Daily Archives: July 25, 2017

WATCH: Free speech advocate Faisal Al Mutar faces criticsm from right and left – Salon

Posted: July 25, 2017 at 11:59 am

My conversation with Faisal Saeed Al Mutar can be best summed up with one word: Balance.

Al Mutar is an Iraqi-born human rights activist who has been published in The Humanistand appeared as a guest multiple times on The Rubin Report, the talk show hosted by classical liberal pundit Dave Rubin. He has a nuanced view on questions pertaining to relations between the West and the Islamic world, denouncing both the Islamophobia of reactionary politicians like President Donald Trump and what he perceives as the apologist tendencies of certain factions on the left.

It is difficult, in this age of increasingly polarized extremes, to strike a balance between two positions. In terms of the ongoing fight against Islamist terrorism, there are sides who claim that all criticism of Muslim individuals is somehow bigoted, while others seem incapable of or unwilling to recognize the difference between the majority of innocent Muslims and the handful of terrorists.

I picked apart these distinctions and tried to have a measured, balanced conversation with Al Mutar.

On the similarities between the far right critics of Islam and the Islamists themselves:

There are all these people trying to push what a Muslim should be. So with ISIS theyre telling youif you want to be a Muslim you have to follow these strict codes. And for the alt right-ers they say the ISIS narrative is the only way to be a Muslim. So somehow they kind of compliment each other. And so after the same-sex marriage which I think it was great, like a celebration of diversity and love, and love is love, right? And amazing that in a country that is as free as the United Kingdom that they allowed that to happen. And I was watching, observing what people were saying. And you go to alt-right websites, other than saying Wow, thats amazing that there arefresh liberal voices coming up, they were attackingthem.Like, oh these guys arenot real Muslims, theyre infidels. Which is kind of the same thingthat ISIS says about these people!

On why he is so critical of President Donald Trump:

If you are really standing for fighting against Islamic extremism and stuff like that, when you ban entire nations especially countries like Iraq and Iran and many of these folks who are on the front lines of fighting Islamic extremism and terrorism and so on and, if you ban them from coming to the country or make an entire condemnation of entire nations, youre not really siding with the allies that you claim that youre siding with.

Watch our conversation for more on finding balance in the Islamic extremism debate.

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WATCH: Free speech advocate Faisal Al Mutar faces criticsm from right and left - Salon

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EDITORIAL: Freedom of speech never more valuable – Holmes County Times Advertiser

Posted: at 11:59 am

When it seems anyone can say or write almost anything and have it published on the internet, recent events offer reminders that the freedom of expression is not universal.

The Financial Times first reported this week that the Chinese government has banned Winnie-the-Poohs likeness and name on social media.

Yes, that Winnie-the-Pooh, the anthropomorphic bear created by author A.A. Milne and digitized by Disney. As USA Today reported in a follow-up: The characters name in Chinese was censored in posts on Sina Weibo, a social media platform similar to Twitter, while a collection of Winnie-the-Pooh gifts vanished from social messaging service WeChat. ... Any attempts to post Poohs Chinese name on Weibo prompted a message: 'Content is illegal.' "

Insiders speculated that government censors acted on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was the subject of an internet meme featuring roly-poly Pooh and his wiry pal Tigger. Those images emerged in 2013 after the stout Xi was photographed with the slender President Barack Obama.

As is often the case, examples of absurd government censorship in China and elsewhere are accompanied by appalling abuses of human rights. Too often one leads to another, or vice versa.

It has been widely reported in the free world that Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recently died in Chinese custody denied access to his wife, who is under house arrest. But Chinese officials who control the media have been on social sites busily blocking news of Lius death and monitoring private conversations.

Liu was in state custody because he had been sentenced to 11 years in prison for writing about and advocating universal values shared by all humankind, including human rights, equality, freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

Eleven years.

For advocating universal values shared by all humankind.

Horrifying.

China is one of the most populous offenders but hardly alone. We have written previously about Raif Badawi, a blogger who has criticized the entanglement of religion, namely Islam, and government in Saudi Arabia and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes as a result. Considered a foe of the state and the national religion, he remains in custody; little is known about his condition or the extent of the beatings he has suffered.

