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Violent NYC: Vicious Biting Attack In Harlem, Dozens Beat Man in China Town

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AP

(TJVNEWS.COM) A New York woman said she felt like she was being attacked by animals after a group of men accosted her in Harlem, biting her face and breaking the skin, according to NBC New York.

The woman, 31, who has not been publicly identified, was also beaten, spit on and robbed during the attack, which happened near a liquor store in the Manhattan neighborhood, NBC New York reported.

Video shared by the New York Police Department shows the men surrounding her outside the store, which is where she said they attacked her.

“I couldn’t believe it, it was like an animal. That’s the only way I can put it, it was like an animal,” the woman told NBC New York.

During the attack, as she was being bitten and spit on, someone stole her $750 phone, NBC NY reported.

“I just remember screaming to the top of my lungs, I just kept saying ‘He’s biting me! He’s biting me!” she said. “He bit through my eyebrow and then he continued to just, he kept opening his mouth to try to like re-grasp” , the victim told NBC 4

Meanwhile, Breitbart reported

video the New York Police Department (NYPD) showed that a group of males and females attacked the victim around 11:30 a.m. Friday near Canal and Allen streets in downtown Manhattan.

Dozens of suspects linked to a violent attack on a 26-year-old who was beaten, had his clothes removed, and was cut with a sharp object.

The suspects fled the scene in several different vehicles, police said.

NBC 4 New York reported that the victim suffered lacerations to his torso, head, and hands. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was reported as being in stable condition.

Rand Paul Makes Voter Fraud Claims on ABC “This Week”; Battles Stephanopoulos in Heated Debate

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AP

Jared Evan

Senator Rand Paul(R-Ky), son of extremely popular retired Congressman Ron Paul, over the last several years was not always a solid ally of President Trump but is someone who has always spoken his honest opinion regardless of which side of the aisle his views aligned with.

He has always been controversial, and strangely enough, even though he sympathized with several anti-police activists points of contention and introduced a bill named after  Breonna Taylor,  designed to end no-knock warrant arrests, found himself harassed and almost beaten brutally on the streets of D.C after the GOP National convention over the summer, by BLM  terrorists.

After the January 6th storming of the capitol it is practically taboo to mention the term “voter fraud” or question the election of Joe Biden. Even discussing these topics, will find one banned from Twitter, suspended from Facebook, and removed from YouTube.

Senator Paul was not afraid to speak of that which is now taboo. Appearing on ABC’s “This Week”, he unleashed on George Stephanopoulos, several powerful points regarding the November election.

Highlights:

The debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. We never had any presentation in court where we ever looked at the evidence. There were several states in which the law was changed by the Secretary of State and not the state legislature. To me those are clearly unconstitutional and I think there’s still a chance those do finally work their way up to the Supreme Court.”

 

“In my state, where we had a Democrat Secretary of State, she refused, even under federal order, to purge the rolls of illegal voters. We got a Republican SoS and he purged the rolls. In Wisconsin, tens of thousands of absentee votes had only the name on them and no address. Historically, those were thrown out. This time they weren’t.”

 

“You immediately say everything’s a lie instead of saying there’s two sides to everything. Historically what would happen is if I said I thought there was fraud, you’d interview someone else who said there wasn’t. But now you insert yourself in the middle and say that the absolute fact is that everything I’m saying is a lie.”

 

“You’re saying there’s no fraud and it’s all been investigated and that’s just not true. I plan on spending the next two years going around, state to state, fixing these problems. There has been no thorough examination of all states to see what problems we had and see if we could fix them.”

 

“There’s two sides to every story. Interview someone on the other side, but don’t insert yourself into the story to say we’re all liars. You’re forgetting who you are as a journalist if you think there’s only one side. A journalist would hear both sides and there are two sides to this story.”

 

Dutch police clash with anti-lockdown protesters: Dramatic Footage Emerges

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In this image made from video, a COVID-19 testing center is seen after being set on fire in Urk, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Amsterdam, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. Dutch police have clashed with protesters demonstrating against the country’s lockdown in the capital, Amsterdam and the southern city of Eindhoven. The unrest comes a day after rioting youths protesting on the first night of the country’s curfew torched a coronavirus testing facility in Dutch fishing village Urk. (Pro News via AP)

 

 

Dutch Media:

 

(AP) Rioters set fires in the center of the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven and pelted police with rocks Sunday at a banned demonstration against coronavirus lockdown measures, while officers responded with tear gas and water cannons, arresting at least 55 people.

Police in the capital of Amsterdam also used a water cannon to disperse an outlawed anti-lockdown demonstration on a major square ringed by museums. Video showed police spraying people grouped against a wall of the Van Gogh Museum.

It was the worst violence to hit the Netherlands since the pandemic began and the second straight Sunday that police clashed with protesters in Amsterdam. The country has been in a tough lockdown since mid-December that is due to continue at least until Feb. 9. The government beefed up the lockdown with a 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. curfew that went into force on Saturday.

Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus condemned the violence.

“This has nothing to do with demonstrating against corona measures,” Grapperhaus said in a statement. “This is simply criminal behavior; people who deliberately target police, riot police, journalists and other aid workers.”

In Eindhoven, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of Amsterdam, a central square near the main railway station was littered with rocks, bicycles and shattered glass. The crowd of hundreds of demonstrators also was believed to include supporters of the anti-immigrant group PEGIDA, which had sought to demonstrate in the city.

Eindhoven police said they made at least 55 arrests and warned people to stay away from the city center amid the clashes. Trains to and from the station were halted and local media reported plundering at the station.

