Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/19/2014

The Chinese government is unhappy about the $1.1 trillion spending bill that was just passed by the U.S. Congress. One provision in the bill subjects Chinese tech imports to special review, due to concerns about cyber warfare. China considers the measure to be an unfair trade restriction.

In other news, mujahideen in the Caucasus have released a video threatening terror attacks against the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Frontinus, Insubria, JD, JP, MC, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Anti-Austerity Protesters Arrested for Blocking Commerce
» Italy: Unemployment to Near 13% Through 2015
» Italy: ENI Approves 2bn-Euro Bond Issue
» Telecom Italia to Sell 1-Bn-Euro, 7-Year ‘Junk Bond’
 
USA
» Child Harassment Charges Dropped Against 2 Foreign Officers at Fort Leonard Wood
» Fight Over Bridgewater Mosque Gears Back Up, With Four Hearings Set
» Industry Powers With Access to TPP Plans Lavish Money on Congress
» Obama: Some Folks Don’t Like Me Because I’m Black
» Top Hill Lawmakers Concerned About Olympic Security, Amid New Terror Threats and Attacks
» U.S. Air Force General: Terrorist Muslim Brotherhood Members Are Deep Inside Obama Administration
 
Europe and the EU
» British PM Cameron Takes a Serious Blow From Anti-EU Party
» France Warns Europe Could be ‘Overwhelmed’ By Jihadis Returning From Syria
» Historic Wooden Town in Norway Destroyed by Fire
» Island Channel Could Power About Half of Scotland, Study Shows
» Italy: Renzi Risks Revolt Over Berlusconi Talks
» Italy: De Girolamo Says She ‘Never Abused Her Role’
» Italy: Trial Request for Piedmont Governor Cota
» Italy: PD Leader Renzi Says There is Harmony With Forza Italia
» Italy: Berlusconi Has Agreement With PD Leader Matteo Renzi
» Tension Rises in Catanzaro Over Workers Abducted in Libya
» They Made Sweden Hate Israel: Palme, Lindh and Church of Sweden
» UK: BBC’s Office Noticeboard Sparks Fresh Row Over ‘Labour Bias’
» UK: Borough of Tower Hamlets: A Byword for Sleaze
» UK: East End’s Catholic Leaders Meet Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman
» UK: Two Arrested on Suspicion of Sending Offensive Tweets in Relation to Missing Mikaeel Kular
» UKIP is Still Full of ‘Fruitcakes’ Says Michael Fallon
» Vatican: Pope Appoints New Cardinal Advisors at Troubled Bank
 
North Africa
» Egypt Prosecutors Send Ex-President Morsi to New Trial
» Former Egyptian Official Retracts Comments About Killing Americans
» Gaddafi Loyalists Vandalise Italian Cemetery in Tripoli
» Libyan Army Chief of Staff Killed in Clashes With Gangs
» Libya Launches Air Strikes Against Militias in Restive South
» Morsi to Face Fourth Trial for Defaming Egypt’s Judiciary
» Public Prosecution: Al-Jazeera Manipulated Videos to Distort Egypt’s Image
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israeli Company to Unveil Laser-Based System to Shoot Down Incoming Rockets
» Israeli Airstrike Targets Islamic Jihad Militant in Gaza
» Palestinian Authority Residents Complain Over Foreign Workers
» Report: Kerry is Behind European Boycotts of Israel
» Temple Mount: Jewish Woman Barred Over ‘Muslim’ Dress Code
 
Middle East
» Al-Qaeda Training British and European ‘Jihadists’ In Syria to Set Up Terror Cells at Home Bookmark and Share
» Briton Beaten in Saudi Jail Attacks Court Ruling as ‘Licence to Torture’
» Iranian Diplomat Dead in a Gun Attack in Yemen
» Iraq: Chaldean Patriarchate Opens Clinic for Christians and Muslims in Baghdad
» Iraqi Government Announces Offensive Against Al Qaeda
» Syria: Damascus: Ready to Exchange Prisoners With ‘Rebels’
» United Arab Emirates to Introduce Compulsory Military Service for Males
» Yemeni Police Chief Assassinated in Country’s South
 
Russia
» Protesters Clash With Police at Large Ukraine Rally
» Ukraine Anti-Government Protests Swell Into Fiery Street Battles
» Ukrainian Protesters Turn Out En Masse in Defiance of New Anti-Dissent Law
 
Caucasus
» Russian Islamic Video Threatens Sochi Olympics
» Seven Suspected Militants Killed in Southern Russia
 
South Asia
» 20 Soldiers Killed in Suicide Attack in NW Pakistan
» 3 Americans Among 21 Killed in Attack on Restaurant in Afghan Capital
» Afghanistan President Karzai Ramps up Anti-American Rhetoric, Demands Airstrikes End
» Afghanistan’s First Female Police Chief Starts Job
» Explosions Injure Anti-Government Protesters in Bangkok
» India: New Delhi: Thousands of Calls Flood Anti-Corruption Hotline
» Italy Resolute Ahead of Death-Penalty Ruling in India
» Pussy Riot Travels Abroad for Awards Show in Singapore
» US Setting Up New Office for Pakistan, Afghanistan
 
Far East
» A US Military “Pivot” To Asia, Turns Into Chinese Ascension
» China Decries U.S. Spending Bill
» China ‘Building Second Aircraft Carrier’
» Filipino Activists: New Gun Law (Even for Priests) Will Not Stop Crime
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Bodies Burnt in Street in Central African Republic
» Boko Haram Attacks Near Border Spark Fear in Cameroon
 
Immigration
» Disappointment Urges Thousands of Greeks to Migrate
» Free Movement Won’t be Renegotiated, EU Warns
» Italy: Police Find 17 Illegal Immigrants Near Slovenian Border
» Swiss Scrap Migrant Benefits
 
Culture Wars
» Obama to Supreme Court: Religious Beliefs Not Important
 
General
» Christians Will be Called to Suffer and Die for Their Faith in This New Era of Martyrdom, Says Archbishop of Canterbury
» Cisco Plans to Integrate Everything to the Internet
» Paypal Says Cash “Obsolete by 2017”
» Report Charting Persecution of Christians Worldwide Reveals Most Abuse in Muslim Countries
» Rights Group Says Laws Are Failing to Protect Girls From Being Forced Into Early Marriages
» The Muslim Brotherhood: Wolf Not Even in Sheep’s Clothing
» We Have Entered the New Age of Christian Martyrdom
 

Anti-Austerity Protesters Arrested for Blocking Commerce

‘Pitchfork’ demos ‘threatened businesses into closing’

(ANSA) — Andria, January 17 — Seven people were placed under house arrest and others were ordered to report to police for blocking commerce in the southern Puglia region amid nationwide anti-austerity ‘Pitchfork’ protests in December.

A total of 25 Puglia residents have been cited. Some allegedly forced businessmen and shopkeepers in the cities of Andria and Barletta to close down their activities on the days the protests took place last month. A local Ipercoop supermarket and an Andria-based bank are among the businesses that suffered disruption. The Pitchfork protesters are part of a nationwide movement that blames government mismanagement for Italy’s continuing economic crisis and opposes austerity-driven tax hikes. They have also taken to other anti-government causes, occupying roads, squares and railways.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Unemployment to Near 13% Through 2015

Bank of Italy sees 1% inflation in 2014, 1.4% next year

(ANSA) — Rome, January 17 — The timid economic recovery this year and the estimates for next year will have a delayed effect on combating rising unemployment levels, which the Bank of Italy estimates at 12.8% this year and 12.9% next year, the central bank reported Friday. In its latest monthly bulletin, the Bank of Italy also cut its inflation targets from its previous July release to just above 1% for this year and 1.4% in 2015. “Inflation, which dropped to 1.3% in 2013, would have dropped slightly more this year to then level itself up at about 1.5% in 2015,” the central bank said in its report. The central bank said it expected gross domestic product (GDP) to expand 0.7% this year, and 1% next year, as the euro zone’s third largest economy pulls out of a two-year recession, its longest since the postwar. The bank added that only a pickup in internal demand can extend the recovery to the labour market, adding that even as the first signs of the stabilization of the economy are emerging together with a posted increase in the number of hours worked, the labour market conditions remain difficult.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ENI Approves 2bn-Euro Bond Issue

Helps maintain ‘well-balanced financial structure’

(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — The board of directors of Italian energy company Eni on Thursday approved the possible issue of one or more bonds, to be placed with institutional investors, with a maximum aggregate value of two billion euros.