Examples of repression are everywhere. Credible reports by watchdogs show that 34 journalists have been killed in Russia since 2000 with evidence that the killings were in retribution for coverage of public- and private-sector corruption. Turkey has recently jailed human-rights advocates.

And, yes, in the United States, there are troubling signs of intolerance: Campus speakers have been threatened and shouted down by political opponents, the tenor of the cultural wars is increasingly hostile and dishonest journalists have been labeled by the president as enemies of the people.

But at least in America we have the First Amendment and its protections, which have seldom seemed more necessary and valuable.

This editorial was originally published in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, a sister newspaper of the Daily News within GateHouse Media.

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Arch Linux host cites freedom of speech defense, after using offensive domain name – Neowin

Posted: at 11:59 am

Arch Linux, one of the many open-source distributions based on the free kernel, has been embroiled in controversy after one of the hosts, known as 'Alucard', used an offensive mirror address for one of the packages available to fellow users. However, after this came to light when another user complained, the host responded by saying that his 'freedom of speech' was being suppressed by the complainant.

The domain name 'loli.forsale' prompted a user by the name Florian to complain that a friend was extremely offended by the address, and asked that it be changed immediately. Loli is a term that describes under-aged girls in Hentai, according to Urban Dictionary, which paired with 'for sale' is objectively offensive.

Even though this was changed, he went on to defend this choice by referring to his 'freedom of speech', likening the complaint of the offensive content to oppression. Beyond that, he discussed the time and effort he put into the Arch Linux project. However, this was immaterial to the domain name in question. The defendant had to allegedly obtain professional assistance in his lengthy response due to a disability. His question read as follows:

What does it take to remove all forms of free speech, before it doesn't matter to anyone at all? Please, do ponder that. Take your time. Don't worry about me, and the ISP I'm building in Portugal to maintain Free Software projects, and users with the same kind of principle.

According to a user on Reddit by the name of 'fameistheproduct', this isn't the first time something in the community has offended some users. At one point, the system automatically generated license codes that could be regarded as offensive by some. The offending content has since been removed by the organization.

Source: Reddit | Image via Faster Land

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Freedom of Speech: Atheist Richard Dawkins Pulled From Berkeley Radio Station over remarks against Islam – Newsweek

Posted: at 11:59 am

Richard Dawkins and other leading atheists have hit out at a California radio station after it canceled an event upon learning of the scientists controversial views on Islam.

Dawkins was supposed to speak at an August event about his memoir, A Brief Candle in the Dark, hosted by Berkeleys KPFA radio station.

But in an email, which Dawkins published on his blog, the station informed ticketholders that the event was canceled.

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We had booked this event based entirely on [Dawkinss] excellent new book on science, the email read, when we didnt know he had offended and hurtin his tweets and other comments on Islamso many people.

Responding in an open letter, Dawkins said,I used to love your station when I lived in Berkeley for two years, shortly after that beloved place had become the iconic home of free speech.

My memory of KPFA is that you were unusually scrupulous about fact-checking. I especially admired your habit of always quoting sources.

You conspicuously did not quote a source when accusing me of abusive speech. Why didnt you check your facts... before summarily canceling my event?

I have never used abusive speech against Islam. I have called IslamISM vile but surely you, of all people, understand that Islamism is not the same as Islam.

Far from attacking Muslims, I understand, as perhaps you do not,that Muslims themselves are the prime victims of the oppressive cruelties of Islamism, especially Muslim women.

A letter in support of Dawkins from philosopher Stephen Pinker said,Dawkins is one of the great thinkers of the 20th and 21st century. He has criticized doctrines of Islam, together with doctrines of other religions, but criticism is not abuse.

Robyn Blumner, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, said in a statement thatfor KPFA to suddenly break its commitment to Richard and the hundreds of people who were so looking forward to seeing and hearing him is unconscionable, and the baseless accusation that Richard has engaged in abusive speech is a betrayal of the values KPFA has, until now, been known for.

Dawkins, who is known for his atheist views as well as his work as a scientist, has repeatedly spoken out strongly against Islam.