A woman not involved in the protests was hospitalized after being injured by a police horse, police said.

Police said more than 100 people were arrested in Amsterdam.

Amazon Fights Against Mail-In Voting in Union Decision to Preserve ‘Vote Fidelity’

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LUCAS NOLAN

E-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly seeking to postpone a unionization vote at a warehouse in Alabama and is fighting back against federal labor authorities’  decision to allow mail-in voting. Amazon claims it has created a “safe, confidential and convenient proposal for associates to vote on-site, which is in the best interest of all parties—associate convenience, vote fidelity and timeliness of vote count.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that the e-commerce giant Amazon is aiming to postpone a unionization vote at one of its warehouses in Alabama. The company is also reportedly requesting that federal labor authorities reconsider a decision to allow mail-in voting due to the pandemic.

On Thursday, Amazon filed an appeal to a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is allowing employees to vote by mail due to coronavirus risks instead of holding in-person elections. The ballots are set to be mail to around 6,000 workers associated with Amazon’s facility in Bessemer, Alabama, on February 8.

In the petition, Amazon said the NLRB’s decision was flawed as it had not adequately defined an outbreak, along with a number of other objections. Workers at Amazon’s facility are seeking representation from the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union.

If a majority of ballots vote in favor of unionization, it would be the first time that hourly Amazon workers have formed or joined a union in the United States.

Amazon declined to comment on the appeal but stated that it believes the best approach to an election would be having it conducted in person, stating that it “provided the NLRB with a safe, confidential and convenient proposal for associates to vote on-site, which is in the best interest of all parties—associate convenience, vote fidelity and timeliness of vote count.”

Breitbart

Texas Man Charged with Directing Others to ‘Assassinate AOC’

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BOB PRICE

Federal prosecutors charged a Texas man with tweeting a call to assassinate U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The man allegedly tweeted multiple times from inside the Capitol including one where he wrote, “Assassinate AOC.”

A criminal complaint released by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia alleges that Dallas, Texas, resident Garret Miller illegally entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The complaint further alleges that Miller tweeted a threat to assassinate Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in a Twitter response to a tweet from the representative.

The attack on the Capitol occurred as both chambers of Congress met separately to debate a challenge to the Electoral College vote that would eventually declare Joe Biden to be the president-elect. As the two bodies met in their respective chambers, a large crowd gathered outside the Capitol and forced their way into the building.

The FBI obtained a tweeted video from an account allegedly belonging to Miller. The video reports to show Miller inside the Capitol Rotunda. He reportedly tweeted “From inside congress.”

“From inside congress” — Source: U.S. Department of JusticeThe complaint alleges that Miller tweeted some of his planning for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The complaint states:

In examining MILLER’s Facebook account, there are many posts relating to his involvement in criminal activities at the Capitol. For example, on January 2, 2021, MILLER posted to Facebook, “I am about to drive across the country for this trump shit. On Monday . . .
Some crazy shit going to happen this week. Dollar might collapse. . . . civil war could start . . . not sure what to do in DC.” He also stated on January 3, 2021, that he was bring with him “a grappling hook and rope and a level 3 vest. Helmets mouth guard and bump cap,” but last time he came to D.C. for a pro-Trump rally he “had a lot of guns” with him.

Miller reportedly posted photos on Facebook from inside the Capitol. Security cameras also show a man carrying a U.S. and Trump flags inside the building.

On January 6, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “Impeach” in response to the attack on the Capitol. A Twitter screenshot of the post allegedly shows a response from Miller where he wrote:

We acted with honor and we where [sic] not armed. We where [sic] gentle with the police. They murdered a child.

Assassinate AOC

The criminal complaint references the last line as a “directive” to assassinate a House member.

The complaint continues with multiple incriminating posted allegedly made by Miller in the days following the Capitol attack.

The complaint alleges Miller violated 40 counts of 40 USC 5104(e)(2)(G) which makes it a crime to “willfully and knowingly” parade, demonstrate or picket in any of the Capitol Buildings.

The complaint alleges multiple other charges including a “threat to injure the person of another” and for attempting to impede the Electoral College vote count.

In one of Miller’s alleged Facebook posts he reportedly posted a selfie and wrote, “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol.”

In response to the news of Miller’s charges, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Miller’s self-incrimination quote and added, “Well, you did!”

Miller’s attorney, Clint Broden, responded that his client regrets what he did, according to a CNN report.

“He did it in support of former President (Donald) Trump, but regrets his actions. He has the support of his family, and a lot of the comments, as viewed in context, are really sort of misguided political hyperbole. Given the political divide these days, there is a lot of hyperbole,” the attorney stated.

Federal law enforcement agents reportedly arrested Miller on Wednesday. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Breitbart

Abortion Rights Activists Storm ‘Respect Life’ Mass, Demand Free Abortions

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(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

 

DR. SUSAN BERRY

Abortion rights activists stormed St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, Friday morning during a pro-life Mass, parading through the aisles with signs that read, “Abortion on demand,” and chanting, “This church teaches hate.”

Bishop Robert J. Brennan of the Columbus Diocese was celebrating the “Respect Life” Mass, part of a pro-life program created by the U.S. bishops, on the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that invented a right to abortion, though none ever existed in the Constitution.

According to a report at the Columbus Dispatch, about eight abortion rights activists stormed into the cathedral and marched up into the sanctuary shouting, “Two, four, six, eight, this church teaches hate!”