The bonds will be issued in one or more tranches by January 16, 2015, a company statement said.

They will allow Eni “to maintain a well-balanced financial structure in terms of short-term and medium/long-term debt and average duration of the debt,” added the statement. The bonds may be listed on one or more regulated markets.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Telecom Italia to Sell 1-Bn-Euro, 7-Year ‘Junk Bond’

First time company sells debt since Standard & Poor’s cut rating

(ANSA) — Milan, January 16 — Telecom Italia is readying itself for the issue of its first ‘junk bond’, the first time it is selling debt since Standard & Poor’s cut its ratings.

The company is gearing up to sell a one-billion-euro, 7-year bond bearing a yield that it 300 basis points above standard mid-swap rates, according to financial sources close to the company.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Child Harassment Charges Dropped Against 2 Foreign Officers at Fort Leonard Wood

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. — Pulaski County authorities have dropped charges against two foreign military officers who were training at Fort Leonard Wood when they were arrested.

The Rolla Daily News reports that Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, of Jordan, and Antoine Chlela, of Lebanon, were charged in October with enticement of a child and harassment. Court records say the men allegedly approached a 12-year-old girl at a bus stop and asked her to enter their vehicle.

Pulaski County prosecutor Kevin Hillman said Friday that the charges were dropped as part of an agreement that includes the men paying the cost of their incarceration. Hillman says they were taken by Fort Leonard Wood officials, and he expects them to be out of the U.S. by Monday. Under terms of the plea, they will not be allowed to return to the country.

The men were taking courses at Fort Leonard Wood when they were arrested.

           — Hat tip: Frontinus [Return to headlines]
 

Fight Over Bridgewater Mosque Gears Back Up, With Four Hearings Set

The planning board will resume hearings this month on a proposed mosque after a federal judge directed the township to reconsider the plans without a controversial ordinance limiting houses of worship in residential zones…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Industry Powers With Access to TPP Plans Lavish Money on Congress

According to data analyzed by government transparency advocate MapLight, current members of Congress received around US$24 million in the last ten years from organizations represented on an exclusive industry board, created and staffed by Congress. This board has inside access — such as not even granted to members of Congress, much less the public — to the highly-secretive negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which promises to give powerful industry players more clout over global trade rights.

The United States is currently in negotiations with 11 other Pacific Rim nations on the lucrative trade pact known as theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to liberalize trade among the signees. Among the contentious issues in the TPP is that the agreement stipulates new powers for multinationals that would allow them to challenge country laws in privately run international courts. Washington has endorsed such powers in previous trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but conditions in the TPP could grant multinational more powers to challenge a wider range of laws. Under NAFTA several companies including Dow Chemicals and Exxon Mobil have sought to overrule regulations on fracking, oil drilling, and drug patents.

“The United States, as in previous rounds, has shown no flexibility on its proposal, being one of the most significant barriers to closing the chapter,” said a memo from one of the participating countries obtained by the Huffington Post.

Ultimately, the pact would give corporate entities much more influence over commerce, elevating “individual foreign firms to equal status with sovereign nations,” consumer rights advocate Public Citizen says on its website.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama: Some Folks Don’t Like Me Because I’m Black

President Obama thinks some people don’t like him because of his race. “There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black President,” Obama told The New Yorker’s David Remnick in the magazine’s Jan. 27 issue.

“Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a black President,” he added.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Top Hill Lawmakers Concerned About Olympic Security, Amid New Terror Threats and Attacks

Top Capitol Hill lawmakers on Sunday expressed concerns about terror attacks at the upcoming Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, amid nearby terror attacks and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assurances that his country will “do whatever it takes” to protect athletes and visitors.

“The threats are real,” Texas GOP Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told ABC’s “This Week.”

McCaul is among those who think an attack during the games next month will most likely occur outside of the Olympic city and that terrorists will go after “soft targets” such as roads and transportation systems.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Air Force General: Terrorist Muslim Brotherhood Members Are Deep Inside Obama Administration

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Tom McInerney, who served as both assistant vice chief of staff and commander in chief of U.S. Air Forces Europe, has surprised interviewers on a radio program by confirming the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood inside the U.S. government. The Islamic supremacist movement’s influence on Washington was reported in “Impeachable Offenses: The Case to Remove Barack Obama from Office” by New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott.

The book documents that Obama, aided the rise to power of Islamic extremist groups in the Middle East as members served on important national security advisory boards. The book confirms the Obama administration may have exposed national security information through Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, who has deep personal and family associations with the Muslim Brotherhood.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

British PM Cameron Takes a Serious Blow From Anti-EU Party

(AGI) London, Jan 19 — British Prime Minister David Cameron took a serious blow from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) ahead of the European parliamentary elections. A survey showed that the right-wing Eurosceptic UKIP, led by Nigel Farage, is the absolute leader in the polls. Even if UKIP does not have a seat in the British parliament, its popularity poses a serious problem for Cameron, who risks having to share the conservative electorate with Farage’s party in the 2015 elections. UKIP’s popularity is sufficient to raise concerns among the Eurosceptic MPs in Cameron’s own party.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

France Warns Europe Could be ‘Overwhelmed’ By Jihadis Returning From Syria

France’s interior minister, Manuel Valls, warns Europe could be ‘overwhelmed’ by hundreds of jihadis returning from Syria

French interior minister warned on Sunday that the possibility of terror attacks by the hundreds of European jihadists returning home from Syria represents “the greatest danger we will have to face in the coming years”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Historic Wooden Town in Norway Destroyed by Fire

Laerdalsoyri, a touristic town in Norway’s western fjords, has been partially destroyed by fire

A fire has destroyed much of a historic village in western Norway, burning down many of its famed 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses and forcing the evacuation of local residents.

The fire in the riverside village of Laerdalsoyri, some 200 miles northwest of Oslo, began in a house on Saturday evening and was still not under control by midday on Sunday, fanned by strong winds.

“There are still 25 smouldering fires in the town and up the hillside,” said Jan Geir Solheim, mayor of the town. He said they were using helicopters to extinguish the fires on the hills.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Island Channel Could Power About Half of Scotland, Study Shows

Renewable tidal energy sufficient to power about half of Scotland could be harnessed from a single stretch of water off the north coast of the country, engineers say. Researchers have completed the most detailed study yet of how much tidal power could be generated by turbines placed in the Pentland Firth, between mainland Scotland and Orkney, and estimate 1.9 gigawatts (GW) could be available.

The in-depth assessment by engineers at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh offers valuable insights into how to develop and regulate this clean energy resource effectively.The Pentland Firth is a prime candidate to house marine power projects because of its tidal currents, which are among the fastest in the British Isles.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Renzi Risks Revolt Over Berlusconi Talks

Left wing of party threatens to sink Letta govt in response

(By Paul Virgo) (ANSA) — Rome, January 17 — Matteo Renzi, the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), was warned Friday that he could face an internal revolt if he strikes a deal with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi over a new election law.

Renzi said this week he was considering meeting with the three-time premier to try to wrap up a deal on a new election system to replace the old one that was recently declared invalid by the Constitutional Court. The meeting may take place this weekend.

Critics in Renzi’s own party have said talks with Forza Italia leader Berlusconi, who was handed a binding conviction last year and expelled from parliament, would help rehabilitate his marred image. One senior lawmaker who is close to Renzi’s predecessor as PD chief, Pier Luigi Bersani, said many in the party would react angrily to a deal by bring down the government led by another party member, Premier Enrico Letta.

“If a Berlusconi-Renzi pact that excludes all the other (political parties) is sealed tomorrow, the government majority ends tomorrow,” said PD MP Alfredo D’Attorre.

