Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/21/2014

A UKIP candidate for the local council in Blackburn, Lancashire was stabbed in the face by a neighbor who supports the Labour Party. Some reports say that the victim’s critic also punched him. In other election-related news, British police will deploy special patrols tomorrow at more than 100 polling stations in sixteen different areas where voter intimidation and violence are considered most likely.

In other news, Russia has signed a thirty-year contract to supply China with natural gas.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JP, KP, Nick, Papa Whiskey, 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
» Bank of Italy OKs MPs Redeem 3 Bn in Financial Instruments
» JPMorgan Committing $100 Million Over 5 Years to Aid Revitalization in Detroit
 
USA
» Copyright Row Over Led Zeppelin Classic Stairway to Heaven
» More Hispanics Declaring Themselves White
» Saying ‘I Do’ Because of Similar DNA?
» US ‘In Denial’ Over Poor Maths Standards
» US Woman Found 10 Years After Kidnap
 
Canada
» Toronto Police Shut Down Draw Mohammed Day 2014
 
Europe and the EU
» Belgium: Young Muslim Women Detained in Zaventem
» British Annoyed With London, Says YouGov Poll
» Danish Banks Are Lending Billions to the Russian State
» Decapitation, Morality Squads and “Five-Star Jihad”
» EP Voting Behaviour Shows Divisions in Far-Right Camp
» EU Elections 2014: Far Right Will be Useless in the European Parliament Says Rachida Dati
» Finland: No Selfies in the Voting Booth
» French Red Faces Over Trains That Are ‘Too Wide’
» French Far-Right’s Jean-Marie Le Pen Calls Ebola Remarks an ‘Observation’
» Italian Politican Says Newspaper Telling Lies About Him
» Italian Corruption Erodes GDP by 100 Bln Euros in 10 Years
» Italy: Expo 2015 Supervisor Has ‘Insufficient Power’
» Italy: 16.8 Million Go to the Polls in Local Elections on May 25
» Italy: Emirates Will Continue to Fly From Malpensa to New York
» Italy: Four TV Channels Rapped for Renzi Exposure
» Italy: Berlusconi Denies Calling Merkel a ‘Lard-Arse’
» Monaco Property Heiress Dies After French Riviera Shooting
» Netherlands’ Geert Wilders Cuts Up EU Flag
» Sherlock Holmes: Can a Fictional Man be a London Icon?
» Sicily Clampdown on Absentee Workers
» Spain: Madrid Matadors Gored by Bulls at Festival Launch
» Sweden Arms Sales Boom Raises Questions Over Its Customer List
» UK Government Hands Almost £500,000 to Anti-UKIP Campaign Group
» UK is World’s Leading Recruiting Ground for Al-Qaeda
» UK: Asylum Seeker/Benefits Scam Artist From Somalia, Or Maybe Kenya
» UK: Hunt for Two More on-the-Run Prisoners
» UK: Lutfur Rahman: 30 Things You Need to Know About the Extremist-Linked Mayor of Tower Hamlets
» UK: Man’s Best Friend: How Dogs Can Use Their Noses to Help Catch Cancer Early
» UK: Nigel Farage and the Fury of the Elites
» UK: Nigel Farage Hints at ‘Common Front’ With Marine Le Pen to Block EU Laws
» UK: Police to Patrol More Than 100 Polling Stations
» UK: Prince Charles ‘Hitler’ Row: ‘Risks Triggering International Scandal’
» UK: Tower Hamlets Goes to the Polls Amid Accusations of Electoral Fraud
» UK: Walkie-Talkie Skyscraper to Get Sunshade
» UKIP Candidate ‘Assaulted by Labour-Supporting Neighbour’
» UKIP Council Candidate ‘Stabbed in the Face’
» Vatican: Bertone Denies Wrongdoing, Says Deal Was ‘Normal’
» What Doesn’t Kill UKIP Only Makes Them Stronger
 
Balkans
» Macedonia: Ethnic Unrest Erupts in Skopje
 
North Africa
» Egypt’s Deposed President Hosni Mubarak Sentenced for Embezzlement
» Libyan Interior Minister and Air Force Chief Back Haftar
» Libya Announces Elections: Will it Help Calm the Violence?
» Libya’s Interior Ministry Supports Renegade General Hifter
» Tunisian Jailed After Pardon for ‘Blasphemous’ Cartoons
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Al Dura Shooting: The Sequel — And the Next Palestinian Hoax?
 
Middle East
» Abuse, Hardship for Migrant Workers in Lebanon
» Dutch Send Envoy ‘To Avert Saudi Sanctions’
» One Million Iranians Drink Alcohol
» The Challenge of Keeping Denmark’s Muslims Out of Syria
» The Lobby Behind Turkey’s Prime Minister
 
Russia
» France’s Unpalatable Warship Deal With Russia
» Putin’s Visit to Shanghai Marks an Eastward Shift for Russian Economy
» Russia — Ukraine: Scandal Erupts Between Moscow and Kiev: Metropolitan Hilarion “Persona Non Grata” In Ukraine
» Russia: Bulgarian, Serbian South Stream Sections Progress on Schedule
» Russia’s Duma Considers Law to Ban Condom Ads
» Russia Signs 30-Year Contract to Supply Natural Gas to China
» Russia Signs 30-Year Gas Contract With China
 