The protesters held signs that read, “Fund abortion, not cops,” and “Abortion on demand, end Hyde now,” a reference to the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding federal provision that prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion.

Police were called to the scene and diocesan staff assisted them in escorting the protesters out of the cathedral.

Pro-life media outlet LifeSiteNews reported further about the incident:

Some of the approximately 200 Mass-goers were visibly shaken and disturbed by the actions of the protesters. A number of children were in attendance and some were seen crying. Hundreds of Catholic school students throughout the diocese were watching a livestream of the Mass when the protesters interrupted Bishop Brennan’s homily.

[…]

On their way out, the pro-abortion group can be heard verbally abusing the security team by screaming obscenities. After they were successfully escorted out, the group remained outside the cathedral, shouting insults back to the congregation inside, including “Jesus hates you,” and “If hell is real, you can burn in it.”

“Today during our Respect Life Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral, a group of protesters entered this sacred space in an attempt to disrupt our worship,” Brennan said later in a statement, adding his thanks to the Columbus police and staff of the diocese for responding promptly and avoiding injury.

He continued:

I want to express my great admiration and thanks to all those attending the Mass whose respectful and prayerful response reflects the joy, hope, and mercy that marks our pro-life witness. I also apologize to the families present whose children were exposed to this.

Brennan asked all who attended the Mass “to continue to pray for the unborn who died, for all those who have experienced the pain of abortion, and for those who cannot understand our divine and steadfast calling to champion this cause.”

According to LifeSiteNews, following the Mass, the abortion rights activists continued to harass the attendees who walked two blocks to the Ohio Statehouse for a “Roe Remembrance” gathering with Bishops Brennan and Cleveland Bishop Edward Malesic.

The pro-abortion protesters continued to try to disrupt the speakers by shouting using a bullhorn and siren.

Malesic said:

The Lord sets before us many choices. He asks us to take sides. May we side with life. May we side with beauty and peace and love and non-violence, including non-verbal violence. May we listen to each other and accompany each other, so that in the end, we will find ourselves where the Lord came to bring us, and that’s to a kingdom of peace and justice.

On the same day as the abortion activists’ storming of the cathedral, Democrat President Joe Biden, referred to as a “devout Catholic,” and Vice President Kamala Harris issued a joint statement in which they said they are “committed to codifying” Roe v. Wade into law and to “appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.”

Using the language of the abortion industry, specifically that abortion is the equivalent of “health care,” the Democrat leaders added, “We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care – including reproductive health care – regardless of income, race, zip code, health insurance status, or immigration status.

Breitbart

Britain’s Boris Johnson presses Biden for new trade deal

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AP

(AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear to President Joe Biden on Saturday that he’s eager to forge a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal.

The push for a new deal came in a broad-ranging call between the two leaders that touched on the global response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the Biden administration announcing this week that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization, according to a statement from Downing Street.

A new trade agreement between the allies is a higher priority for Johnson than it is for Biden. The U.K. regained control over its national trade policy at the start of the month following the end of a post-Brexit transition period.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the administration had no timeline for forging a new trade deal as Biden’s attention is largely focused on getting the coronavirus pandemic under control and pressing Congress to pass the president’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.

Janet Yellen, Biden’s Treasury secretary nominee, also signaled during her confirmation hearing earlier this week that Biden wasn’t eager to negotiate new trade deals.

“President Biden has been clear that he will not sign any new free trade agreements before the U.S. makes major investments in American workers and our infrastructure,” Yellen said.

Downing Street said Saturday that Biden and Johnson discussed “the benefits of a potential free trade deal between our two countries,” and Johnson “reiterated his intention to resolve existing trade issues as soon as possible.”

The White House in its own statement said that the two leaders spoke about combating climate change, containing COVID-19, and ensuring global health security as well as shared foreign policy priorities in China, Iran and Russia. But the statement notably made no mention of discussion on trade.

The call with Johnson was at least Biden’s third call with a foreign counterpart since Friday. The president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday evening.

World Nears 100 Million COVID-19 Cases

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(VOA) The world is on the verge of reaching 100 million COVID-19 infections, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center statistics. More than 2 million people have died from the virus.

The coronavirus continues to create an unyielding and staggering path of illness and death across the United States. Johns Hopkins reported early Sunday that the U.S. has nearly 25 million COVID infections, with more than 417,000 deaths. Both tolls are the world’s highest.

India follows the U.S. caseload with 10.6 million infections and more than 153,000 deaths. Brazil has nearly 9 million cases and more than 216,000 deaths.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said COVID vaccines could bring the global pandemic under control, with vaccinations under way in more than 50 countries. However, all but two of those countries are high- or middle-income countries.

“We must work together as one global family to ensure the urgent and equitable rollout of vaccines,” he said.

For the first time since Nov. 18, New Zealand health officials Sunday began to investigate a probable case of community-spread coronavirus.

Community spread occurs when a person contracts the coronavirus without any known contact with a sick person or travel to an affected area.

With a tough lockdown, New Zealand had nearly eliminated the coronavirus, with new cases found among travelers returning home and quarantining. As of Sunday, there were 79 such cases. The new variants from Britain and South Africa, however, have been found among those cases, raising concerns of community spread returning.

New Zealand does not expect to have most of its population vaccinated against the coronavirus until the second half of this year.

On Saturday, the local government in Hong Kong said it locked down one of the territory’s most heavily populated areas to complete mandatory COVID-19 testing of its entire population.

Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region government said the lockdown was imposed in parts of the Jordan District to test nearly 10,000 residents within 48 hours, paving the way for residents to go to their jobs Monday.

Authorities said 3,000 government workers had been deployed to the district, where officials said 162 cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in the first 20 days of the new year.

Authorities also locked down Temple Street, one of Hong Kong’s busiest night markets.

The shutdown comes as Hong Kong grapples with its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in two months.

Blood libel 2020: Jews spread Covid-19

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 Omer Yankelevich(INN)

The Diaspora Ministry released its annual report on global anti-Semitism Sunday ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The coronavirus pandemic has been used to spread anti-Jewish and anti-Israel conspiracy theories across the globe according to the Diaspora Ministry’s report.

According to the report, while coronavirus lockdowns led to a decrease in personal anti-Semitic encounters, there was a 10% increase in online anti-Semitism in 2020 compared to 2019. Among the attempts to link Israel to the disease were the hashtag COVID48, a reference to Israel’s founding in 1948 which appears to be part of an Iranian disinformation campaign which was shared 250,000 times.

In another worrying sign, nine out of ten American Jews say that anti-Semitism is a problem, while eight out of ten say that it has increased over the last few years.

The report predicted that anti-Semitic violence would increase as societies reopen and the anti-Semitism that has spread online is expressed in the open.

Attention was called to anti-Semitism in Europe, noting the phenomenon of far-right extremism and anti-Semitism within the German police force. Between 2017 and 2020, 380 cases were opened against German police officers for wearing Nazi uniforms and insignias and other expressions of far-right extremism and anti-Semitism.

The report also noted that for the first time since the Holocaust, there is an institutional threat to Jewish religious freedom in Europe by the banning customs and the labeling of Jews by the government and the establishment. Of particular concern was the ruling of the European Court of Justice that each country can independently ban kosher slaughter within its borders, without violating overall European law, while continuing to allow hunting. The ruling sets a dangerous precedent that opens the door for additional bans on religious practice, including bans on circumcision.

The report also found cause for optimism. In Ukraine, the report noted a greater effort by the government to identify and fight anti-Semitism.

In addition, three Muslim-majority states adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance’s definition of anti-Semitsm, including the first Arab country, Bahrain.

Diaspora Minister Omer Yankelevich stated: “For thousands of years, the Jewish people have served as a scapegoat for all the diseases of the world. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism has not missed the current epidemic either. In the past, this phenomenon caused the massacre of entire Jewish communities, today it is recycled and even gaining momentum on social media. This is just one of many examples of the new face that anti-Semitism is wearing today, and will be detailed in the Diaspora Ministry’s anti-Semitism report for 2020. If anti-Semitism is a global phenomenon, the war should be global as well. Only a stubborn and uncompromising struggle can ward off this plague.”

Rubio Demands DHS Explain Deportation Freeze

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AP

(FREE BEACON)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) is demanding the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security explain its decision to end the deportation of illegal immigrants, which could include those convicted of violent crimes, rape, sexual assault, and other felonies.

Rubio calls for immediate clarification on a directive issued this week mandating “an immediate pause on removals of any noncitizen with a final order of removal,” in a letter sent Friday to David Pekoske, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Rather than deporting illegal immigrants, DHS said on Wednesday it will focus on processing immigrants along the Southern border and rebuilding “fair and effective asylum procedures that respect human rights and due process.” This also includes “a review of policies and practices concerning immigration enforcement.”

Rubio says that the broad directive will pave the way for illegal immigrants scheduled for deportation to remain on extended stays in the United States. The policy shift, Rubio says, raises concerns about how the new administration will address the persistent border crisis. Joe Biden’s first days in office have been marked by a blitz of executive orders rolling back Trump administration policies, including ending construction on the border wall running along the southern United States. These executive orders contrast with Biden’s own rhetoric urging reconciliation, unity, and centrist government policies.

“President Biden is talking like a centrist, but he is governing like someone from the far left. I am very concerned that this move by DHS could allow some incredibly dangerous criminals to remain in America,” Rubio told the Washington Free Beacon. “We need answers now.”

Rubio’s letter focuses on concerns that DHS’s directive will halt the already scheduled removal of illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records and convicted felons.

The new memorandum realigns U.S. policy on the deportation of illegals by listing “public safety” concerns as a lower priority than both national security threats and illegals caught crossing the border since November 2020. The order is unclear about whether illegal aliens convicted of crimes prior to Jan. 19 of this year will be deemed a priority in the deportation process.

“Does this mean someone convicted of an ‘aggravated felony,’ including rape or sexual abuse of a minor, is not a priority for removal if they were released from jail on or before January 19, 2021?” Rubio asks in his letter.

Illegal immigrants will only be deported during this period if Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting director intervenes on a case-by-case basis.

Rubio is also seeking clarification on this point, asking: “Does the ‘pause’ on removals apply to someone convicted of an ‘aggravated felony’ such as rape or sexual abuse of a minor, who was released from jail on or before January 19, 2021, unless the acting director makes an individualized determination that ‘removal is required by law’?”

DHS is also laying the groundwork to reopen already concluded deportation cases, though it is unclear if this will apply to convicted felons scheduled to be sent out of the country.

Street Food Vendor Permits to Expand by Thousands Under City Council Action Plan

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Christine Chung, THE CITY

Logo for THE CITY
This article was originally published

by THE CITY

Street vendors sell produce in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Oct. 7, 2020.
Street vendors sell produce in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Oct. 7, 2020. | Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

After a two-year wait, the City Council is expected next week to pass a fiercely debated bill that would more than double the number of street vendor permits over a decade.