He added that parts of the PD would refuse to vote for a new election law modelled on the Spanish system, one of three proposals forwarded by Renzi and thought to be acceptable to Berlusconi.

“The Spanish system in an Italian sauce is Constitutionally and political impossible to vote for,” D’Attorre said. Renzi has defended his position, saying it is only logical to try to get the agreement of the main opposition party for a new election law.

His drive to seek a deal with Berlusconi’s party at the expense of other groups has caused problems for Letta’s government as it has upset the the main junior partner on the coalition, the New Centre Right (NCD) of Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Angelino Alfano.

Renzi, who has kept tension high for Letta with repeated criticism of the government since winning a party leadership primary last month, shrugged of talk of divisions after D’Attorre’s threat.

“It does not seem to me (that the PD is wobbling),” Renzi, the 39-year-old mayor of Florence who has been compared to the young Tony Blair, said via his Twitter account, @matteorenzi.

“We voted yesterday (at a party meeting), we’re going to vote Monday. And, above all, we voted on December 8 (in the primary)”. Renzi has denied wanting to pass a new election law quickly so that he can scupper Letta’s executive and provoke a fresh vote, in the hope of winning and taking his party colleague’s place at the helm of government.

But many, including some in the PD — the biggest group in parliament — have said they do not believe him. The executive has enjoyed little peace of late, with Renzi’s criticism of its lack of progress on economic and institutional reforms causing continual friction.

Renzi and Letta reportedly had a heated exchange in a face-to-face meeting Thursday after the PD secretary gave the government a particularly hard pummeling at party meeting. “Recent reform efforts have been a list of failures: no electoral reforms, the idea of a major institutional reform was (blocked in parliament),” Renzi said.

Renzi said his criticism is aimed at stirring the government into action.

Three of the minor partners supporting Letta’s executive on Friday called for talks to avert a government crisis.

A joint statement by the NCD and two small centrist parties, Civic Choice and the PPL, called for talks to prevent tension within the PD causing a crisis “into the unknown”. Alfano visited President Giorgio Napolitano, who was instrumental in giving life to Letta’s left-right government last year to end a long deadlock following February’s inconclusive general election, to talk about the situation.

Based on an unnatural alliance between the PD and ex-premier Berlusconi’s now defunct centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) party, the government veered from one crisis to another for much of last year.

Letta said the government was stronger after it survived the defection of Berlusconi’s party, which has been revamped under its former name Forza Italia, thanks to the support of a splinter group of moderate centre-right lawmakers led by Alfano.

But Renzi’s approach has meant that, so far, Letta’s hope of having a more steady environment to work in has been disappointed.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: De Girolamo Says She ‘Never Abused Her Role’

Agriculture minister under fire over appointments

(ANSA) — Rome, January 17 — Italy’s Agriculture Minister Nunzia De Girolamo defended herself in parliament Friday over allegations that she improperly interfered in appointments in a province of the south. De Girolamo said she is determined to “explain the reasons why I have never abused my role as a deputy (in the House) and I have never violated the Constitution”.

The minister has come under fire following the publication of wiretaps of her conversations regarding appointments in the southern province of Benevento.

The wiretaps stemmed from an investigation into health sector appointments and contracts in which the 38-year-old minister is not being probed.

Nevertheless, De Girolamo has been accused of improper interference by some, and earlier this week, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) presented a no-confidence motion against her in the Lower House.

Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, the leader of De Girolamo’s New Centre Right (NCD) party, has defended his political colleague, saying that minister “is not running away” from accusations.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Trial Request for Piedmont Governor Cota

37 councillors also implicated in spending probe

(ANSA) — Turin, January 16 — Prosecutors in Turin on Thursday requested Piedmont Governor Roberto Cota be indicted in connection with a probe into alleged misuse of public funds for political parties.

Prosecutors also requested that 37 regional councillors be sent to trial, with charges reportedly including embezzlement, fraud and illegal party funding.

Cota, a leading member of the right-wing regionalist Northern League who was elected Piedmont President in 2010, has always maintained his innocence.

“I can only say that I have always respected the law, (working) in the interest of the Piedmont region and of individual citizens,” Cota said last November.

Cota’s predecessor, Mercedes Bresso of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), views the situation differently.

“This is the ugliest page in the history of the regional institution, a region humiliated by a president who was elected illegally and who is now indicted for personal expenses made using public funds,” she said.

Cota beat Bresso in the 2010 elections with 47.3% of the vote to her 46.9%, but last week regional administrative court of Piedmont annulled those results because of voting irregularities in Cota’s favour.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: PD Leader Renzi Says There is Harmony With Forza Italia

(AGI) Rome, Jan 18 — Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Matteo Renzi said that “there is total harmony” with the centre-right Forza Italia. He explained that they have the same outlook on the electoral legislation as well as on Chapter V of the Constitution and Senate reforms.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi Has Agreement With PD Leader Matteo Renzi

(AGI) Rome, Jan 18 — Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right Forza Italia, made an agreement with centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Matteo Renzi on Saturday. “The agreement with Renzi envisages a new electoral bill to consolidate the large parties in order to streamline the political scenario,” said Silvio Berlusconi at the end of his talks with Renzi. In a communique, Berlusconi said that Forza Italia “welcomes the Democratic Party’s goal of promptly starting a constructive debate on institutional reforms.” .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Tension Rises in Catanzaro Over Workers Abducted in Libya

(AGI) Catanzaro, Jan 19 — Concerns are rising in Pianopoli and Feroleto Antico, two towns in the province of Catanzaro. These are the homes of Francesco Scalise and Luciano Gallo, the two workers who went missing without trace two days ago in Libya.

People are talking of nothing else in the area, as they tirelessly follow the news programmes, newspapers and internet sites in the hope of receiving some good news. There is a continuous flow of relatives and friends in and out of the homes of the two abducted workers, while their families refuse to comment on their disappearance. Their only comment, on Saturday, was that the Foreign Office was working on the incident.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

They Made Sweden Hate Israel: Palme, Lindh and Church of Sweden

by Ingrid Carlqvist

Olof Palme changed foreign politics and pushed Sweden toward Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. At the same time the hate toward Israel was born in the country that had previously had strong friendship ties to the Jewish state.

— In the 1950s we loved Sweden and looked up to you. Now we live with a kind of love-hate relationship with you, says Israel’s former ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, to Dispatch International.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: BBC’s Office Noticeboard Sparks Fresh Row Over ‘Labour Bias’

Conservative MP Rob Wilson writes to Lord Hall calling for an investigation into a string of unbalanced reports and a BBC staff noticeboard displaying anti-Tory newspaper clippings

The BBC is facing fresh allegations of bias in favour of the Labour Party after it emerged that journalists have pinned a series of anti-Tory tabloid newspaper headlines to the walls of its Westminster studios…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Borough of Tower Hamlets: A Byword for Sleaze

by Andrew Gilligan

Muslim mayor Lutfur Rahman in line of fire over public grants in Tower Hamlets, East London

The Old Poplar Town Hall, in East London, has a secure place in British political history. It was here, in 1921, that radical Labour councillors, led by George Lansbury, began a rebellion against “unfair” rates that resulted in them being sent to prison, and triggered reform of a system that discriminated against poor areas such as Poplar.

Almost a century later, Poplar Town Hall, now absorbed into the borough of Tower Hamlets, is making history of a different kind…

A large and attractive Victorian listed building, a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf and steps from a future Crossrail station, it is worth millions. But The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that in 2011 the council sold it for £875,000, little more than what a three-bedroom Victorian house in the neighbourhood would cost. Poplar Town Hall, though, is big enough for its new owners to be converting it to a 25-bedroom hotel…

So who are the new owners of Poplar Town Hall? It was sold to a company called Dreamstar, one of whose key shareholders, Mujibul Islam, is chief executive of Medialink, the registered owner of Mr Rahman’s election campaign website, lutfurformayor.com. Another main shareholder, Alfaz Kabiri, is director of a “regeneration” company based in the East London Mosque offices of the IFE…

don’t expect anything to happen to Lutfur Rahman any time soon. Terrified of being accused of racism, the authorities appear content to let Tower Hamlets stew in its own juice.