South Asia
» Pakistan: Air Strike in North Waziristan: 32 Dead Among Taliban
 
Far East
» Chinese, Russian Naval Forces Gather for Drill
» Chinese Media Brands US a ‘Mincing Rascal’ Over Hacking Charges
» GlaxoSmithKlein Accused of Corruption in China
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» American Man’s Wife is Sentenced to Death in Sudan: Where’s the Dream Act for Meriam Ibrahim?
» Dozens Killed in Twin Boko Haram Attacks Near Nigeria’s Chibok
» Islam: ‘Appalling and Abhorrent’ In the Eyes of a Blind World?
» More Deaths Reported in Nigeria in Wake of Twin Jos Attacks
 
Latin America
» Fidel Castro’s Daughter Says He Had ‘High Level of Cruelty’
» Russia, Cuba Sign Memorandum on Security and Defence
» Vatican Probe Opened Into Mexican Priest’s ‘Child Sex Abuse’
 
Immigration
» Italian Navy Rescues Another Migrant Boat Off Sicily
» Luis Gutierrez: ‘Every Institution in America’ Should Work Around Fed. Immigration Laws
 
Culture Wars
» Geithner: ‘How Well You Do in Life … Depends Too Much on the Color of Your Skin’
» Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm
 
General
» Earth’s Backup: Sending Religious Texts to the Moon
» EBay Urges Users to Change Passwords After Cyberattack
» Google Dethrones Apple in Brand Value Ranking
 

Bank of Italy OKs MPs Redeem 3 Bn in Financial Instruments

Siena bank says total reaches 3.46 bn euros

(ANSA) — Milan, May 14 — The Bank of Italy has authorized Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank to redeem financial instruments for a nominal value of 3 billion euros, MPS said in a note Wednesday.

MPS said additional and implicit authorizations raise the total to 3.46 billion euros worth of financial instruments. However, the green light is subject to the completion of a 5 billion euro capital increase due for a vote at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting May 20-22.

MPS announced Monday it had lost 174.1 million euros in the first quarter of this year, a significant increase compared with the loss of 101 million euros during the same period last year.

Italy’s third-largest bank by assets was thrown into crisis in January 2013 when it emerged that a shady series of derivative and structured-finance deals had produced losses of 720 million euros.

Since then, MPS has come under the spotlight on several occasions in relation to investigations for suspected insider trading and fraud.

At the same time, the bank is moving to repay part of a 4.1-billion euros aid package from the Italian government as part of a larger plan to turn itself around.

Analysts have said the bank may risk nationalization if it fails to generate enough capital to repay the state bailout.

However, Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Viola recently denied this possibility as the bank’s board has approved a five-billion-euro capital increase to help pay back the government loan and regain profitability.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

JPMorgan Committing $100 Million Over 5 Years to Aid Revitalization in Detroit

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, will provide $100 million to help debt-ridden Detroit with housing repairs, blight removal, job training and economic development projects over the next five years, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plans.

The investment, a mix of loans and grants, will add to a growing pile of money from outside private institutions as the city nears the final, painful stages of the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy proceeding. Detroit filed for bankruptcy protection in July, with an estimated $18 billion in long-term debt. This summer, a federal judge will decide whether to approve a plan that would allow the city to exit bankruptcy court by mid-October.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Copyright Row Over Led Zeppelin Classic Stairway to Heaven

A legal dispute faces the band Led Zeppelin over the song Stairway to Heaven, widely seen as one of the greatest rock compositions of all time. The copyright infringement action is being taken on behalf of late guitarist Randy California, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s.

Bloomberg Businessweek said that the eight-minute song had earned $562m (£334m) as of 2008.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Hispanics Declaring Themselves White

Hispanics are often described as driving up the nonwhite share of the population. But a new study of census forms finds that more Hispanics are identifying as white.

An estimated net 1.2 million Americans of the 35 million Americans identified in 2000 as of “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin,” as the census form puts it, changed their race from “some other race” to “white” between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, according to research presented at an annual meeting of the Population Association of America and reported by Pew Research.

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Saying ‘I Do’ Because of Similar DNA?

Married couples tend to have genetic traits in common, study states

Married couples typically have a lot in common, and researchers now say that may extend to their genes. Spouses tend to be more genetically similar than two people chosen off the street at random, according to a new study.

It’s likely this is because people who are genetically similar have more opportunities to meet and mate — in other words, “birds of a feather flock together,” said lead author Benjamin Domingue, a research associate at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US ‘In Denial’ Over Poor Maths Standards

The maths skills of teenagers in parts of the deep south of the United States are worse than in countries such as Turkey and barely above countries such as Chile and Mexico.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Woman Found 10 Years After Kidnap

A 25-year-old woman who went missing 10 years ago in California has been found alive after she contacted police and her alleged captor was arrested. The unnamed woman in Santa Ana came forward after years of alleged abuse, after finding her sister on Facebook.

Isidro Garcia, 41, has been arrested on multiple charges including kidnapping for rape and false imprisonment. Police said in a statement that he forced the victim into marriage and fathered her child in 2012.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Toronto Police Shut Down Draw Mohammed Day 2014

Mohammed Day,” marked on May 20, was started as a demonstration in defense of free speech, inspired by the so-called Danish cartoons, which depicted the founder of Islam. Needless to say, that didn’t work well — the usual Muslims response when their religion is discussed in an unflattering way is threats and more threats. Because of the Muslim death threats, Molly Norris, who started the event, had to go into hiding and change her name. She disappeared completely and nobody knows whether she is dead or alive…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Belgium: Young Muslim Women Detained in Zaventem

Two young women who were on their way to Syria have been detained at Brussels Airport. An investigation has been started into the aim of their trip. Detectives suspect that they wanted to go to Syria to marry a rebel fighter or join the civil war themselves.