Among other incidents, he described Islam as the most evil religion in the world at a British book festival this spring, according to The Daily Telegraph, and received condemnation in 2015 when he walked out of an interview with the New Statesman magazine after a disagreement over the Muslim journalists faith.

At the time, journalist Emad Ahmed wrote that I was genuinely stunned when he decided to angrily walk away from our scheduled interview after I confirmed my beliefs in the revelations of the Islamic faith, calling my views pathetic.

Dawkins later said it was the journalists belief that the Prophet Muhammad rode a winged horse that led him to abandon the interview.

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Why Dina Nath Batra wants Tagore, Urdu, Mughals removed from school books – DailyO

Posted: at 11:58 am

Ideological warriors like Dina Nath Batra should have no part to play, no influence to wield in the writing of Indian textbooks or on the content of the national syllabus. As a reporter, I met Batra in 2014 when Penguin India, to general bemusement, agreed to pulp extant copies of scholar Wendy Doniger's award-winning book The Hindus: An Alternative History.

I went to the school he ran in southwest Delhi and he proved, for the record, to be a genial companion. He is a man of considerable experience and achievement. But he is, without question, a crank.

Our discussion, apart from Batra's digressions into the existence of nudist colonies in Calfornia, mostly centred around the lack of cultural education imparted to Indian schoolchildren. But no one who is thinking critically would accept Batra's version of Indian culture and history. His myriad objections to passages in books amount to one overall objective - a desire to eliminate complexity.

And India and Hindu culture is nothing if not complex. As the reviled Doniger notes, there is no "single authoritative or essentialist view of what Hinduism is". Any one version, she writes, "of this polythetic polytheism (which is also a monotheism, a monism, and a pantheism), including this one, is no better than a strobe photograph of a chameleon, a series of frozen images giving a falsely continuous image of something that is in fact constantly changing."

Batra's desire to "Indianise"our children's education means force-feeding them RSS-sanctioned pabulum. No wonder, the Indian Express reports, that his organisation has written to NCERT to demand the excision of thoughts by the likes of Rabindranath Tagore.

Batra's organisation has written to NCERT to demand the excision of thoughts by the likes of Rabindranath Tagore.

A sample passage, from a Class 12 textbook, that Batra wants removed: In this system the status was probably determined by birth. They (Brahmins) tried to make people realise that their prestige was based on birth such parameters were often strengthened by stories in many books like The Mahabharata. Of course, Batra objects to any passage that suggests some Mughal leaders may have been open-minded, even tolerant.

The point is not that textbooks are infallible, it is that they should be ring-fenced from the political prejudices of the day. Textbooks, whatever the interpretations of their authors, should be largely based on verifiable fact and academic consensus. Of course, academic consensus can shift or change, and so emphases might change in textbooks from one generation to another. But better subtle inflections in emphasis than wholesale rejections of historical fact.

And while a good lesson for our children might be that textbooks should be questioned, that reading for oneself outside the prescribed text is the key to critical thinking, it's probably best if we don't fill textbooks with the dodgy meanderings of discredited ideologues in the first place.

Batra should not be taken seriously because he is not a disinterested academic. He is, for all intents and purposes, an activist. But he appears to have the ruling party's ear. More worryingly, the ruling party's vision for Indian schooling appears to be one of quasi-martial discipline, a false sense of cultural superiority, and scant room for questions or doubt. Batra is prejudiced and narrow-minded. He and his ilk must be resisted, by parents in particular.

Indian schooling, at all levels, is appalling. Year after year, surveys show that Indian children are not being taught basic skills, including reading at age-appropriate levels. As with much else, the divide is growing between those who can buy their children the necessary skills and those forced to rely on government schools. But the likes of Batra should concern us all because he wants to deny an essential part of what it is to be Indian: diversity - in language, in viewpoints, in religious belief, and thought.

Urdu and English words, for instance, tell us something about our history. In the prologue to India After Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha wrote that, "Because they are so many, and so various, the people of India are also divided." He used a verse from Ghalib to make his point, the same Ghalib who Batra would see struck off the syllabus.

Tagore, whose views on patriotism as opposed to humanity Batra so abhors, described nationalism as "carnivorous and cannibalistic." And what nationalism regurgitates, the indistinguishable mess it makes of the guts of our history, softened by chewing, is what Batra wants us to swallow.