The measure would create 4,000 new sidewalk and street food-selling permits by 2032, in addition to 3,000 currently issued by the city’s health department.

While would-be vendors hope to move off a years-long waiting list, struggling restaurant owners say the change would further undercut their pandemic-slammed businesses.

The latest version of the bill aims to end widespread subletting of scarce permits at sharply inflated prices by requiring that all new permits be held by someone present and working in the cart or truck. Existing permits must transition over to that new system within 10 years.

Jeff Reed/New York City Council
City Councilmember Margaret Chin visits a Lower East Side food pantry, Aug. 20, 2020.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Councilmember Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan), said the legislation has momentum, fueled in part by the dire hardship vendors have experienced during the COVID-19 crisis. Many are undocumented immigrants, disqualified from official aid programs.

“During the whole pandemic they didn’t get any support from the state, city, federal government,” Chin said. “They are part of our economy and they need to support their families. They are hardworking people.”

‘Finally Moving Forward’

The bill would lift the city’s cap on permits for the first time in nearly 40 years. It would also create a new enforcement office, following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision last year to end NYPD purview over vending violations.

A vote by the consumer affairs committee is expected to be followed by a vote of the full Council at its Jan. 28 meeting, said Kana Ervin, a spokesperson for Chin.

When the Council held a hearing on an earlier version of the bill in 2019, restaurant and grocery store owners joined leaders of business improvement district groups to testify in opposition. They argued that vendors were held to different standards than their business, and that enforcement of vending regulations was inconsistent.

The bill now counts 30 sponsors in the Council, including Speaker Corey Johnson.

“We’ve had an economically punishing black market operating in plain sight for decades because the issue seemed too tough to tackle,” Johnson said in a statement.

“When done right, vending enlivens our streets and provides opportunity to an often neglected workforce,” he added. “Those are two things we need right now, and I’m proud we’re finally moving forward. I can’t wait to vote aye.”

‘A True Part of the City’

Vendors who lack permits told THE CITY that they wish to sell food legally, but are left with no option but to work without official approvals.

Sonia Perez, a 50-year-old vendor who lives and works in Bushwick, sells tamales and hot drinks out of a shopping cart on Knickerbocker Avenue. She’s been a street vendor for 20 years — 13 of those spent on the waiting list.

She said she longs to “work legally and also be considered as a true part of the city.”

Perez, who is originally from Mexico, added: “Street vendors are looking to work with dignity, bettering their families so their families can eat.”

Courtesy of the Street Vendor Project
Bushwick street vendor Sonia Perez

Over the years, she’s received summonses from various city agencies for not having a permit  — fines of up to $1,000 issued by the city Department of Health and other penalties up to $500 from the NYPD. Vendors can also be penalized for operating too close to crosswalks or other forbidden locations.

The Street Vendor Project had advocated for the cap on the number of permits to be eliminated. Still, the organization’s director, Mohamed Attia, called the bill an improvement over the current “broken and outdated” system.

“By 2032, we can say that there will be no underground market,” Attia said.

With second-hand two-year permits now running as much as $25,000, the new, vendor-held permits will remove a costly barrier to enter the business.

“It’s not as challenging to come up for the money for the cart as getting the permit,” he said. “The permit is the huge issue.”

Far Apart on Distancing

Left unaddressed in the latest tweaks are warnings from brick-and-mortar businesses that vendors’ gain will be their loss at a time when they’re also scrambling to survive amid restrictions barring indoor dining.

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, which represents restaurants and nightlife venues, said that the bill “falls short of the comprehensive overhaul we need.”

One sore point: though a new advisory board would evaluate all vending rules, for now the Council leaves untouched one that allows vendors to sell just 20 feet away from a building entrance or exit.

“The distance requirement from which a vendor may sell food in front of a restaurant should be extended,” Rigie said. He added that dedicated funding for enforcement would also be needed.

Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
A food cart worker prepares food for customers in Lower Manhattan, Dec. 2, 2020.

Restaurant owners told THE CITY that with their margins leaner than ever, they cannot afford to be undercut by competition.

Sandra Jaquez, who owns Il Sole and Sa’tacos in Inwood, said that having vendors down the block selling the same type of food as her restaurants represents a bigger threat than neighboring restaurants serving other cuisines.

“I have to pay employees, pay rent, pay the light, pay water. All these bills and utilities that a street vendor doesn’t. Their overhead is completely less than mine,” said Jaquez, who lives in New Jersey. “I understand everyone needs to make a living, but with this bill, this is something that will affect me tremendously.”

Jaquez said she owes more than $100,000 in back rent across her two restaurants and has stayed afloat only after receiving a Paycheck Protection Plan loan last year.

‘The Right Time’

Owners of grocery stores, including Gristedes and Morton Williams Supermarkets, contend vendors are “costing the city millions of dollars while siphoning off millions from brick-and-mortar businesses,” said industry spokesperson and lobbyist Richard Lipsky.

Lipsky said that the bill needs additional provisions, such as a system to better track violations that would flag repeat violators of city regulations.

Chin and Attia maintain that enough concessions have been made to appease opponents and that vendors deserve a boost.

“We have seen how the disparities within the resources that vendors receive versus other businesses have shown how broken the system is,” Attia said. “Now is the right time to do it, to lift the cap, increase the number of permits and create opportunities for the vendors to thrive and survive.”