It’s the first time two women were actually arrested at Zaventem airport when they were trying to leave Belgium on their way to Syria. The two are an 18-year-old Muslim and her 17-year-old friend who was converted to the Islamic faith. Both are from the Antwerp region.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

British Annoyed With London, Says YouGov Poll

(AGI) London, May 13 — In a recent poll carried out by YouGov, two-thirds of Britons expressed resentment for what they see as favouritism towards London, and three-quarters complained of the “excessive” emphasis by the media on what goes on in parliament. The YouGov poll took place in 16 British cities and was published in the Guardian.

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

Danish Banks Are Lending Billions to the Russian State

Expert thinks it’s problematic that Danish savings are lent directly to the Russian state

Danish banks and financial institutions have lent a total of 6.4 billion kroner to the Russian state despite an industry-wide goal to refrain from supporting states that systematically violate international standards, Ugebrevet A4 reports, based on its own analysis of Danish-owned Russian government bonds based on data from the national bank.

The lending has occurred despite the Danish Council for Corporate Responsibility adding Russia to a list of countries for which particular responsibility should be exercised when purchasing government bonds. The council cites the criticism of the country’s infringement of opposition and minority rights, corruption and, most recently, its annexation of Crimea.

Straight into Russian’s pockets

“The problem with government bonds is that the money goes directly into the state’s pockets,” Steen Valentin, an associate professor specialising in responsible investment at Copenhagen Business School, told Ugebrevet A4.

“And we thereby support regimes we have problems with.”

Investors’ responsibility

The minister for business and growth, Henrik Sass Larsen, is of the opinion that, since Denmark has not imposed economic sanctions against Russia, it is up to the investors to decide whether or not to buy Russian government bonds.

“It’s investors’ own responsibility to invest responsibly and stick to their assessments,” he told Ugebrevet A4.

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

Decapitation, Morality Squads and “Five-Star Jihad”

A Month of Islam in Britain: April 2014

by Soeren Kern

Islam and Islam-related issues were omnipresent in Britain during the month of April 2014, and can be categorized into three broad themes: 1) The British government’s growing concern over Islamic extremism and the domestic security implications of British jihadists in Syria; 2) The continuing spread of Islamic Sharia law in all aspects of British daily life; and 3) Ongoing questions of Muslim integration into British society.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EP Voting Behaviour Shows Divisions in Far-Right Camp

BRUSSELS — The voting record of seven far-right and anti-EU parties represented in the outgoing European Parliament shows larger divisions than among centrist parties who grouped together, according to a study published Tuesday (20 May) by VoteWatch.

Seven parties were included in the study, three of which are currently in a parliamentary group: the British Independence Party (Ukip), Italy’s Lega Nord and Slovakia’s SNS.

VoteWatch also looked at the voting record of France’s National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, the Dutch PVV party led by Geert Wilders, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) and the Belgian Vlaams Belang, all of which are currently not affiliated with any parliamentary group.

“It was interesting to see that for the PVV, UKIP would be a better match than Front National, as PVV and UKIP voted together in 67 percent of cases,” Elisa Irlandese from VoteWatch told this website.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Elections 2014: Far Right Will be Useless in the European Parliament Says Rachida Dati

Nigel Farage has ‘only one policy’ and far-Right’s MEPs will fail to make an impact because they cannot work together, says Rachida Dati

Rachida Dati, the French MEP, has criticised Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen — the Right-wing challengers at the European elections — for leading single-issue parties, which will be ineffective in the European parliament…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Finland: No Selfies in the Voting Booth

In advance European Parliament election voting, taking selfies in polling booths and posting them online has become a trend. But taking your own photo in the polling booth is forbidden, according to the Ministry of Justice

On Facebook, Twitter and other social media, self-portrait snaps taken by people in polling booths casting their votes have started to spread. The images include completed ballots with the candidate’s number visible.

According to Arto Jääskeläinen, Director of Elections at the Ministry of Justice, taking a selfie in the voting booth is forbidden. “Photographing at a polling station — that includes inside the polling booth — is only permitted if an election official allows it,” says Jääskeläinen. “And there’s no point in asking, because permission won’t be granted.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Red Faces Over Trains That Are ‘Too Wide’

The French train operator SNCF has discovered that 2,000 new trains it ordered at a cost of 15bn euros ($20.5bn; £12.1bn) are too wide for many regional platforms.

The BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris says that it is an embarrassing blunder that has so far cost the rail operator over 50m euros ($68.4m; £40.6m). Our correspondent says that the cost is likely to rise even further.

Construction work has already started to reconfigure station platforms. The work will allow new trains room to pass through. But officials say that there are still 1,000 platforms to be adjusted.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Far-Right’s Jean-Marie Le Pen Calls Ebola Remarks an ‘Observation’

Jean-Marie Le Pen has said his contention at a National Front campaign rally that the Ebola virus could address Europe’s immigration problems was only an “observation” on the effects diseases can have on demographics.

Former French National Front (FN) leader Jean-Marie on Wednesday sought to calm a tide of public criticism after campaign rally comments were overheard by journalists.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Politican Says Newspaper Telling Lies About Him

(AGI) Milan, May 14 — Italian newspaper La Repubblica was accused of spreading lies by the leader of the regionalist Northern League and Lombardy President Roberto Maroni.