[JP note: See also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8570506/Police-covered-up-violent-campaign-to-turn-London-area-Islamic.html ]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: East End’s Catholic Leaders Meet Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman

Lutfur Rahman met Roman Catholic leaders in London’s East End as the New Year campaign for May’s elections for Tower Hamlets mayor got under way. He was invited to Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School in Shadwell on Tuesday to meet 60 leading figures and community members…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Two Arrested on Suspicion of Sending Offensive Tweets in Relation to Missing Mikaeel Kular

Derbyshire Police said they had assisted colleagues at Police Scotland by arresting a man on suspicion of sending offensive tweets in relation to the disappearance of toddler Mikaeel Kular. A force spokesman said: “Officers arrested the 26-year-old Heanor man this morning on suspicion of committing a racially aggravated public order offence…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP is Still Full of ‘Fruitcakes’ Says Michael Fallon

A senior Conservative minister who is tipped to the party’s next chairman has said there are still “fruitcakes” in the UK Independence Party.

A senior Conservative minister who is tipped to the party’s next chairman has said there are still “fruitcakes” in the UK Independence Party. Michael Fallon, a business minister, made the comments after a Ukip councillor linked recent storms and floods to the Coalition’s decision to legalise same sex marriage. Speaking about the state of Ukip on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Show, Mr Fallon said the comments showed that “there clearly are one or two fruitcakes still around there”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Vatican: Pope Appoints New Cardinal Advisors at Troubled Bank

Vatican City, 15 January (AKI) — Pope Francis on Wednesday announced a new roster of cardinals to oversee the scandal-plague Vatican Bank.

Only one cardinal from the previous five-cardinal commission reconfirmed less than a year ago to monitor the bank’s operations, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, was re-appointed.

The four new cardinals on the panel include Francis’ hand-picked secretary of state, Cardinal-elect Pietro Parolin and his close friend, Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, the Vatican’s chief inter-faith dialogue official.

Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna, Thomas Christopher Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, are the other two new appointees, the Vatican said.

“The president could be nominated from the commission at its next meeting,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Francis has put emphasis on cleaning up the Institute for Works of Religion (Ior), as the bank is formally known. It has been hit by a series of financial scandals and has long been tainted by money-laundering allegations.

In June last year Francis named a trusted cleric to oversee Ior’s management, Monsignor Battista and appointed a special commission of inquiry that includes a female US academic to probe the bank.

On 16 February last year, only days after announcing his shock resignation, Francis’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI confirmed the existing members of the bank’s supervisory body for another five years.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt Prosecutors Send Ex-President Morsi to New Trial

Egypt’s prosecutors referred to trial Sunday the country’s former Islamist president on charges of insulting the judiciary and defaming its members to spread hate— the fourth case filed against Mohammed Morsi since his July ouster, the state news agency reported.

Morsi is already facing three separate trials on various charges, including inciting the murder of his opponents, conspiring with foreign groups and organizing jailbreaks— all of which can carry the death penalty. Only one case has opened and it is due to resume next month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Former Egyptian Official Retracts Comments About Killing Americans

CAIRO — A former Egyptian lawmaker who threatened on a popular TV show that Americans would be “slaughtered in their homes” if an attempt is made on the life of the country’s military chief recanted on Sunday, saying his comments were misconstrued.

The Jan. 13 comments by Mostafa Bakry, a well-known journalist with close ties to the military, created a buzz on social media this past week but drew no comment from the nation’s military-backed government. Bakry based his comments about killing Americans on what he called a conspiracy led by the United States to assassinate military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gaddafi Loyalists Vandalise Italian Cemetery in Tripoli

(AGI) Tripoli, Jan 19 — Gaddafi loyalists broke into and vandalised the Italian cemetery in Tripoli on Saturday night.

The Libya Herald reported that dozens of loyalists destroyed the entrance of the cemetery and the guard box, but were halted by locals and chased away before they were able to damage the tombs.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Libyan Army Chief of Staff Killed in Clashes With Gangs

Libyan security sources say an army chief of staff has died in clashes with gangs south of Tripoli, the latest official killed in the country’s ongoing unrest. Mohammed Karah died Sunday of a gunshot wound to the head, after participating in an offensive against gangs who had been stealing cars and blocking roads in the Rishfana area on the outskirts of Tripoli. Two others from the security forces were wounded.

Since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in Libya’s 2011 civil war, gunmen have killed low-level government employees, activists, clerics and security officials. In worsening security conditions, shootings of higher-ranking officials have become more common. Last week, the deputy minister of electricity was assassinated.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Libya Launches Air Strikes Against Militias in Restive South

Libyan war planes targeted areas of the restive south late Saturday after gunmen stormed an air force base in the region, prompting the army to send in ground troops. Elsewhere, two Italian construction workers have been kidnapped in eastern Libya. The armed forces have been placed on alert following days of skirmishes between rival tribesmen and militias.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Morsi to Face Fourth Trial for Defaming Egypt’s Judiciary

Egyptian prosecutors have referred the country’s ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of defaming the judiciary. Morsi is already facing three separate trials on various charges.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Public Prosecution: Al-Jazeera Manipulated Videos to Distort Egypt’s Image

The Public Prosecution said defendants of media center, who were collecting and manipulating videos in a way that contradicts the truth in order to be screened on Al-Jazeera and CNN channels, are working as reporters for Al-Jazeera English TV channel.

Al-Jazeera headquarters in Doha used to assign them with specific topics to transmit on Al-Jazeera TV channel, the prosecution said, adding that Australian reporter Peter Greste is working as Al-Jazeera reporter in Cairo without permission from the authorities concerned.

The Qatari TV channel used to pay huge amounts of money daily to the reporters in order to make the required videos that distort the country’s image, the prosecution said.

The defendants are accused of possessing unlicensed wireless communication and broadcasting devices in order to violate national security and broadcasting false statements and news that aim to disturb public order, it added.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israeli Company to Unveil Laser-Based System to Shoot Down Incoming Rockets

JERUSALEM — A state-owned Israeli arms company says it will unveil a new laser-defense system next month that will be capable of shooting down short-range rockets and mortar fire.

Once deployed, Iron Beam would add another element of protection to Israel’s multilayered missile defense system. Israel is developing a new generation of its “Arrow” system to intercept long-range ballistic missiles in space. It also is developing a system to intercept medium-range missiles and has deployed “Iron Dome,” which shoots down short-range rockets.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Israeli Airstrike Targets Islamic Jihad Militant in Gaza

JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) — Israeli aircraft targeted and killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said. A statement said Ahmad Sa’ad was a key figure in Islamic Jihad who specialized in firing rockets into southern Israel, including five launched at the city of Asheklon last Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Palestinian Authority Residents Complain Over Foreign Workers

Workers in Israel and the Palestinian Authority now have something in common — complaints about foreign workers taking away what are supposed to be their good-paying jobs. According to a Bethlehem lawyer, workers in the city are up in arms over the arrival of a large contingent of Serbian construction workers who are building a project that they feel they should be working on.

The project is being funded by Russia, and Bethlehem residents were told that it was to generate dozens of jobs for construction workers. Because of the inability or unwillingness of the Palestinian Authority to prevent terror attacks against Israel, many PA construction workers who at one time worked in Israel have been unable to get jobs there, as Israel now prevents mass entry of PA workers out of fear that they will be recruited by terror groups to carry out attacks. As a result, most construction workers rely on PA government projects for jobs…

[poetic justice! 🙂 ]

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

Report: Kerry is Behind European Boycotts of Israel

Governmental sources report that US Secretary of State John Kerry is behind the European boycott threats on Israeli products and companies operating in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The EU published its guidelines last July, boycotting Israeli companies operating over the 1949 Armistice lines. At the moment, Kerry is making sure the threats stay in check, but as soon as the peace talks fail he intends to open the floodgates and spur on full-blown international boycotts on Israel, reports Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio). Palestinian Authority (PA) officials reported last September that Kerry was putting pressure on the EU to delay boycotts so as to give him an opportunity to push Israel into peace talks. That report also appears to support the new revelations regarding Kerry’s manipulation of anti-Israel boycotts.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Temple Mount: Jewish Woman Barred Over ‘Muslim’ Dress Code

A religious Jewish woman who wanted to visit the Temple Mount on Sunday morning was told she could not enter the holy site because her skirt was too short, Temple Mount activists have reported.