(With interpretation by Liliana Gutierrez)

THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

Former Iranian Hostage Slams Biden’s Iran Envoy Pick

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AP

(FREE BEACON)

A Chinese-American academic who was wrongly imprisoned in Iran for more than three years said the Biden administration’s likely nominee to serve as the next Iran envoy “played no positive role” in securing his release.

Xiyue Wang, who spent more than three years in an Iranian prison before being freed by the Trump administration in 2019, raised numerous concerns about reports that President Joe Biden is set to tap Robert Malley as his new envoy to Iran. Malley, a veteran foreign policy hand, was fired from former president Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign after it was revealed he held unauthorized talks with Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group that has murdered Americans. Malley was hired by the Obama White House in 2014 and is now being considered as the new administration’s top Iran envoy, which would put him in charge of conducting diplomacy with Tehran.

Malley’s possible appointment in the new administration has drawn widespread criticism from Republican hawks in Congress but has been praised by former Obama administration officials, such as Ben Rhodes, the onetime White House National Security Council member who helmed the Obama administration’s self-described pro-Iran “echo chamber,” which was used to push the Iran nuclear deal. Rhodes, on Twitter this week, dismissed concerns about Malley’s appointment, saying that prominent Iran hardliners like Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and others should not have a say in the matter.

Wang, in response to Rhodes, accused him and other Malley allies of “dismissing the concerns of former political prisoners and U.S. hostages,” calling it “unprofessional and offensive.”

“As my own story illustrates, not everything is about partisan D.C. politics,” he said.

Wang claimed that Malley did nothing to secure his release when he was abducted by the Iranians in 2016, a year after the Obama administration inked the landmark nuclear accord, which provided Tehran with sanctions relief and billions in cash windfalls.

“During my imprisonment Mr. Malley was a senior White House official,” Wang wrote. “He played no positive role in facilitating my release, a view shared by present and past hostages and their families. If he is appointed, it’d suggest releasing U.S. hostages from Iran won’t be a priority.”

Wang said he has a unique understanding of the hardline regime in Iran: “I’ve likely had more intensive contact with Iranian hardliners than most Iran watchers in the U.S., especially U.S. government officials like Mr. Rhodes and Malley.”

Israeli vaccinations up, infections drop from record high as outbreak appears to ease

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By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Data released by Israel’s Health Ministry on Friday showed that coronavirus infection numbers are starting to drop as the number of Israelis vaccinated against the disease continues to rise.

There were 7,114 new infections in the past day, down from a record high of just over 10,000 earlier in the week, with 1,847 Israelis hospitalized with coronavirus, down from a peak of 1.989 on Sunday.

The number of those currently listed in serious condition is also down slightly to 1,158, with 328 of them in critical condition connected to ventilators to help them breathe. So far this week 258 Israelis have succumbed to the virus, bringing the death toll to 4,263 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The deadly power of the third wave of infections to hit Israel is evident in the rising number of fatalities. Since December 22, 1,152 Israelis died from coronavirus, meaning more than a quarter of the deaths from the pandemic have occurred in the past month alone.

The national vaccination campaign using the two-shot vaccine from the American company Pfizer is continuing at a record pace. As of Friday morning, 2.4 million of Israel’s 9.3 million citizens have received the vaccination, with 851,000 already inoculated with the two doses required.

“We broke another record in the number of vaccinated per day – 224,000 vaccines were given yesterday,” tweeted Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.

One of the factors keeping the numbers higher than what health officials want is the large number of Israelis returning from abroad who refuse to follow health guidelines that require 14 days of self-isolation.

“There is no vaccine for irresponsibility. Only a third (32%) of those returning from abroad have maintained their isolation obligation,” despite all countries being declared “red” by the Health Ministry over fears many air travelers are infected with mutations of the coronavirus,” Israel Hayom reported.

“Anyone who breaks the rules is responsible for thousands of people infected,” Dr. Zeev Feldman, a senior doctor at Sheba Medical Center, told the paper.

Israelis continue to turn out in large numbers to get vaccinated, with the country’s four health maintenance organizations providing the bulk of the work. By law, all Israelis belong to an HMO and are able to make an appointment for a vaccination by phone or online.

At the Meuhedet vaccination clinic operated in Jerusalem’s Misgav Ledach Hospital, a constant stream of HMO members arrived on Thursday with hundreds of people getting vaccinated every hour. After getting their temperatures checked at the door, they swiped their health cards at a computerized stand, received a number, and following a short wait were called to the vaccination room, where medical staff at 10 stations checked their information before administering the dose.

After waiting 15 minutes to ensure there were no adverse side affects, the vaccinated people returned home. Israel’s national lockdown continues with schools and most retail business closed except for food stores and pharmacies.

The head of Israel’s national coronavirus task force, Prof. Nachman Ash, told Channel 12 News Thursday he hoped the lockdown would not have to be extended past the end of the month.

“The data is encouraging — we’ve already seen for several days a curbing and even decline in morbidity,” Ash said. “I very much hope the trend continues and we won’t have to extend the lockdown.”

3,000 arrested at protests demanding Navalny’s release

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Police detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in People gather in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. Russian police are arresting protesters demanding the release of top Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at demonstrations in the country's east and larger unsanctioned rallies are expected later Saturday in Moscow and other major cities. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

(AP) — Russian police arrested more than 3,000 people Saturday in nationwide protests demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent foe, according to a group that counts political detentions.

The protests in scores of cities in temperatures as low as minus-50 C (minus-58 F) highlighted how Navalny has built influence far beyond the political and cultural centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In Moscow, an estimated 15,000 demonstrators gathered in and around Pushkin Square in the city center, where clashes with police broke out and demonstrators were roughly dragged off by helmeted riot officers to police buses and detention trucks. Some were beaten with batons.