“Repubblica writes obscene fabrications about me: I will file a million-euro law-suit today,” he said in tweet. The Rome-based newspaper has linked him with Gianstefano Frigerio, a former MP arrested in an investigation into contract-rigging in Lombardy.

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

Italian Corruption Erodes GDP by 100 Bln Euros in 10 Years

(AGI) Rome, May 13 — Corruption in Italy eroded 100 billion euros of GDP between 2001 and 2011. The corruption phenomenon caused a 16 percent drop in foreign investments and a 20 percent rise in the overall cost of contracts. Companies operating in a corrupt environment on the average grow 25 percent less than competitors operating in a lawful context.

More specifically, the growth rate of small and medium-sized enterprises was 40 percent lower than that of large companies.

The figures are contained in a study on the cost of illegality recently published by Unimpresa, the Italian national union of enterprises.

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

Italy: Expo 2015 Supervisor Has ‘Insufficient Power’

(AGI) Rapallo, May 17 — The government has not given the commissioner who was appointed as head of a task force to oversee the Expo Milan 2015 sufficient power, according to the president of the Lombardy Region, Roberto Maroni. Raffaele Cantone was appointed to supervise preparations for the event after prosecutors in Milan uncovered a network of bid rigging and corruption linked to next year’s event. “He only has the power to request information, which serves no purpose. I’ve asked (Prime Minister) Matteo Renzi to give him real power, but the government does not seem interested in the affair.

Nevertheless, I hope preparations for the Expo will proceed rapidly, because time is limited. Institutions in Lombardy are fully committed, but the government’s commitment is lacking,” Maroni said on Saturday.

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

Italy: 16.8 Million Go to the Polls in Local Elections on May 25

(AGI) Rome, May 17 — On May 25, 16.8 million people will be called to vote in local elections in 3,918 Italian municipalities. On the same day, elections will be held in the two ordinary statute regions of Piedmont and Abruzzo, involving 4,848,122 voters, the Interior Ministry announced.

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

Italy: Emirates Will Continue to Fly From Malpensa to New York

The Council of State has sided with the airline company, revoking the previous decisions of the TAR (Regional Administrative Court) of Lazio

The Council of State has sided with Emirates, which has previously been stopped by the TAR (Regional Administrative Court) of Lazio, which had annulled the authorization issued from the ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation Authority) to the airline company to work on 7 new frequencies of flight on the Dubai-Milan Malpensa-New York route for a period of 18 months. At this point Emirates can continue to fly on the Milano Malpensa-New York route until the final decision on the matter…

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

Italy: Four TV Channels Rapped for Renzi Exposure

Agcom orders broadcasters to restore balance

(ANSA) — Rome, May 19 — Communications authority Agcom on Monday reprimanded four Italian channels for breaching Italy’s rules for balanced coverage in pre-election periods by giving too much exposure to Premier Matteo Renzi.

The authority told two channels with State broadcaster Rai, Rai3 and Rainews, Sky news channel Skytg24 and La7 to restore balance to their reporting ahead of Sunday’s European elections.

Agcom also reprimanded La7 and Rai3 for not giving enough space to the New Centre Right, a junior partner in Renzi’s coalition government led by Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi Denies Calling Merkel a ‘Lard-Arse’

Ex-premier says ‘never insulted anyone’

(ANSA) — Rome, May 21 — Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi denied calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel an “unf**kable lard-arse” in an interview aired late Tuesday with the BBC. “In 20 years of politics, I have never insulted anyone,” Berlusconi said after being put on the spot about the alleged insult by Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman. “No, I have never had problems with Angela Merkel…. this accusation was made up by someone who wanted to turn Angela against me”.

Berlusconi allegedly made the comment in a telephone conversation with a newspaper editor that was secretly recorded three years ago as part of an investigation linked to his “bunga bunga” sex parties.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Monaco Property Heiress Dies After French Riviera Shooting

Helene Pastor dies of injuries after being shot in ‘gangland shooting’

A 77-year-old heiress from one of Monaco’s richest families died on Wednesday after she was shot several times outside a hospital in the French Riviera city of Nice earlier this month. Helene Pastor underwent surgery and was placed under artificial respiration after suffering multiple injuries in her abdomen, neck and face in the brazen May 6 attack.

She died early Wednesday, a hospital source said. Her chauffeur Mohammed Darwich died on May 10 of injuries sustained in the attack. The shooting occurred as Pastor was preparing to leave the hospital after visiting her ailing son.

The attacker used a sawn off shotgun and fired several shots before making off with an accomplice…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands’ Geert Wilders Cuts Up EU Flag

BRUSSELS — Scissors in hand, anti-EU nationalist Geert Wilders of the Netherlands on Tuesday (20 May) vandalised the European Union flag in front of the European Parliament in Brussels.

In a publicity stunt amid the dozen or so cafes at Place Luxembourg, overlooked by the parliament’s tall glass structures, Wilders cut out a yellow star before unfolding the Dutch flag in its place.

The nationalist, who runs the Dutch Freedom Party, is convinced he will be able to form a new group of eurosceptic MEPs following the upcoming European Parliament elections. He wants the Netherlands to leave the Union, regain its sovereignty, and shut down its borders to asylum seekers.