Our past cannot be wished away, cannot be replaced by imagined glory. Instead, what we need is the opposite of what Batra and his saffron-clad colleagues want: not a simple narrative, but a more complicated one; not an unquestioning perspective but a critical one; and not shallow patriotism but a deeper love for our country founded on an understanding of our syncretic culture.

Textbooks are being rewritten. Is it too much to hope that the basis should be academic, not political or ideological?

Also read: BJP distorting history: Savarkar outshines Gandhi in Rajasthan textbooks

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Man reveals how atheism ruined his marriage – The Independent

Posted: at 11:58 am

A 37-year-old man has explained how his atheist views led to thedisintegration of his marriage.

The man identified asWilliam* told of how he and his wife decided to go their separate ways after she miscarried their unborn child when the two were in graduate school.

While his wife wasraised in the Assembly of God church and led a devout life, William's religious beliefshadalways beenmore ambivalent, he explained in a series entitled Craigslist Confessional, whereby writer HelenaBaladocuments thestoriesof strangers whom she has met on the USwebsiteCraigslist.Thisdichotomy had never beena problem untilhis wife miscarried their unborn child, he said.

"My wife and I met while we were both away at school, and I knew about her faith but she was never so religious that I thought, 'wow, youre weird.'" (iStock)

William said that after the miscarriage, "well-meaning people" would tell him that "God wanted another angel in heaven,'and Id nod and say 'thank you'but silently, I was livid." He added thatthe idea that there could bea deity that could possibly take someones unborn child from them was "abhorrent.

In the post, which was published by Quartz, William explained how he felt his wifes strict beliefs which included no sex before marriage inhibited their relationship rightfrom the very beginning.

He confessed that "sex barely happened" and that his wife considered it to be purely a means to reproduce.Romance was never on the cards, he explained."Say we were driving someplace and I tried to run my hand through her hairshed swat it away immediately."

Whilst understanding the scientific process behind miscarriages helped William through the terrible tragedy, for his wife it only perpetuated a deeper, more spiritual compulsion.Williamexplained this is what ultimately led him to realise that he was an atheist.

It was only a matter of time until their differing beliefsbeganto chip away at their relationship.

She told me once, 'I dont want to be one of those women who goes to church without her husband.'And we kept on like before, never really talking about God until, around Easter a few years ago, we were getting ready to go to church and I made some offhand comment. My wife asked something along the lines of'why are you always bad-mouthing God?'"

"Thats when I came out as an atheist. I told her, 'because I dont believe'," he said.

He described her response as"a full-blown meltdown" with his wife later telling her mother that William would be going to hell.

William tried to rectify things with his wife by avoiding the topic of religion in day-to-day conversation.

To avoid delicate issues, we stuck to talking about pop culture, TV, kids, and places we wanted to hike."

But despite his best efforts, things worsened and she ended up asking William for a divorce.

The two have since separated and Williams wife is now engaged to someone else. He added that she seems "genuinely happy" and although he thought the relationship would "never" work, her fiancis "exactly the type of guy she was supposed to end up with."

According to a recent surveyofBritish Social Attitudes, atheism in theUK is on the rise, with 48.5 per cent of the population define themselves as havingno religion, subsequently outweighing the 43.8 per cent who identify as Christians, Anglicans and Catholics.

*Names have been changed

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This Real World ‘Space Opera’ Lets You Become the Hubble Telescope – Gizmodo

Posted: at 11:56 am

GIF

Its easy to feel small and insignificant in the grandiose scope of the universe, because we are. At the same time, as Carl Sagan once reminded us, were made of the same star stuff as the cosmos. All too often, we forget how random, ridiculous, and resplendent it is to part of the stellar sorority of the universe. Thats why art, specifically movies like Eliza McNitts Fistful of Stars, is importantit reacquaints us with humanitys small and stupid and somehow very special place in the cosmos.

Fistful of Stars is a five minute-long virtual reality experience that takes the viewer on a tour through the vast star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula. Its hauntingly beautiful images, accompanied by The Hubble Cantatawhich includes a 30 piece ensemble, a 100 person choir, and two singers from the Metropolitan Operagives the film a 2001 feel without the murderous robots.