Navalny’s wife Yulia was among those arrested.

Police eventually pushed demonstrators out of the square. Thousands then regrouped along a wide boulevard about a kilometer (half-mile) away, many of them throwing snowballs at the police before dispersing.

Some later went to protest near the jail where Navalny is held. Police made an undetermined number of arrests there.

The protests stretched across Russia’s vast territory, from the island city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk north of Japan and the eastern Siberian city of Yakutsk, where temperatures plunged to minus-50 Celsius, to Russia’s more populous European cities. Navalny and his anti-corruption campaign have built an extensive network of support despite official government repression and being routinely ignored by state media.

“The situation is getting worse and worse, it’s total lawlessness,” said Andrei Gorkyov, a protester in Moscow. “And if we stay silent, it will go on forever.”

The OVD-Info group, which monitors political arrests, said at least 1,167 people were detained in Moscow and more than 460 at another large demonstration in St. Petersburg.

Overall, it said 3,068 people had been arrested in some 90 cities, revising the count downward from its earlier report of 3,445. The group did not give an explanation for its revision. Russian police did not provide arrest figures.

Undeterred, Navalny’s supporters called for protests again next weekend.

Navalny was arrested on Jan. 17 when he returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from a severe nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin and which Russian authorities deny. Authorities say his stay in Germany violated terms of a suspended sentence in a 2014 criminal conviction, while Navalny says the conviction was for made-up charges.

The 44-year-old activist is well known nationally for his reports on the corruption that has flourished under President Vladimir Putin’s government.

His wide support puts the Kremlin in a strategic bind — officials are apparently unwilling to back down by letting him go free, but keeping him in custody risks more protests and criticism from the West.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department condemned “the use of harsh tactics against protesters and journalists this weekend in cities throughout Russia” and called on Russian authorities to immediately release Navalny and all those detained at protests.

Navalny faces a court hearing in early February to determine whether his sentence in the criminal case for fraud and money-laundering — which Navalny says was politically motivated — is converted to 3 1/2 years behind bars.

Moscow police on Thursday arrested three top Navalny associates, two of whom were later jailed for periods of nine and 10 days.

Navalny fell into a coma while aboard a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20. He was transferred from a hospital in Siberia to a Berlin hospital two days later. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent.

Russian authorities insisted that the doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia before he was airlifted to Germany found no traces of poison and have challenged German officials to provide proof of his poisoning. Russia refused to open a full-fledged criminal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that Navalny was poisoned.

Last month, Navalny released the recording of a phone call he said he made to a man he described as an alleged member of a group of officers of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, who purportedly poisoned him in August and then tried to cover it up. The FSB dismissed the recording as fake.

Navalny has been a thorn in the Kremlin’s side for a decade, unusually durable in an opposition movement often demoralized by repressions.

He has been jailed repeatedly in connection with protests and twice was convicted of financial misdeeds in cases that he said were politically motivated. He suffered significant eye damage when an assailant threw disinfectant into his face. He was taken from jail to a hospital in 2019 with an illness that authorities said was an allergic reaction but which many suspected was a poisoning.

Israel’s national security head holds first talk with counterpart in Biden administration

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National security adviser Jake Sullivan (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

By World Israel News Staff and TPS

Israel’s National Security Council head and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat spoke on Saturday night with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and congratulated him on taking up office.

This was the first conversation between the two.

The two “agreed to discuss soon the many topics on the agenda including Iran, regional issues and advancing the Abraham Accords,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.

They spoke just days after the United Arab Emirates closed a last-second deal with the Trump administration for up to 50 F-35 stealth fighters and advanced drones.

Only an hour before President Joe Biden was sworn into office, the outgoing Trump administration completed a deal to sell up to 50 F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft and 18 MQ-9 Reaper drones to the United Arab Emirates, Defense News reported Thursday.

The major arms sale to the Gulf nation that recently signed a peace treaty with Israel was signed only an hour before the presidential inauguration ceremony, the news outlet said, quoting Reuters.

Israel is the only country in the area flying the advanced stealth attack jet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense officials at first strenuously objected to the sale, which they said would adversely impact Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region.

Arab Spring exiles look back 10 years after Egypt uprising

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In this Feb. 11, 2011 file photo, an Egyptian woman cries as she celebrates the news of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who handed control of the country to the military, in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. A decade later, thousands are estimated to have fled abroad to escape a state, headed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, that is even more oppressive. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, File)

(AP) — The Egyptians who took to the streets on Jan. 25, 2011, knew what they were doing. They knew they risked arrest and worse. But as their numbers swelled in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, they tasted success.

Police forces backed off, and within days, former President Hosni Mubarak agreed to demands to step down.

But events didn’t turn out the way many of the protesters envisioned. A decade later, thousands are estimated to have fled abroad to escape the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi that is considered even more oppressive. The significant loss of academics, artists, journalists and other intellectuals has, along with a climate of fear, hobbled any political opposition.

Dr. Mohamed Aboelgheit was among those jailed in the southern city of Assiut in 2011 after joining calls for revolt against police brutality and Mubarak. He spent part of the uprising in a cramped cell.

Released amid the chaos, he reveled in the atmosphere of political freedom in the Arab world’s most populous country — protesting, working as a journalist and joining a campaign for a moderate presidential candidate. But it did not last.