His other goal — to pull apart the EU from within by forming the anti-EU faction in parliament — will require at least 25 MEPs from seven EU member states.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sherlock Holmes: Can a Fictional Man be a London Icon?

“The air of London is the sweeter for my presence,” Sherlock Holmes once said, and yet the detective never lived, nor died. He existed solely in our imaginations.

“He is one of London’s icons. He helped to make London the way it is. He is the most famous Londoner who never lived and never died.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sicily Clampdown on Absentee Workers

(AGI) Caltanissetta, May 13 — Thirty-six town hall surveyors and local police in Caltanissetta province in Sicily are under investigation for fraud. They are accused of inflating their working hours.

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

Spain: Madrid Matadors Gored by Bulls at Festival Launch

A major event in Madrid’s bullfighting season had to be cancelled after all three matadors were gored by bulls.

The organisers of the prestigious San Isidro festival said it was the first time in 35 years that the event had had to be suspended.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Arms Sales Boom Raises Questions Over Its Customer List

Alongside a global reputation for peacemaking and generous foreign aid, Sweden has become a major world supplier of weapons, including to regimes criticised for human rights abuses.

Ranked third for arms exports per capita after Israel and Russia, Sweden’s booming industry has stirred ethical concerns at home about some countries with which it is doing business.

Against this backdrop, Saab technicians are building an assembly line for the next generation of Gripen fighters equipped with state-of-the-art warfare systems and larger weapons bays.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK Government Hands Almost £500,000 to Anti-UKIP Campaign Group

British taxpayer money is funding ‘anti-racism’ groups which actively campaign against British political parties, Breitbart London can exclusively reveal, and has handed nearly half a million pounds of taxpayer money to one group with far-left links and a strong and overt anti-UKIP agenda.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK is World’s Leading Recruiting Ground for Al-Qaeda

by Robert Spencer

This is the Britain that Blair, Brown and Cameron have made. This is the Britain that Cameron wants to feature a London that will “stand alongside Dubai as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world.” This is the Britain that thinks it is appeasing and satisfying the forces of Islamic supremacism by banning Pamela Geller and me from the country, prosecuting those who desecrate Qur’ans, and clamping down ruthlessly on any resistance to the Islamic supremacist agenda.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Asylum Seeker/Benefits Scam Artist From Somalia, Or Maybe Kenya

A bogus asylum seeker claimed she was the victim of ‘appalling atrocities’ in Somalia to pocket nearly £300,000 in benefits — when she was ripping off the Swedish taxpayer. Amina Muse, 38, claimed she had been gang-raped and her were family murdered when she was living a life of luxury in Scandanavia. The mother-of-six moved to the UK in 2003 after an eight-year life of luxury at the expense of the Swedish government — where she first claimed asylum back in January 1995. In her application to the Home Office she claimed she and her loved ones were the victims of persecution in Somalia. It is suspected that Muse is actually Kenyan and was pretending to be a Somalian refugee so she could claim benefits. Muse — whose real name is thought to be Ayan Abdulle — was found guilty of a string of fraud charges following a two-week trial at Harrow Crown Court

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Hunt for Two More on-the-Run Prisoners

More embarrassment for the Ministry of Justice as another pair of prisoners evade custody — but two others have been found.

Police are hunting two inmates, including a convicted robber, who have fled from an open jail. It is the latest in a series of embarrassing incidents in recent days where prisoners have absconded from custody. In the latest case, Anthony Peloe and John Arnold, both from the Liverpool area, were reported missing around 10.30am on Tuesday by staff at Thorn Cross prison in Warrington, Cheshire…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Lutfur Rahman: 30 Things You Need to Know About the Extremist-Linked Mayor of Tower Hamlets

By Andrew Gilligan

Tomorrow thousands of real voters — plus, if past Tower Hamlets elections are any guide, quite a few fake ones — will deliver their verdicts on the borough’s extremist-linked executive mayor, Lutfur Rahman. Rahman’s council is currently under investigation by both the police and an official inquiry ordered by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Man’s Best Friend: How Dogs Can Use Their Noses to Help Catch Cancer Early

Despite many leaps forward in treatment options, delays in diagnosis of many forms of cancer in the UK result in the disease not being treated before it becomes advanced. Consequently, the UK and Ireland have the lowest survival rates in Europe — particularly for older patients. In Scotland, Dr. Hilary Dobson (Chair of the National Cancer Quality Steering Group) said “Scottish women are more likely to die within 12 months of discovering they have breast cancer, than their European counterparts. The UK has been tarnished with having poor survival rates from cancer in general.”

In that case, why is it that when a simple solution is staring the NHS, the Government and some of the large Cancer Charities in the face, it is consistently ignored? Why not use proven “complex pattern recognition bio sensors” — more commonly known as dogs?…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Nigel Farage and the Fury of the Elites

There is a positive kernel to the public support for UKIP, says Brendan O’Neill.

