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Resources updated between Monday, May 18, 2020 and Sunday, May 24, 2020

May 22, 2020

Part of the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi (File photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

A manhunt was underway in Texas for a possible second suspect after a Thursday shooting at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas that was "terror-related."

"We may have a potential second related person of interest at large in the community," Leah Greeves, an FBI supervisory senior resident, told reporters, according to KRIS-TV of Corpus Christi.

In a series of Twitter messages late Thursday, the FBI's Houston office called on the public to share any information they may have about the NAS Corpus Christi incident.

"We are not ruling out any possible motives and continue to investigate all leads," the FBI said in a post. "When we are able to release additional information, we will do so."

A gunman described as an "Arab male" and later identified by The Associated Press as Adam Alsahli of Corpus Christi was killed in a gunbattle with law enforcement at the station, located along the Gulf of Mexico, about 229 miles southwest of Houston.

Authorities say the suspect tried to speed his vehicle through a security gate at the naval facility around 6:15 a.m. Thursday but was stopped by a guard who managed to put up a barrier in time to block the driver's access.

A female security officer was shot in the chest during an exchange of gunfire with the suspect, but she was wearing body armor and survived with only minor injuries, KRIS reported.

Other security personnel soon arrived and fatally shot the suspect, the AP reported.

Following that gunbattle, local police SWAT officers and FBI agents surrounded a home in Corpus Christi. A public records search by KRIS revealed the location to be Alsahli's last known home address.

But authorities would not confirm whether the operation was related to the incident at NAS Corpus Christi, the Caller Times of Corpus Christi reported.

After the shooting, the naval air station was on lockdown for about five hours as authorities conducted their investigation.

At a news conference, Greeves declared the incident "terror-related," but provided no details on how investigators reached that conclusion.

"We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation, which is fluid and evolving," Greeves said.

Attorney General William Barr has been briefed on the matter, a Justice Department spokesman told the AP.

A similar lockdown occurred at NAS Corpus Christi last December after a suspect with a stolen firearm rammed a truck into a barricade there. The suspect later pleaded guilty to destruction of U.S. government property.

Thursday's incident also follows a Dec. 6 shooting at NAS Pensacola in Florida that left three U.S. sailors dead and eight other people wounded. The suspect in that case, who had been in contact with al-Qaeda operatives, was killed by a sheriff's deputy.

Terror-related shooting at NAS Corpus Christi prompts search for possible 2nd suspect Document

May 21, 2020

A medical staffer in Wuhan, China (File photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

W.H.O. database on health care attacks omits Chinese doctor suppression Article

May 20, 2020

Said Yusuf Ali (Photo courtesy Twitter)

Outrage as Somali journalist stabbed to death Document

The poster shared on the website of Ayatollah Khamenei

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused Iran's supreme leader of calling for the genocide of Jews over a graphic endorsing Israel's destruction that invoked the term "final solution."

The poster shared on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website showed people celebrating at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem after apparently capturing it from Israel as a Palestinian flag is raised over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"Palestine Will Be Free. The final solution: Resistance until Freedom," the text on the poster says.

The term "final solution" usually refers to the Nazi policy of extermination carried out against Jews during the Holocaust.

"The United States condemns Supreme Leader Khamenei's disgusting and hateful anti-Semitic remarks. They have no place on Twitter or on any other social media platform," Pompeo wrote on Twitter. "We know Khamenei's vile rhetoric does not represent the Iranian people's tradition of tolerance."

Highlighting a pair of tweets from Khamenei's English-language account accusing Israelis of behaving like a "cancerous tumor" and calling for arming Palestinians in the West Bank, Pompeo said Iran's leader was backing genocide of Jews.

"The leader of the world's top sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitism denies the Holocaust, sends money and weapons to anti-Israel terrorists, and now has invoked the Nazi call for the Final Solution," Pompeo said.

He added: "I ask all nations: Is this someone who can be trusted with deadly weapons?"

Pompeo appeared to be referring to the expiration in October of the UN arms embargo on Iran, which the US is pushing to extend.

Netanyahu also accused Khamenei of endorsing the "Final Solution" and issued a stark warning to Iran.

"Khamenei's threats to carry out 'The Final Solution' against Israel bring to mind the Nazi 'Final Solution' plan to annihilate the Jewish People," a statement on the Twitter account of the Prime Minister's Office said.

"He should know that any regime that threatens the destruction of the State of Israel faces a similar danger."

Khamenei has called for Israel's destruction on numerous occasions and frequently refers to Israel as a "cancerous tumor."