Its a combination of science and magical realism, director Eliza McNitt told Gizmodo. We wanted to give users the feeling as if they were a star floating on stellar winds through the Orion Nebula. That could take billions of years but we wanted to give you the experience of that spectacular journey through five minutes.

Humans have never ventured into the Orion Nebula, because its roughly 1,500 lightyears away. Peering into its cloudy heart, Hubble has found some of the most beautiful chaos of star birth ever captured. As its name suggests, Fistful of Stars masterfully captures the beauty within our otherwise bellicose universe. I still cant decide whether the whole thing is a cause or cure for an existential crisis.

The Orion Nebula is a place thousands of lightyears away where no human has ever been, McNitt said. Fistful of stars offers humans an experience...where you get to become the eyes of the human telescope.

Though the film originally premiered back in March at SXSW, its finally available on Vices Samsung VR channel. If you dont have VR gear, you can check still check it out without a headset right here, in 360 video.

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Sweden to hold ‘biggest military exercise in decades’ with Nato amid fears over Russia – The Independent

Posted: at 11:56 am

Indian supporters of Gorkhaland chant slogans tied with chains during a protest march in capital New Delhi. Eastern India's hill resort of Darjeeling has been rattled at the height of tourist season after violent clashes broke out between police and hundreds of protesters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) a long-simmering separatist movement that has long called for a separate state for ethnic Gorkhas in West Bengal. The GJM wants a new, separate state of "Gorkhaland" carved out of eastern West Bengal state, of which Darjeeling is a part.

Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

Demonstrators clash with riot security forces while rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela. The banner on the bridge reads "It will be worth it"

Reuters

The Heathcote river as it rises to high levels in Christchurch, New Zealand. Heavy rain across the South Island in the last 24 hours has caused widespread damage and flooding with Dunedin, Waitaki, Timaru and the wider Otago region declaring a state of emergency.

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A mourner prays at a memorial during an event to commemorate the first anniversary of the shooting spree that one year ago left ten people dead, including the shooter in Munich, Germany. One year ago 18-year-old student David S. shot nine people dead and injured four others at and near a McDonalds restaurant and the Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center. After a city-wide manhunt that caused mass panic and injuries David S. shot himself in a park. According to police David S., who had dual German and Iranian citizenship, had a history of mental troubles.

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Palestinians react following tear gas that was shot by Israeli forces after Friday prayer on a street outside Jerusalem's Old City

Reuters/Ammar Awad

Ousted former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court in Bangkok, Thailand

Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Marek Suski of Law and Justice (PiS) (C) party scuffles with Miroslaw Suchon (2nd L) of Modern party (.Nowoczesna) as Michal Szczerba of Civic Platform (PO) (L) party holds up a copy of the Polish Constitution during the parliamentary Commission on Justice and Human Rights voting on the opposition's amendments to the bill that calls for an overhaul of the Supreme Court in Warsaw

Reuters

A firefighter stands near a grass fire as he prepares to defend a home from the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California

Reuters

Michael Lindell ,CEO of My Pillow reacts as U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Made in America roundtable meeting in the East Room of the White House

Reuters

Giant pandas lie beside ice blocks at Yangjiaping Zoo in Chongqing, China. Yangjiaping Zoo provided huge ice blocks for giant pandas to help them remove summer heat

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People ride camels in the desert in Dunhuang, China, as stage 10 of The Silkway Rally continues

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17th FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Team North Korea practice under coach supervision

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IAAF World ParaAthletics Championships - London, Britain - July 17, 2017

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Workers check power lines during maintenance work in Laian, in China's eastern Anhui province

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Russia Kamaz's driver Dmitry Sotnikov, co-drivers Ruslan Akhmadeev and Ilnur Mustafin compete during the Stage 9 of the Silk Way 2017 between Urumqi and Hami, China

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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talks with Special Operations Command soldiers during a visit to the Australian Army's Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney

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Men in traditional sailor costumes celebrate after carrying a statue of the El Carmen Virgin, who is worshipped as the patron saint of sailors, into the Mediterranean Sea during a procession in Torremolinos, near Malaga, Spain

Reuters/Jon Nazca

People participate in a protest in front of the Sejm building (the lower house of the Polish parliament) in Warsaw, Poland. The demonstration was organized by Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD). Members and supporters of the KOD and opposition parties protested against changes in the judicial law and the Supreme Court

EPA

People prepare to swim with a portrait of late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong on the bank of the Yangtze River in Yichang, Hubei province, China to celebrate the 51st anniversary of Chairman Mao swimming in the Yangtze River.

