managed under strict guidelines for sanitary conditions and security. Instead, the camp has an ad-hoc structure with self-appointed leaders. No one knows exactly how many people are living here.

CARLOS TORRES AND ANTONIO MARTINEZ PLAY CHECKERS AT THE CAMP IN MATAMOROS ON MARCH 3. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

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“We have serious concerns about security at the settlement and welcome the efforts of the Mexican authorities to address these,” said Sibylla Brodzinsky, spokesperson for the United Nations Refugee Agency in Central America and Mexico.

At least 50 parents have sent their children across the border on their own, knowing that was the only way their children would be allowed into the U.S. But the decision has been gut-wrenching.

“Seeing my kids walk across the bridge by themselves, I felt like my heart was being taken out of my body,” said Luz Torres, who sent her 11-year-old-daughter and nine-year-old son into the U.S. alone at the beginning of February. Torres’ daughter is mentally and physically disabled, and Torres said she was terrified for her safety.

A MAN SELLS SNACKS IN THE MIGRANT CAMP. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

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“What choice did I have? I couldn’t keep them here, sleeping in a tent on the ground. I can handle it but not them,” Torres said between sobs.

No one knows how long the camp will last. As time has passed, aid groups from Unicef to small nonprofits have stepped in to provide food, medical services, and some classes.

ERIKA TAMARILLO PREPARES TAMALES INSIDE A TENT AT THE CAMP ON MARCH 4. ERIKA LIVED IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR NEARLY 20 BUT RETURNED TO MEXICO TO TRY TO HELP HER FAMILY IMMIGRATE. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

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The number of Central American asylum seekers has declined in recent months, but that’s been offset by a growing number of Mexicans fleeing violence in the state of Guerrero. While Mexicans are not subject to Migrant Protection Protocols, they are waiting on average around two months to cross into the U.S. and make an asylum claim in a process known as “metering.”

The fear of a public health emergency is never far. Even as international health leaders are urging people to wash their hands frequently and not touch their faces because of the coronavirus, the camp is overflowing with people but short of sanitation facilities.

WOMEN POUR CLEAN WATER INTO A BUCKET AT THE CAMP ON MARCH 2. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS.

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“This is racism and xenophobia in its maximum expression,” said Alonso Villegas, looking at the tent camp. He fled political persecution in Venezuela and has been waiting in Matamoros since September with his three-year-old son for a judge to decide their case.

Villegas is better off than most of the migrants here. He found a job working as a mechanic and rents a small apartment, so his son has a bed to sleep on while they wait for a resolution in their case. Still, when he heard about the appeals court decision striking down Migrant Protection Protocols, he ran to the port of entry hoping to enter the U.S.

But by the evening, the court had said its decision wouldn’t take effect until the Supreme Court could weigh in. Villegas was despondent.

“I would rather die in Venezuela than here,” Villegas said. “At least there I have my family.”

A GROUP OF BARBER SHOP STUDENTS OFFER FREE HAIRCUTS TO MIGRANTS STAYING AT THE CAMP IN MATAMOROS. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/VICE NEWS

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Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jgekxg/migrants-stuck-in-tent-cities-on-the-border-just-had-hopes-dashed-supreme-court

The post These Migrants Stuck in Tent Cities on the Border Just Had Their Hopes Dashed by the Supreme Court first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.