The woman was wearing thick black tights, a knee-length black skirt, and a long-sleeved black top.

An Israeli police officer at the site explained to the young woman that while her clothing was sufficiently modest under Jewish law (halakha), and while the Israel Police saw no problem with her attire, authority to make decisions regarding visitors’ modesty belongs to the Islamic Waqf — which had decided that her skirt was not sufficiently modest…

[To me this stinks of ‘provocation’ and maybe the Waqf are trying to brew trouble for the sake of Kerry and his cronies, they let the tourists on the mount with less modestly dressed…]

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

Al-Qaeda Training British and European ‘Jihadists’ In Syria to Set Up Terror Cells at Home Bookmark and Share

British people passport-holders fighting in Syria are being trained as “jihadists” and then encouraged to return to the UK to launch attacks on home soil, an al-Qaeda defector has told The Daily Telegraph.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Briton Beaten in Saudi Jail Attacks Court Ruling as ‘Licence to Torture’

A Briton held in “horrendous” conditions in Saudi Arabia today branded a European court decision to block his £2.5 million damages claim a “carte blanche” for torture. Ron Jones says he was subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation and death threats following his arrest in the capital Riyadh, from which he still suffers nightmares 12 years later…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iranian Diplomat Dead in a Gun Attack in Yemen

(AGI) Sanaa,Jan 18 — Ali Asghar Assadi, an Iranian diplomat, has died in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa while resisting a kidnap, Yemeni security sources said. Tehran confirmed the attack and said that as the diplomat was driving away from the ambassador’s residence, a van tried to block his way. The diplomat resisted and tried to escape, but his attackers shot him three times in the chest, stomach and shoulders.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: Chaldean Patriarchate Opens Clinic for Christians and Muslims in Baghdad

“It is an initiative that helps spread a spirit of cooperation among all citizens” and enhance the role of Christians, “true members of this country,” Mar Sako told AsiaNews. The facility is in a former retirement home in a Shia part of the capital. Muslim leaders emphasise the role of the minority in the defence “of the principles of peace and coexistence.”

Baghdad (AsiaNews) — “These projects and initiatives in the humanitarian field help spread a spirit of cooperation among all citizens. They also make it clear that Christians are true members of this country, who want to do good for everyone,” said His Beatitude Mar Raphael Louis Sako I as he spoke to AsiaNews about the spirit that led to the establishment of a medical clinic in Baghdad, strongly supported by the Chaldean Patriarchate and open to Christians, Muslims and members of other religious faiths, without distinction or discrimination.

On Monday, the leaders of the Iraqi Church inaugurated the St Joseph’s Hospital, which is located in Baladiyat, East Baghdad. During the ceremony, Mar Sako cut the ribbon in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Giorgio Lingua, bishops, priests, nuns, Muslims clerics, representatives of the central government as well as ordinary citizens, curious to see the new facility up front.

The clinic is located in a mostly Shia area of the capital. Muslim religious leaders took the opportunity of the opening ceremony to thank Christians, emphasising the role of the Church “in building the country and spreading the principles of peace and coexistence among all citizens.”

In this regard, the Chaldean Patriarch said, “Muslims have already come to realise the spirit of the openness that Christians have towards all religions, especially Muslims”. In concluding, His Beatitude noted that the clinic is “open to all without exception.”

During the ceremony (picture from the Chaldean Patriarchate website), Mgr Shlemon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, explained the various departments, thanking those who “have actively contributed” to the facility, in particular the Endowment Office for Christians, Yazidi and Sabians.

Through this initiative, the Iraqi Catholic Church wants to create a space “open to all religions” in “the service of society.”

The facility was initially designed to provide care and serve as a retirement home for the elderly when it opened in 2010, but that proved unsatisfactory Therefore, it was decided to turn it into a real hospital.

Sources in the Chaldean Patriarchate said that only the outpatient clinic is open, but at present, there are no accommodations for patients, only specialised areas for the medical staff. Eventually though, the whole facility should be up and running.

Local Muslims reacted positively to the initiative, with positive comments for a project that is “vital” for local residents.

Directed by Ghaleb Mansour, the hospital also has a small but pleasant church for religious services. It is here that the opening ceremony was held.

St Joseph’s Hospital is a sign of “hope” and “humanity” in a country shaken by acts of violence that have reached a worrying level in 2014. Yesterday alone, more than 70 people died in a series of bombings in various parts of Iraq.

The violence has now reached the level of 2005 and 2006. In 2013, the official death toll stood at 8,868. So far this year, almost 300 people have been killed.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Iraqi Government Announces Offensive Against Al Qaeda

BAGHDAD — Iraqi government forces and allied tribal militias launched an all-out offensive Sunday to push Al Qaeda militants from a provincial capital, an assault that killed or wounded some 20 police officers and government-allied tribesmen, officials said.

Since late December, members of Iraq’s Al Qaeda branch — known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — have taken over parts of Ramadi, the capital of the largely Sunni western province of Anbar. They also control the center of the nearby city of Fallujah, along with other non-Al Qaeda groups that also oppose the Shiite-led government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: Damascus: Ready to Exchange Prisoners With ‘Rebels’

Lavrov, also for humanitarian measures before Geneva 2

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim (L) arrive for a meeting in Moscow

(ANSAmed) — MOSCOW — Damascus is ready to exchange prisoners with rebels, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Muallim announced Friday in Moscow after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. ‘I informed minister Lavrov that we are ready to exchange detained prisoners with prisoners captured by adversaries’, he said.

Lavrov announced that Damascus is ready to take a number of humanitarian measures after calls from Washington and Moscow to the regime and rebels for a ceasefire ahead of the Geneva 2 peace conference. ‘We notice that the Syrian government is ready to take concrete steps of a humanitarian nature’, said Lavrov, citing transport of humanitarian aid to east Guta, Aleppo and the Damascus area.(

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

United Arab Emirates to Introduce Compulsory Military Service for Males

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun the process of introducing compulsory military service for adult males. Military service for females will remain optional.

Observers say the move, at least in part, is designed to boost the number of Emirati national in the federation’s armed forces. The military and police force rely heavily on foreigners who make up around 90 percent of the UAE’s population.

It is also considered possible that the UAE is seeking to bolster its forces to deter potential threats from nearby Iran despite longstanding trade and cultural links between the two. The UAE may also be wary of nearby tensions in Syria, Iraq, and Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The move follows similar action taken by Qatar which approved a draft law mandating men in the Gulf state to do military service in November. Kuwait is also debating the introduction of compulsory military service.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Yemeni Police Chief Assassinated in Country’s South

Yemeni security officials say that an unidentified gunman shot and killed a police director in the southwest city of Taiz, the latest in a series of assassinations of the country’s security officers. A gunman on motorcycle shot Police Director Abd el-Wali el-Turkmi in the head while he was driving his car Sunday, the sources say.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists. Militants have carried out similar assassinations of military and government leaders in recent years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Protesters Clash With Police at Large Ukraine Rally

(Reuters) — Protesters clashed with riot police in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday after tough anti-protest legislation, which the political opposition says paves the way for a police state, was rushed through parliament last week.

A group of young masked demonstrators attacked a cordon of police with sticks and tried to overturn a bus blocking their way to the parliament building after opposition politicians called on people to disregard the new legislation.

Despite appeals from opposition leaders not to resort to violence, and a personal intervention from boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, protesters continued to throw smoke bombs and hurl fireworks and other objects at police.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Anti-Government Protests Swell Into Fiery Street Battles

Clashes between police and anti-government protestors in Ukraine’s capital escalated into fiery street battles Sunday as thousands of demonstrators hurled rocks and firebombs to set police vehicles ablaze. Dozens were injured.