The poster on his website, which appeared to have later been deleted, included people waving flags of Iran-backed militia groups, among them the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah.

It also included a large portrait of Gen. Qassem Soleimani hung on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which is under Jordanian custodianship.

Soleimani, who was killed in January by a US drone strike in Iraq, was the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, which oversaw Iran's support for Hezbollah and other armed groups committed to destroying Israel. "Quds" means Jerusalem in Arabic.

Iranian state media published a letter Wednesday purportedly wrote by Soleimani shortly before he was killed. The letter was addressed to Muhammad Deif, the head of Gaza-based terror group Hamas's armed wing.

"Everyone should rest assured that no matter how much pressures increase and sanctions are intensified, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave Palestine and Palestinian people alone," the letter said, according to the Fars news agency.

The letter also said Iran would not "give up its duty" of "defending Palestine" and that "enemies of Palestine are our enemies and this is and will be our policy."

The release of the letter comes days before Quds Day, which Iran has marked since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is usually marked by regime-orchestrated demonstrations across Iran against Israel and expressing support for Palestinians. It is held on the last Friday of Ramadan, which this year is May 22.

"Quds will not be forgotten. Quds will not remain under occupation of oppressors. The Palestinian lands will one day be liberated. We do not accept and tolerate this cruelty, oppression and aggression at all. We will commemorate the highly important Quds Day," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted saying by Fars during a cabinet meeting Wednesday.

Over the weekend, Rouhani said Iranians living in areas considered to be at low risk of a further coronavirus outbreak will be allowed to attend Friday prayers including Quds Day commemorations.

In Tehran, which is deemed high-risk, a "symbolic ceremony" will be performed with a motorcade supervised by the Revolutionary Guards.

As of Wednesday, Iran has reported 126,949 COVID-19 cases and 7,183 deaths, the latter of which is the ninth highest in the world.

Experts both at home and abroad have voiced skepticism about Iran's official figures, saying the real toll could be much higher.

Khamenei's criticism also came as Iran and Israel were believed to be locked in cyberwarfare, with the Jewish state said to be behind a cyberattack on an Iranian port earlier this month in response to an attempted breach of Israel's water infrastructure by the Islamic Republic.

Iran's supreme leader calls for Israel's destruction using the phrase 'Final Solution' Document

The Executive Board meeting room of the World Health Organization (File photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

"The World Health Assembly on Tuesday unanimously agreed to establish an inquiry into the World Health Organization's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Press reports describe the investigation as 'independent,' but it's too soon to know if the probe will be free from political pressure.
...
China's state-run media are spinning this as a win for China, since specific Australian language about Beijing's role has been removed. "It is a totally different thing from the so-called independent inquiry pushed by the Australian side," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday.
...
WHO bureaucrats argue that it's too soon to begin a review with the crisis at full tilt and staff occupied. No one is suggesting director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus should spend next week being deposed, but a few steps can be taken now to get the probe rolling and ensure impartiality. If this really is an independent investigation, WHO officials dealing with the crisis needn't be involved in these early steps.

First, the member states need more specifics about the scope of the investigation and who will conduct it. Without a diverse group of experts independent of WHO, it will be impossible to produce a serious study. An order to preserve past and future data at WHO is also needed. Once a team is formed, investigators can begin setting up a timeline and determining what is known and what holes need to be filled. When the immediate crisis is over, perhaps in a few months, a more intensive review can begin that involves interviews and document requests from critical figures like Dr. Tedros..."

The Coronavirus Inquiry Article

May 19, 2020

The World Health Assembly meeting hall (File photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Taiwan's Exclusion From the World Health Assembly Article

The World Health Organization flag (File photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

"President Trump threatened to permanently cut off funding to the World Health Organization and revoke U.S. membership if the group doesn't make changes meant to curb what he called its pro-China bias.

In a Monday letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Mr. Trump said the organization has shown an 'alarming lack of independence' from Beijing and failed to adequately respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

'It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.'
...
The president had suspended contributions to the group in April pending an internal review of the WHO's response to the pandemic. The four-page letter details the results of that review.

Noting that his administration has already discussed possible reforms with WHO officials, Mr. Trump gave the group 30 days to make 'major substantive improvements' or he would cut funding and reconsider U.S. membership..."

Trump Threatens to Permanently Cut Funding to World Health Organization Article

May 18, 2020

IDF soldiers (File photo courtesy IDF)

3 Palestinians attempt attack on army post near Jerusalem Document