Try as I might, I cannot remember a time when Britain’s various elites were as united in fury as they are now over UKIP leader Nigel Farage. In the run-up to this week’s Euro-elections, in which the Eurosceptic UKIP is expected to do well, leaders of every hue, from the true blue to the deep red, and hacks of every persuasion, from the right to the right-on, are as one on the issue of Farage. From Nick Clegg to the Twitterati that normally gets off on mocking Nick Clegg, from David Cameron to radical student leaders who normally hate David Cameron, fury with Farage has united all. It has brought together usually scrapping sections of the political and media classes into a centre-ground mush of contempt for UKIP. Not even Nick Griffin — who is a far nastier character than Farage — attracted such unstinting universal ire. What’s up with this Farage fury?…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Nigel Farage Hints at ‘Common Front’ With Marine Le Pen to Block EU Laws

Ukip leader says Eurosceptic parties could take more than a third of seats in European parliament to form ‘blocking minority’

Nigel Farage has suggested that Ukip may have enough of a “common front” with Marine Le Pen’s French Front National to vote with the party and other Eurosceptic groups in order to block European legislation…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Police to Patrol More Than 100 Polling Stations

Sky News learns officers will be on alert for signs of intimidation and fraud as votes are cast in local and European elections.

By Jason Farrell, Senior Political Correspondent

Police will be stationed at more than 100 polling stations to combat voter intimidation and fraud at the local and European elections on Thursday, Sky News has learned.

The Electoral Commission has identified 16 areas as being at “high risk” for vote-rigging and bullying. This includes Tower Hamlets, which in response has introduced what the council described as “the strongest measures to prevent fraud of any authority in London — and one of the most robust in the country”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Prince Charles ‘Hitler’ Row: ‘Risks Triggering International Scandal’

Prince Charles’ comparison of Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler risks an ‘international scandal’ a Russian newspaper warns, as Nick Clegg defends heir to the throne

Nick Clegg has defended the Prince of Wales over his comparison of Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, saying the heir to the throne is ‘entitled to his views’ despite warnings from a Russian newspaper the remarks could “trigger an international scandal”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Tower Hamlets Goes to the Polls Amid Accusations of Electoral Fraud

Britain’s first elected Asian mayor Lutfur Rahman seeks return to office fighting claims he used council funds improperly

Tower Hamlets, the east London borough that borders the City and the Thames and includes Canary Wharf, will choose its directly next elected mayor against a tense backdrop of an investigation by government-appointed auditors, a police inquiry and a history of complex community politics…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Walkie-Talkie Skyscraper to Get Sunshade

A City of London skyscraper which was blamed for small fires and melted cars and tiles in a nearby street is to be given a shade to act as a permanent sun block.

The unusual design of 20 Fenchurch Street — nicknamed the Walkie Talkie because of its distinctive shape — reflected the sun’s rays into the street, causing damage to people’s cars and businesses.

On one occasion when heat on the tiles of the building hit more than 92F, a journalist even managed to fry an egg.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP Candidate ‘Assaulted by Labour-Supporting Neighbour’

A Ukip council candidate has claimed he was assaulted by a Muslim neighbour.

Bobby Anwar, 33, who is running for Blackburn council, said in a Facebook post that he was attacked by neighbours who are ‘avid Labour supporters.’ He also said the alleged attacker’s children ‘batter [his] 6-10yr olds’ and call his wife ‘kafir’, an Arabic word for infidel…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP Council Candidate ‘Stabbed in the Face’

A Ukip council candidate has claimed he was stabbed in the face by a Muslim neighbour. Bobby Anwar, who is running for Blackburn council, said in a Facebook post yesterday that he was attacked by a man from a family who are “avid Labour supporters.”

Police: Man, 38, arrested over alleged Ukip man attack

Lancashire Police said a man had been arrested and bailed over an alleged attack on Ukip council candidate Bobby Anwar.

“We can confirm that we are investigating after a 33-year-old man was assaulted on Hope Street in Accrington at around 5pm on Saturday (May 17th). The victim was approached in the street and punched to the face causing a suspected fracture of an eye socket. He was taken to hospital for treatment. Police enquiries are ongoing and a 38-year-old man from Accrington has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and bailed pending further enquiries.”

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Vatican: Bertone Denies Wrongdoing, Says Deal Was ‘Normal’

Company owned by cardinal’s pal says loan repaid through shares

(see related) (ANSA) — Vatican City, May 20 — Former Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Tuesday denied reports he embezzled 15 million euros from Vatican accounts, saying the transaction in question went through “normal” channels.

German daily Bild reported Tuesday that Vatican prosecutors have opened an investigation into the allegations against Bertone, citing unofficial Holy See sources. The newspaper said the money went to a television producer friend of Bertone, later identified as Lux Vide owner Ettore Bernabei, a former director-general of Italian public broadcaster Rai.

It said it was transferred in December 2012 despite resistance from the Vatican Bank.

Bertone maintained the report was an “invention”, adding that the transaction was conducted in a “normal” manner and that former pope Benedict XVI “had been informed of the financial transaction at Lux Vide”. “I repeat there is no problem,” said Bertone. ANSA was told by Lux Vide producers Matilde and Luca Bernabei that they repaid the convertible bond with Lux Vide shares to a value they said was estimated by international accounting firm Deloitte.

Lux Vide, they said, is 52% controlled by the Bernabei family and ended fiscal 2013 with revenues of approximately 41 million euros.

The cardinal had been appointed Vatican secretary of state by Benedict in 2006 and served in the position until last year, when Pope Francis replaced him with Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

During Bertone’s time in the role, the Vatican was rocked by the so-called VatiLeaks scandal which saw confidential Church documents leaked to the media by the Benedict’s butler in 2012.

As well, earlier this year, Pope Francis shook up administration of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, replacing four members of a five-cardinal oversight committee.

Bertone was among those ousted after less than a year into the start of their five-year mandate started under Benedict.