Interim military rulers followed Mubarak. In 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a member of Egypt’s most powerful Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected as the first civilian president in the country’s history. But his tenure proved divisive. Amid massive protests, the military — led by then-Defense Minister el-Sissi — removed Morsi in 2013, dissolved parliament and eventually banned the Brotherhood as a “terrorist group.” A crackdown on dissent ensued, and el-Sissi won two terms in elections that human rights groups criticized as undemocratic.

“I began to feel, by degree, more fear and threats,” Aboelgheit said. Friends were jailed, his writings critical of the government drew attention, and “I wasn’t going to wait until it happened to me,” he added.

After el-Sissi came to power, Aboelgheit left for London, where he’s published investigative reports on other parts of the Arab world.

At his former home in Egypt, national security agents asked about him. When Aboelgheit’s wife last returned to visit relatives, she was summoned for questioning about his activities. The message was clear.

No one knows exactly how many Egyptians like Aboelgheit have fled political persecution.

Data from the World Bank shows an increase in emigres from Egypt since 2011. A total of 3,444,832 left in 2017 — nearly 60,000 more than in 2013, the years for which figures are available. But it’s impossible to tell economic migrants from political exiles.

They relocated to Berlin, Paris and London. Egyptians also have settled in Turkey, Qatar, Sudan and even Asian countries like Malaysia and South Korea.

Human Rights Watch estimated in 2019 that there were 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Egypt third, behind China and Turkey, in detaining journalists.

El-Sissi maintains Egypt has no political prisoners. The arrest of a journalist or a rights worker makes news roughly every month. Many people have been imprisoned on terrorism charges, for breaking a ban on protests or for disseminating false news. Others remain in indefinite pretrial detentions.

El-Sissi maintains Egypt is holding back Islamic extremism so it doesn’t descend into chaos like its neighbors.

“Sissi wants not only to abrogate the rights of the opposition and to prevent any critical voice from being uttered, Sissi doesn’t actually believe, not only in the opposition, but he doesn’t believe in politics,” said Khaled Fahmy, an Egyptian professor of modern Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University

Fahmy believes this is the worst period in Egypt’s modern history for personal rights.

“It’s much more serious, it’s much deeper and much darker, what Sissi has in mind,” he said.

Those abroad who could challenge el-Sissi have chosen to not return.

Taqadum al-Khatib, an academic who also worked in the nascent political scene after 2011, was researching Egypt’s former Jewish community in Germany when he learned that returning to his homeland was no longer an option.

The Egyptian cultural attaché in Berlin summoned al-Khatib for a meeting, and an official questioned him about his articles, social media posts and research. He was asked to hand over his passport but refused. Shortly thereafter, he was fired from his job at an Egyptian university. He feels lucky to be able to work toward his doctorate in Germany but misses Cairo’s bustle.

“It’s a very difficult situation. I couldn’t go back to my home,” al-Khatib said.

Fahmy said he’s seen outspoken expatriates have their Egyptian citizenship revoked.

A government press officer did not respond to a request for comment on targeting and intimidating Egyptians — either abroad or at home — based on their work as journalists, activists or academics, or for expressing political opinions.

Journalist Asma Khatib, 29, remembers the heady days of 2011, when young people thought they could bring change.

A reporter for a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news agency, Khatib covered Morsi’s short presidency amid criticism the group was using violence against opponents and seeking to monopolize power to make Egypt an Islamic state. After Morsi’s ouster, his supporters held sit-ins for his reinstatement at a square in Cairo. A month later, the new military leaders forcibly cleared them out, and more than 600 people were killed.

Khatib documented the violence. Soon, colleagues started being arrested, and she fled Egypt — first to Malaysia, then to Indonesia and Turkey.

She was tried in absentia on espionage charges in 2015, convicted and sentenced to death. Now, she and her husband Ahmed Saad, also a journalist, and their two children are seeking asylum in South Korea.

They expect they’ll never return, but also realize they’re lucky to be free. On the day the ruling was announced, the journalist remembers telling herself: “You don’t have a country anymore.”

“I know that there are lots of others like me. I’m not any different from those who are in prison,” she said.

The exiles have had ample time to think about where Egypt’s uprising failed. The broad alliance of protesters — from Islamists to secular activists — fractured without a common enemy like Mubarak, and the most extreme voices became the loudest. The role of religion in society remained largely unanswered, and liberal secular initiatives never gained traction. No one accounted for how many people would embrace former regime figures, especially in a crisis.

Most Egyptians abroad have not been politically active, fearing for family and friends back home. But some have continued on the path begun on Jan. 25, 2011.

Tamim Heikal, working in the corporate world when the protests erupted, had doubted the government could ever reform. But he soon became a communications manager for an emerging political party. Later, he watched others being locked up, and knew his turn had come when he got an invitation from intelligence officers in 2017 to “come have coffee.”

He booked a ticket to Paris and hasn’t gone back.

Now, at age 42, he wants to educate himself and others for when a popular movement re-emerges in Egypt. He makes ends meet by editing, translating and doing consulting work for rights groups, and tries to network among the diaspora.

“It’s as if I was infected with a virus, after the revolution,” he said. “I don’t know how to go back. I won’t be able to relax until change happens.”

Others try to cope in strange lands. Asma Khatib and her husband aren’t sure what to say to their young children when they ask where they’re from.

Abouelgheit, the doctor-turned-journalist, worries his son won’t speak Arabic after so much time in the United Kingdom.

He hopes to go home one day, but in the meantime, he’s considering returning to the medical profession.