Police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons, but were outnumbered by the protesters. Many of the riot police held their shields over their heads to protect themselves from the projectiles thrown by demonstrators on the other side of a cordon of buses.

The violence was a sharp escalation of Ukraine’s two-month political crisis, which has brought round-the-clock protest gatherings, but had been largely peaceful.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukrainian Protesters Turn Out En Masse in Defiance of New Anti-Dissent Law

Protesters have clashed with riot police in Kyiv amid renewed anti-government demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people have rallied in the capital in defiance against strict new curbs on protests.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Islamic Video Threatens Sochi Olympics

MOSCOW (AP) — An Islamic militant group in Russia’s North Caucasus has claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the southern city of Volgograd last month and posted a video threatening to strike the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

There had been no previous claim of responsibility for the bombings, which killed 34 people and heightened security fears before next month’s Olympics.

In the video, two Russian-speaking men sitting in front of black banners with Arabic verses warn President Vladimir Putin that if the games are held, “we will give you a present for the innocent Muslim blood being spilled all around the world.” They add that “for the tourists who come there will be a present, too.”

The video was posted Sunday on the website of the militant group Vilayat Dagestan.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Seven Suspected Militants Killed in Southern Russia

(AGI) Makhachkala, Jan 18 — Two bombs exploded on Friday in the Daghestan capital city of Makhachkala, injuring at least seven people. The news agency Itar Tass had reported the death of several people, but that has not been confirmed. Russian special security forces killed seven people, including a woman, in Semender on Saturday. They were suspected of being Islamist militants. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) said that the gunmen refused to lower their weapons and were shot dead. Makhmud Aliyev, and Zaira Aliyeva were among the dead militants. Makhachkala, is 620 km east of Sochi, which will be hosting the Winter Olympics n February. President Valdimir Putin has vowed that the Games will be “secure”.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

20 Soldiers Killed in Suicide Attack in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) — At least 20 soldiers were killed and 25 others injured in a suicide bomb attack on security forces’ convoy in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Bannu on Sunday morning, local media reported…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

3 Americans Among 21 Killed in Attack on Restaurant in Afghan Capital

Three Americans were among 21 killed in a Taliban attack Friday on a Kabul restaurant popular with foreigners and affluent Afghans, the deadliest violence against foreign civilians in the country since the start of the war nearly 13 years ago.

“The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has confirmed that three U.S. Citizens were killed during the attack in Kabul on January 17th. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of those killed” a State Department spokesperson said Saturday evening.

The victims have been identified as Alexis “Lexie” Kamerman, an employee of the American University of Afghanistan, Dr. Alexandros Petersen, a professor at the university, and Basra Hassan, a Somali-American UNICEF worker.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Afghanistan President Karzai Ramps up Anti-American Rhetoric, Demands Airstrikes End

Afghanistan’s president demanded Sunday that the United States no longer carry out military operations or airstrikes and must jump-start peace talks with the Taliban before his country signs a security deal to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014.

President Hamid Karzai’s deepening anti-American rhetoric comes as the Taliban intensifies its assaults ahead of the planned withdrawal and after Friday’s militant raid on a popular Kabul restaurant, the deadliest single attack against foreign civilians in the course of the nearly 13-year U.S.-led war.

Although Karzai has made similar demands in the past, he has in recent weeks ratcheted up his condemnations of alleged U.S. failures as Afghans look fearfully ahead to an uncertain future.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Afghanistan’s First Female Police Chief Starts Job

KABUL, Afghanistan — She wears a black headscarf instead of a cap. But otherwise Col. Jamila Bayaz looks like any other district police chief in Afghanistan as she reviews checkpoints in the center of Kabul.

Bayaz, 50, is the first woman to be promoted to run an entire district — the highest frontline appointment for an Afghan policewoman. With just two days on the job, she said she feels up to the challenge despite the threat as policewomen are among the Taliban’s top targets…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Explosions Injure Anti-Government Protesters in Bangkok

Back-to-back explosions in Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, have left over 20 people injured. The blasts occurred amid anti-government protests, which have seen a rise in violence this week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

India: New Delhi: Thousands of Calls Flood Anti-Corruption Hotline

In just seven hours, almost 4,000 people called the hotline launched by the local government yesterday morning. For Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the Indian capital and leader of the anti-corruption AAP Party, the response exceeds expectations. Critics however fear a witch-hunt against public officials and bureaucrats accused of bribery.

New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Thousands of calls have already flooded a toll free number set up yesterday morning by New Delhi authorities to allow ordinary citizens to report cases of corruption.

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, head of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP or Common Man Party), spearheaded the initiative following his December victory state election on an anti-corruption platform.

A follower of Anna Hazare, a Gandhian activist anti-corruption and leader, Kejriwal said that 3,904 calls came in during the first seven hours of operation, exceeding all expectations.

Corruption is one of the major problems facing India’s public service. The practice is so ingrained that people have to pay bribes for every service: marriage certificates, driving licenses, mail, and permits of various kinds, including death certificates.

The anti-corruption hotline is open from 8 am to 10 pm, providing people with advice as to what actions they can take against government officials who asks for a bribe to perform their duty.

Kejriwal said the hotline centre was able to handle only 824 of the calls that came in on Thursday but that it would double its staff to 30 to handle the flood of callers.

The toll free number set up by Kejriwal’s party has been a success, but has also elicited some criticism.

Many fear that the AAP’s anti-corruption activism will turn into a political witch-hunt.

In recent days, the AAP leader has called on ordinary citizens to tape conversations with corrupt officials and use recordings as “proof” to frame them.

According to The Mail Today, in just a week stores selling surveillance equipment and cameras have been literally besieged by customers.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Resolute Ahead of Death-Penalty Ruling in India

Premier Letta vows ‘international steps’ to save marines

(By Christopher Livesay) (ANSA) — Rome, January 17 — Premier Enrico Letta on Friday vowed to move on an “international level” to keep two Italian marines from facing the death penalty in India for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen. Letta spoke after meeting with Foreign Minister Emma Bonino and Defence Minister Mario Mauro, ahead of an Indian Supreme Court hearing on the case as soon as Monday. The premier added he “was happy with the solidarity expressed by the European Union and a plan to send an Italian House delegation to New Delhi”. In a statement issued after the meeting, the government reiterated its “firm expectation that the Indian government would keep its assurances…that the case in question does not fall under anti-piracy norms (that include capital punishment as a possible sentence)”.

Italian Marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of killing fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after allegedly mistaking them for pirates and opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala on February 15, 2012. Italy has appealed to the Indian Supreme Court amid fears that India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) intends to prosecute the pair under a 2002 anti-terrorism law that carries the death penalty, despite previous reassurances from the Indian government that the marines would not face capital punishment. It’s expected that that appeal, including a demand by Italy for the release of the two marines, will be reviewed on Monday. A delegation of Italian MPs also plans to travel to India to lend support to the case of the marines.

Other possibilities to avoid the death penalty remain. Earlier this week, Indian media reported that India’s interior ministry is considering excluding the possibility of charging the two Italian marines under the anti-terrorism law. If the interior ministry rules out using the law, the NIA would effectively be taken off the case. The Italian petition to the Indian Supreme Court said the pair should be released due to the long delays in their trial following their arrest almost two years ago. It demanded Indian magistrates “immediately present charges without using the anti-terrorism law,” and proposed “authorizing the marines to return to Italy to wait out the time (required) for Indian trial,” judicial sources have said.

The petition also complained that it is unclear whether the investigation has been concluded, adding that charges have yet to be filed and the trial has not yet begun.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pussy Riot Travels Abroad for Awards Show in Singapore

(AGI) Singapore, Jan 18 — The first permit to travel abroad was granted to two of the members of the Russian group Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, aka Nadia, and Maria Alyokhina, who were invited to Singapore for the launching of the ‘Prudential Eye Awards.’ It was a bittersweet feeling for the two women, who were released from prison on December 23, 2013, after serving a two-year sentence for ‘hooliganism triggered by religious hatred’. In this first outing abroad, they were rewarded by reaching the final selection of the best digital video award, together with Australian multimedia artists Baden Pailthorpe and Daniel Crooks, and the Chinese performer Yang Yongliang.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

US Setting Up New Office for Pakistan, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is setting up a new office in the State Department to oversee America’s relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan during the current transitional period.