Much of the damage to the image of the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), happened under Bertone’s command, when it came under scrutiny for allegedly not doing enough to prevent money laundering.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

What Doesn’t Kill UKIP Only Makes Them Stronger

It’s the last day of campaigning before voting tomorrow. The main media event will be another joint appearance by David Cameron and Boris Johnson, who are due on a walkabout in Newark about now, before going on to a gig in Enfield…

[Reader comment by colliemum on 21 May 2014.]

For me, the true nadir was that fake Romanian woman holding her placard saying “racist scum” over the face of Winston McKenzie. And out resident HnH hack didn’t even see the inanity of that!]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Macedonia: Ethnic Unrest Erupts in Skopje

Young protesters and police faced off for a second night on May 20 amid ethnic tensions in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, RFE/RL reports.

Demonstrators gathered in the Gjorce Petrov district to protest the murder of a 19-year-old ethnic Macedonian man, allegedly by an ethnic Albanian.

The previous night, May 19, a crowd of ethnic Macedonians went on a rampage in the neighborhood, damaging shops and cafes owned by ethnic Albanians.

Police confirmed that the death leading to the protests is being investigating as a murder and that a suspect has been arrested.

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

Egypt’s Deposed President Hosni Mubarak Sentenced for Embezzlement

Egypt’s deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, has been convicted on corruption charges by a Cairo court, being sentenced to three years in prison. His two sons have also been found guilty on the same charges.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Libyan Interior Minister and Air Force Chief Back Haftar

(AGI) Tripoli, May 21 — The official Libya new agency Lana has reported that the Commander of the Libyan Air Force and the Interior Minister have sided with the anti-extremist General Khalifa Haftar.

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

Libya Announces Elections: Will it Help Calm the Violence?

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — Libya on Tuesday set a date for parliamentary elections in a move intended to stave off the possibility of civil war, even as the U.S. military remained poised to evacuate Americans amid escalating violence.

Libya announced elections will take place June 25 in a bid that some observers hope may help defuse rising tensions, the state news agency LANA reported.

Hostilities have increased since Gen. Khalifa Haftar bombed the bases of Islamist groups on Friday, including the one blamed for the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Libya’s Interior Ministry Supports Renegade General Hifter

Libya’s state news agency has said the interior ministry has thrown its support behind the renegade General Khalifa Hifter’s campaign to rid Libya of Islamist militias. High-ranking officials have also backed Hifter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Tunisian Jailed After Pardon for ‘Blasphemous’ Cartoons

A young Tunisian freed in March after two years in prison for posting cartoons deemed insulting to Islam, saw his eight-month sentence on a separate charge confirmed on appeal Wednesday.

Jabeur Mejri received the same sentence handed down by the court of first instance in April for insulting a public official, his lawyer Ahmed Mselmi told AFP.

Mejri, an atheist activist, was jailed in 2012 for seven and half years for posting caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, but walked free in March after receiving a presidential pardon.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Al Dura Shooting: The Sequel — And the Next Palestinian Hoax?

by Phyllis Chesler

Last week, “something” happened in a confrontation between masked and violent Palestinian youths and the IDF on the West Bank, a.k.a. Judea and Samaria.

The world is still talking about it and their voices are growing louder by the minute. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, has condemned Israel’s “deliberate execution” of these boys and described it as a “crime against humanity.”

Ashrawi’s hysterical hyperbole never disappoints.

Today, both the United States and the United Nations have called for a “transparent probe” of the so-called Nakba Day shootings.

The IDF is conducting its own internal investigation. They have no indication that “live fire” was used by Israeli forces.

But, the same world which still cannot find the missing Malaysian plane or the captured Nigerian girls, can be diverted from their inevitable failure in the face of unsolved mysteries and evil.

[Return to headlines]
 

Abuse, Hardship for Migrant Workers in Lebanon

In the context of the Syrian war, Lebanon has emerged a benevolent neighbor willing to open its borders, homes and schools to refugees. But migrant domestic workers say there is another, harder side to the host nation.

Home to some 200,000 migrant domestic workers, Lebanon is the caretaker of the fragile dreams of women from across Africa and Asia. In uprooting their lives and making the journey from countries such as Ethiopia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka to the southern shores of the Mediterranean, they hope to earn enough money to help ease the burden of poverty on their families back home.

Not always, but all too often, they find themselves enduring a different kind of burden as victims of a system that facilitates exploitation and abuse.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch Send Envoy ‘To Avert Saudi Sanctions’

The Netherlands will send an envoy to Saudi Arabia in a bid to ease the Gulf kingdom’s anger over the distribution of anti-Islamic messages, the foreign ministry has said.

Saudi Arabia has yet to announce any sanctions, but local media said certain measures had already taken effect. The row began when far-right politician Geert Wilders distributed stickers bearing slogans derogatory to Islam. The stickers were printed in the colours of the Saudi flag.

Dutch exports to Saudi Arabia are worth about 2bn euros ($2.7 bn) a year, according to the Dutch statistics office…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

One Million Iranians Drink Alcohol

(AGI) Tehran, May 20 — Over one million people in Iran consume alcoholic drinks in spite of rigid Koranic morality and rules, and of these 30 percent are women as reported by an Iranian academic, Reza Ashrafi, quoted by the student news agency ISNA.

On the basis of a study on which the expert worked for over a year, these figures are five times those admitted by the Iranian regime, which, unable to continue to ignore the phenomenon, at the end of 2013 authorised the opening of the first rehabilitation centres for alcoholics.