REUTERS

A woman takes a selfie picture with her mobile phone next to the statue of Omer Halisdemir in Istanbul, in front of a memorial with the names of people killed last year during the failed coup attempt .

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French President Emmanuel Macron gestures next to US President Donald Trump during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.

AFP/Getty Images

Philippine National Police chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa holds an M60 machine gun during a Gun and Ammunition show at a mall in Mandaluyong city, metro Manila, Philippines

Reuters

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker embrace before the EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev, Ukraine

Reuters

US President Donald Trump (R) and First Lady Melania Trump disembark form Air Force One upon arrival at Paris Orly airport on July 13, 2017, beginning a 24-hour trip that coincides with France's national day and the 100th anniversary of US involvement in World War I

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Iraqis walk on a damaged street in west Mosul a few days after the government's announcement of the liberation of the embattled city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

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Iraqi boys wash a vehicle in west Mosul a few days after the government's announcement of the liberation of the embattled city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

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Afghan policeman pour fuel over jerry cans containing confiscated acetic acid before setting it alight on the outskirts of Herat. Some 15,000 liters of acetic acid, often mixed with heroin, were destroyed by counter narcotics police

Hoshang Hashimi/AFP

Residents stand amid the debris of their homes which were torn down in the evicted area of the Bukit Duri neighbourhood located on the Ciliwung river banks in Jakarta

Bay Ismoyo/AFP

Boys play cricket at a parking lot as it rains in Chandigarh, India

Reuters/Ajay Verma

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Istanbul

AFP

Police from the anti-terror squad participate in an anti-terror performance among Acehnese dancers during a ceremony to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Indonesian police corps in Banda Aceh

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New Mongolia's president Khaltmaa Battulga takes an oath during his inauguration ceremony in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Reuters

US army 1st Division, US air force, US Navy and US Marines, march down the Champs Elysees, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, in Paris during a rehearsal of the annual Bastille Day military parade

AFP

Participants run ahead of Puerto de San Lorenzo's fighting bulls during the third bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking.

AFP/Getty Images

Iraqi women, who fled the fighting between government forces and Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in the Old City of Mosul, cry as they stand in the city's western industrial district awaiting to be relocated

AFP

US President Donald Trump arrives for another working session during the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany

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People climb up on a roof to get a view during riots in Hamburg, northern Germany, where leaders of the world's top economies gather for a G20 summit

AFP/Getty Images

A military helicopter rescues people trapped on the roof of the Ministry of Finance by an intense fire in San Salvador

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Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech at Krasinski Square in Warsaw, Poland.

AP

A firefighter conducts rescue operations in an area damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Japan.

Reuters

Anti-capitalism activists protest in Hamburg, where leaders of the worlds top economies will gather for a G20 summit.

AFP/Getty

Crowds gather for the start of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

AFP

A member of the Iraqi security forces runs with his weapon during a fight between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq.

A U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile is fired during the combined military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea against North Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea

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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14

Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony following the talks at the Kremlin

Reuters

Belarussian servicemen march during a military parade as part of celebrations marking the Independence Day in Minsk, Belarus

Reuters

Ambulance cars and fire engines are seen near the site where a coach burst into flames after colliding with a lorry on a motorway near Muenchberg, Germany

Reuters

Protesters demonstrating against the upcoming G20 economic summit ride boats on Inner Alster lake during a protest march in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg will host the upcoming G20 summit and is expecting heavy protests throughout.

Getty Images

Protesters carry a large image of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo as they march during the annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong. Thousands joined an annual protest march in Hong Kong, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his visit to the city by warning against challenges to Beijing's sovereignty.