An executive order issued on Friday afternoon said the new, temporary set-up shall be called the Afghanistan and Pakistan Strategic Partnership Office. The presidential order comes as the United States and its Nato allies prepare to pull out most of their combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

A US Military “Pivot” To Asia, Turns Into Chinese Ascension

NavyAdm. Samuel J. Locklear III delivered an ominous warning this week finally saying what I have been saying for over a year — the Chinese are growing in military might and are growing stronger than the US. Our military superiority is declining due to a lack of funding to modernize our weaponry, the purge of seasoned high-level officers and the gutting of the rank and file.

Obama’s propagandized ‘Asian Pivot’ is being outed by the upper brass. Unfortunately, it may be a case of too little, too late as the dark horse has left the barn by the planned open door policy of our Marxist regime. Three years ago, the Pentagon proclaimed that it was de-emphasizing its presence in Europe in favor of moving the bulk of our might to the Asia-Pacific region. But it hasn’t done much to deter China as they have aggressively modernized and expanded their weapons cache and bulked up their numbers in the military ranks. They are emboldened, due to the obvious weakness of the US and our lack of appetite to confront a major enemy. Instead, choosing diplomacy and the twisted logic of trying to switch from the US as the protector of the world (which it should never have been), to China. Incredibly, it appears Obama wants to put the Chinese communists in charge. But then again, it has been part of his plan all along. Saying ‘I told you so’ this time is a bitch…

With revamped nuclear submarines, missile launchers, aircraft/bombers, hypersonic weapons and killer satellites, China is getting ready for a dance with America. Unfortunately for America, we have been such a wallflower that our military stance is outmoded, depleted and no longer up to the task of serious defense, much less deterrence. The cherry on top is Obama’s reduction of our nuclear arsenal, while Russia and China are increasing theirs. That nuclear clock is ticking.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

China Decries U.S. Spending Bill

(Reuters) — China’s Commerce Ministry has condemned a $1.1-trillion spending bill passed by the U.S. Congress last week over clauses that limit technological purchases from the Asian giant, saying they clash with the principles of fair trade.

The bill, signed by President Barack Obama on Friday, included a cyber-espionage review process for federal purchases of technology from China, a measure incorporated last year amid growing U.S. concern over Chinese cyber attacks.

In a weekend statement, China’s Commerce Ministry said the move “went against the principles of fair trade” as it sought to curb purchases of Chinese technology and export of satellites and parts to China. “China is resolutely opposed,” the ministry said in comments attributed to an unnamed official in its U.S. trade division.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China ‘Building Second Aircraft Carrier’

China has reportedly started work on a second aircraft carrier, as it bids to exert its authority over disputed territories in the South and East China Seas

China has started building its second aircraft carrier as part of a growing push to develop a what would be the world’s second biggest navy, according to reports in both China and Hong Kong.

Wang Min, the party chief of Liaoning province in northeast China where the vessel is reportedly being built, said the carrier’s construction would take six years and added that China’s navy eventually planned to build four such carriers…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Filipino Activists: New Gun Law (Even for Priests) Will Not Stop Crime

Manila increases restrictions on the possession of firearms, in order to fight the illegal arms trade. Journalists, human rights lawyers, activists and priests will have a special permit to carry firearms . Lawyer and activist Harry Roque says the law is only a buffer to hide the authorities’ failure to fight crime ..

Manila ( AsiaNews) — The new law on firearms has sparked heated debate in the Philippines, where in 2013 alone over 220 thousand crimes were committed including robberies, murders , assaults violence. The new norm is the final version of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, of June 2013, which allows at-risk groups to carry fire-arms. These include journalists, lawyers, activists and priests often victims of kidnapping, summary killings and robberies by groups of terrorists or criminals. According to the previous law such categories were treated like any other citizen and had to show that they are “under real threat” to bear arms. Critics of the law state that while the government now allows individuals at risk to defend themselves, it still does not make any headway in preventing crimes.

According to government data, there are little more than 1 million registered weapons nationwide, while there are over 800 thousand illegal . The government argues that under the new law it is possible to reduce the illicit trafficking of firearms, but as stated by Philstar journalist Jarius Bondocit does not “ make sense to increase the restrictions if a general climate of impunity continues to persist.”

So far the Church has not yet made €‹€‹statements, but already in July 2013 the bishops had objected to the decree stating that “missionaries are by definition non-violent and get their protection from the angels, not from arms”.

The new norm, while expanding permission to those groups at risk, on the other hand provides for more severe penalties for those who carry guns and ammunition illegally. The sanctions have passed from the current four months to four years in prison. There are also more restrictions on the purchase of arms. Those who wish to obtain a license must pass a drug test and a psychiatric evaluation. With it, the buyer can go to any armory and buy a registered fire-arm. The third step is the authorization to carry firearms outside of the home.

During the presidency of Fidel Ramos all licenses to carry firearms were suspended, although the illegal trade in guns and even weapons of war was flourishing in the country. Nandy Pacheco , president of the Gunless Society points out that the new law has many obscure points . In fact, the text “allows collectors to own up to 15 weapons, but does not explain what the requirements and criteria for considering a person ‘collector’ are.” The risk is that many people can create their own arsenal.

Lawyer and human rights activist Harry Roque, “a stop-gap measure while we are not able to make the justice system work.” “More weapons — he adds — even if registered only bring problems. With this loophole politicians will continue to maintain their own private armies”.

The positions of the Church and of the activists are at odds with those of the President Aquino who is a known lover of weapons. Recently speaking to a group of students visiting the presidential palace, he said he owned dozens of guns and that shooting is a method to combat stress.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Bodies Burnt in Street in Central African Republic

A Christian mob in the Central African Republic capital Bangui has killed and burned two Muslims in the street, in the latest sectarian clash. The gangs told the BBC they would carry on killing Muslims in their area. French and African Union soldiers are struggling to contain sectarian violence that erupted after largely Muslim rebels took over the country…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Boko Haram Attacks Near Border Spark Fear in Cameroon

Yaounde — Border villages in Cameroon’s north have been deserted following heavy fighting between the Nigerian army and the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Banki, Borno state. About 30 Cameroonians and Nigerians are said to have been wounded in the attacks, and five are feared dead. The heavy firing between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram created panic in Cameroonian border villages, especially Amchide…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Disappointment Urges Thousands of Greeks to Migrate

In search of employment and greater opportunities abroad

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS — The ongoing financial crisis and recession of the Greek economy — added to a record unemployment rate of 27.8% last October — is forcing thousands of Greek citizens to migrate to other European countries in search of job opportunities and better working conditions, as daily To Vima reports. Tens of thousands of doctors and engineers are abandoning Greece, with the USA and European countries such as Germany and Great Britain being the most popular destinations. Middle Eastern countries have also seen an increase of migration from Greece. The Norway Post recently noted how migration from southern European countries increased dramatically in recent years, with immigration from Greece having increased by 49% in the year between November 2012 and 2013.

Great Britain has also seen a 16% increase of migration from other EU members, which amounts to about 25,000 people. The British Labor and Pensions Department indicated that migration from Greece increased by 31% between September 2012 and 2013.

Germany’s federal statistics service Destatis observed a 5.1% increase of migration from Greece. The Federation of Greek communities of Belgium has reported that migrants from Greece are primarily seeking employment in the banking and research sector, but also pointed out that there were many manual laborers. Most Greek and other migrants end up finding employment in the legal, administrative, financial, marketing and tourist sectors.

According to a Kappa Research study, seven out of ten Greek university graduates want to emigrate in order to find a job, while one in 10 Greeks is already trying to find a job or continue studying outside Greece. The study shows that 66.4% of those willing to emigrate are looking for a better quality of life, 44.7% for a better job and 32.6% for the fairer and better job prospects. Indicative of the degree of disappointment and dissatisfaction in Greece is that 60.7% of respondents would prefer a job with the potential of career abroad, rather than a permanent posting in the public or private sector in Greece.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Free Movement Won’t be Renegotiated, EU Warns

Switzerland will not be able to renegotiate the free movement of people agreements with the European Union if the right-wing Swiss People’s Party’s initiative “against mass immigration” is approved on February 9, the EU Justice Commissioner warned.

In an interview with the Sunday newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, said it was “an illusion to think that the free movement of people could be renegotiated individually”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Police Find 17 Illegal Immigrants Near Slovenian Border

(AGI) Trieste, Jan 18 — Italian border police intercepted 17 illegal immigrants on the Karst Plateau near the border with Slovenia. All seventeen immigrants were weary and hungry but in good health overall. Three are minors, while the others are aged between 18 and 40, with three women in the group. None of the immigrants carried identification. Their nationalities were later ascertained, arriving from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. Four immigrants requested asylum. The minors were entrusted to a regional government centre, while the administrative procedure was initiated for the others.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss Scrap Migrant Benefits

SWITZERLAND is scrapping benefits for unemployed migrants from the European Union and planning new powers to expel them ahead of a referendum on a migration cap next month. Residency permits for foreign pensioners who retire to Switzerland and apply for state benefits will also be reviewed. The aim is to relieve the pressure on the welfare budget.

Under new rules announced last week, Britons and other EU citizens, as well as incomers from the European Economic Area states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will no longer receive benefits if they lose their jobs and have not contributed to Switzerland’s insurance fund for the jobless.

Foreigners will lose their residency permit after five years if they have been out of work for the previous 12 months.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama to Supreme Court: Religious Beliefs Not Important

The crux of the Obama administration’s legal argument seems to boil down to two points: 1) Opposing forced coverage of abortion pills isn’t a legitimate religious belief; and 2) our pro-abortion agenda is far more important than your silly religious beliefs anyway. If that sounds like an argument to turn the religious liberty protections of our Constitution on its head, that’s because it is. The moment the government can tell us what is and is not an important part of our faith and further that what we consider to be a sin is far too attenuated to actually be real sin in God’s eyes is the moment we have lost our religious liberty. This argument comes days after Obama’s DOJ attempted to convince the court that forcing Catholic nuns to pay for abortion pills in no way violated their faith because all they had to do was sign a form and let someone else violate their faith for them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Christians Will be Called to Suffer and Die for Their Faith in This New Era of Martyrdom, Says Archbishop of Canterbury

Christians are facing a new age of “martyrdom” across much of the world, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. Speaking in Istanbul, Turkey, the Most Rev Justin Welby singled out the persecution of believers across the Middle East and said Christians are still “called” to suffer and even die for the faith in the 21st Century. But he insisted that religion is often just a “pretext” for violence and not the real cause. He made his remarks at the end of a two-day visit with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholemew I, the most senior cleric in the eastern Orthodox church.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Cisco Plans to Integrate Everything to the Internet

Cisco has released a study entitled, “Internet of Everything: A $4.6 Trillion Public-Sector Opportunity”, explaining that the future is in the Internet of Everything (IoE); which is big business for tech corporations. In fact, it is projected that $4.6 trillion in profits to Silicon Valley and other tech companies could be accrued over the next 10 years. The IoE is expected to alter our landscape by assisting “governments create value by saving money, improving employee productivity, generating new revenue (without raising taxes) and enhancing citizen benefits.” Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities (SCCs) project is tasked with providing solutions to utilize “intelligent networking capabilities to bring together people, services, community assets, and information to help community leaders…

[Comment: Useful cheerleading idiots. Helping to build the Orwellian society. Internet of things = A bug in everything.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Paypal Says Cash “Obsolete by 2017”

Purses, wallets and cash will become redundant within three years, according to the electronic payment firm PayPal. It says it will be possible to pay for everyday purchases via mobile phone apps and cards with the result people will no longer need to carry real money. The claims came as the firm, which is owned by eBay, unveiled a new roll-out of its mobile phone-based smart payment system. Shoppers can download a PayPal app to their smartphone which can be pared with the payment system of participating retailers, from cafes and bakers to market stalls. This means shoppers can authorise payments on their phone, with the money immediately transferred to the trader, just as they currently do with internet purchases. Already, many people rarely use cash on a day to day basis, relying on debit and credit cards for all their purchases, whether it is petrol, a train ticket, a newspaper or a sandwich for lunch.

[Comment: Great, a giant database of every dollar you spend and that can be sold, hacked or used to build your psychological profile.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report Charting Persecution of Christians Worldwide Reveals Most Abuse in Muslim Countries

Nine of top 10 countries where Christians suffer are Islamic, according to Open Doors USA.

The majority of anti-Christian persecution in the world in 2013 took place at the hands of Muslims, according to a list by Open Doors USA. The nondenominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide recently released its 2014 World Watch List, which describes and ranks anti-Christian persecution in a list of the 50 worst countries for 2013.

The top country where Christians suffer, for the 12th consecutive year, remains communist North Korea, though the nine following countries in the top ten are Islamic: Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Rights Group Says Laws Are Failing to Protect Girls From Being Forced Into Early Marriages

Cultural traditions and a lack of legal protections are driving tens of millions of girls around the world into early marriage, subjecting them to violence, poverty and mistreatment, an international human rights group says. Equality Now, citing the United Nations Population Fund, said in a report issued over the weekend that more than 140 million girls over the next decade will be married before they turn 18.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Muslim Brotherhood: Wolf Not Even in Sheep’s Clothing

by Zvi Mazel

The West continues to fail to understand the nature of Muslim Brotherhood: to impose Shari’a by all means, if necessary by violence.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

We Have Entered the New Age of Christian Martyrdom

Lions have been replaced by firing squads and concentration camps as record numbers of Jesus’ worshipers are persecuted from Syria to North Korea. The concept of Christian martyrdom may seem like something from a bygone, uncivilized era when believers were mercilessly thrown to the lions. Not so. This week, Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, reported that Christian martyrdom has grown into a pervasive and horrifying human rights crisis. In their annual report of the worst 50 countries for Christian persecution, Open Doors found that Christian martyr deaths around the globe doubled in 2013. Their report documented 2,123 killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. In Syria alone, there were 1,213 such deaths…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/19/2014

    • Not only should their be concerns about the return of jihadists but the support networks across Europe established under the cover of charitable organisations.

      Cameron and Hague have revitalised Al-Qaeda in Europe with their support for the Syrian jihadists a foreign policy blunder that the British peoples may well pay a heavy price for in the near future.

  1. Has anyone noticed the BBCs reporting of the troubles in the Centrl African Republic? As an expat, I watch the BBC World Service every day to keep up with events. It has been commonly reported elsewhere that the troubles in that tragic country were caused by a muslim uprising and takeover and that many Christians were massacred as a result. Yet all the BBC wants to report are isolated retaliatory actions by Christians. The muslim atrocities for which the Christians are retaliating are reported as “alleged” “claimed” or even “perceived” while any claims made by muslims are treated as the truth. The BBC is known as the Biased Broadcasting Service” and is unashamedly left wing and culturally marxist. It is about time it was privatised.

    • It’s obvious the BBC is very afraid. The police are also in fear of using the ‘M’ word. If politicians are using the same sources for their insights then it’s no wonder some appear to not know which side their on.

  2. Quote:
    The Rolla Daily News reports that Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, of Jordan, and Antoine Chlela, of Lebanon, were charged in October with enticement of a child and harassment. Court records say the men allegedly approached a 12-year-old girl at a bus stop and asked her to enter their vehicle.
    end

    How Muslim of them!
    The Jihad continues. Even at Fort Leonard Wood.
    What a mockery of our nation, our people. A simple act of war.
    And no reciprocal counter.

  3. So now we know that the BBC has gone from Best Before Christmas to becoming Biased Broadcasting Corporation (it used to be Company for sure long ago).

Comments are closed.