AP

Jockey Andrea Coghe of "Selva" (Forest) parish rides his horse during the first practice for the Palio Horse Race in Siena, Italy June 30, 2017

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Sweden to hold 'biggest military exercise in decades' with Nato amid fears over Russia - The Independent

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NATO Shows Ukraine Support at Sea, But War in East Turns Bloody – Newsweek

Posted: at 11:56 am

Two NATO warships have docked at the Ukrainian portof Odessa and will open its doors to local visitors as part of the alliances bid to show support for Ukraines ambitions to one day join the Western-led bloc.

Ukraine, once a famously neutral state, has veered towardNATO membership since its relationship with neighboring Russia collapsed after a series of land grabs by pro-Russian forces in 2014. A poll last month found that nearly56 percent of Ukrainianssupported joining the alliance.

Read More: How a Russian ally kicked the U.S. military out after receiving missile strike threat

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The U.K. Royal Navys HMS Duncan and Turkeys frigate Yildirim arrived at the Black Sea port on Monday for a three-day stay,NATO representation to Ukraine announced on Facebook.

The vessels are in Ukrainian waters following a U.S.-led drill, called Sea Breeze, in which Ukraine took part. Theirpurpose this week, however, is more symbolic. The NATO liaison officer in Ukraine, Alexander Vinnikov, has officially gone aboard the visiting vessels, whichwill be open to Ukrainians who want to get better acquainted with the navies of Kievs western partners.

Russia has repeatedly objected to nonregional forces entering the Black Sea, taking particular issue with U.S. Navy vessels.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are high, as violence between government loyalists and Russian-backed separatist troops in eastern Ukraine flares up every year around August.

Ukraines president, Petro Poroshenko, warned on Sunday during a call with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France that Ukraine was entering the bloodiest outburst of 2017.Nine Ukrainian soldiers had died in the previous 72 hours.

The new U.S. envoy to the Ukraine ceasefire talks, Kurt Volker, said on Monday that he was astonished by the frail state of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and said the conflict resembled a hot war.

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NATO Shows Ukraine Support at Sea, But War in East Turns Bloody - Newsweek

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Erdogan Bashes Germany, NATO as Turkey Goes for Russian Missiles – Bloomberg

Posted: at 11:56 am

Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan bashed Germany, NATO, the U.S. and Israel in a speech to his party on Tuesday, signaling an accelerated political realignment away from the West as he seeks to conclude a missile defense deal with Russia.

The Turkish president accused foreigners of attempting to break Turkey apart and vowed to continue to crush agents acting against the country. He also dismissed U.S. concerns about Turkeys negotiations with Russia to buy S-400 missile defense batteries that would be incompatible with NATO systems, saying the agreement was moving ahead and denouncing the U.S. for partnering with Kurdish militant groups in Syria.

Erdogans rhetoric comes after Germany announced a reorientation of its Turkey policy following the arrests of 10 human rights activists, including the director of Amnesty International and a German citizen, at a hotel off Istanbuls coast where they were conducting a workshop. Relations between the two countries have turned increasingly hostile this year after Turkey arrested a German-Turkish journalist in February and Germany refused to allow Turkish ministers to campaign for expatriate Turks votes before a referendum giving Erdogan sweeping powers in April.

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Youre going to prevent Turkeys president and ministers from speaking in your country, but your agents are going to swarm in, come to hotels here and break my country up into pieces? Erdogan said. Thats not going to happen. Either youre going to show respect for our sovereign rights, youre going to be partners, friends and allies on just and equal terms, or youre going to get a response to every act of disrespect.

Agreements to buy Russias most advanced missile defense systems have been signed and God willing, well see them in our country soon," Erdogan said. Turkey had worked for years to buy similar systems from the U.S. but was unable to conclude a deal allowing joint production, he said. If we cant get what we want from America, we have to search elsewhere, he said.

Erdogan also called on all Muslims to visit Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque thats been the trigger of recent Israeli-Palestinian unrest, accusing Israel of attempting to take the site away from Muslims. He warned against attacks on synagogues inside Turkey as an act of protest against Israel, saying they were meaningless and banned by our religion.

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Erdogan Bashes Germany, NATO as Turkey Goes for Russian Missiles - Bloomberg

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