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

The Challenge of Keeping Denmark’s Muslims Out of Syria

by Murad Batal Al-Shishani

BBC Arabic, Copenhagen

What can turn a “normal, smiling Danish kid” into an Islamic extremist opposed to “his own society, the West and even fellow Muslims”? That is the question Denmark’s authorities are grappling with.

In Norrebro, a mainly Muslim suburb of the capital Copenhagen, I met two young Danish Muslims on the street. They spoke to me about a conflict thousands of kilometres away, in Syria…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

The Lobby Behind Turkey’s Prime Minister

When the Turkish prime minister holds his rally in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena on Saturday (24.05.2014), an estimated 20,000 people will be on hand to hear him, despite all the criticism ahead of the visit. Erdogan’s appearance will be broadcast live on Turkish television.

The last time the prime minister held a similar event amid a sea of Turkish flags — also in Cologne in 2008 — it was thanks to the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD). The organization was founded in Germany in 2004 as a non-partisan interest group for the Turkish government and ethnic Turks living in Europe.

The UETD is a lobby group for the Turkish government and for the governing AKP party, not only in Germany, but also in France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, where it works to lobby for the political aims of the Erdogan government and, in turn, to convince Turks living in Europe to support these aims.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France’s Unpalatable Warship Deal With Russia

While it has not sparked new calls for “freedom fries”, France’s sale of cutting-edge warships to Russia amid tensions over Ukraine is not going down well with its Western allies. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at the unsavoury military contract.

The United States last week repeated it was “concerned” that Paris was going ahead with its planned delivery of two Mistral warships to Moscow, even as the EU imposed new sanction on Russian leaders for their alleged meddling in Ukraine.

“We have regularly and consistently expressed our concerns about this sale even before the latest Russian action and we will continue to do so,” the US Assistant Secretary for Europe Victoria Nuland told US lawmakers on Thursday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will likely hear similar complaints as he wraps up his visit to the United States on Tuesday, but so far French leaders have resisted pressure to sink their warship agreement with Russia.

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

Putin’s Visit to Shanghai Marks an Eastward Shift for Russian Economy

The Kremlin’s chief is coming accompanied by a large delegation representing 46 companies, including Russia’s oil and gas giants. Moscow hopes to sign a long-awaited contract for gas supplies from Siberia to China with deals in 40 other priority areas in the pipeline. Ukraine will also be discussed.

Moscow (AsiaNews) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on an official visit tomorrow and Wednesday. He will be accompanied by a large delegation that includes officials from state-owned companies. For Russian media, the visit represents the most ambitious bilateral talks in recent decades with the People’s Republic of China.

Putin’s official visit to China coincides with a session of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai, and will provide the Russian leader with an opportunity to ink a large package of documents, including some 40 deals, contracts, and understandings that Moscow hopes will include a 30-year contract to supply Russian gas to China.

Although the economy will take centre stage, the Ukrainian crisis and possible Sino-Russian coordination in the touchy matter will probably be discusses as well, especially since the former Soviet republic goes to the polls next Sunday and tensions between Russia and the West are not letting up.

For Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, Putin’s visit is part of Moscow’s new ‘eastern strategy’. In addition to markets for Russia’s military industry and energy sector, China is in fact an attractive source for foreign investments, especially at a time when its traditional markets — Europe for example — have been damaged by the crisis in Ukraine.

For China, in addition to a real interest in Russian energy supplies, Moscow’s international isolation is a bonus, the paper noted.

The Russian delegation in Shanghai, where Putin will meet with President Xi Jinping, will included officials from 46 companies, including oil and gas giants Gazprom, Rosneft and Novatek.

“Today, Russia firmly places China at the top of its foreign trade partners,” Putin said. “In 2013, the volume of bilateral trade was close to $90 billion, which is far from being the limit. We will try to increase trade turnover to $100 billion by 2015 and up to $200 billion by 2020.”

For Moscow, the real goal is getting a gas deal since its markets in Europe now look shaky because of Western Europe’s desire to reduce its dependency on Russia and American plans to export shale gas. Indeed, rising tensions with the West over the Ukraine have spurred negotiations with Beijing after a hiatus of ten years due to prices.

In view of the international situation, state giant Gazprom has even hinted that it might be flexible in order to get a deal.

An optimistic Putin seems certain that the two sides will reach an understanding, if not sign a contract right away. This will enable Russia to supply China with 38 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year from its own Asia-Pacific region.

So far, a lot of work has been done, Putin said in an interview in which he outlined the areas of Sino-Russian cooperation: atomic energy, space, pharmaceuticals, information technology, joint wide-body long-range aircraft and helicopter production.

Investments into the joint Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) will soon surpass US$1 billion, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said. The Fund is designed to promote economic development in the Russian Far East.

Moscow hopes the visit will be the beginning of a new Sino-Russian partnership and strategic cooperation, including discussion about the Ukraine, even though it is not officially on the agenda.

Putin has hinted that he is looking for a partner and will work with Beijing on the matter. Both Russia and China agree that changing the outcome of World War II is “unacceptable” and that their opposed to “attempts to falsify history” and “turn fascists into heroes”, a charge the Kremlin has levelled against the Ukrainian government.

As evidence of Russia’s new found interest in the East, in Shanghai Putin will also meet with Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

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

Russia — Ukraine: Scandal Erupts Between Moscow and Kiev: Metropolitan Hilarion “Persona Non Grata” In Ukraine

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate was refused entry at the border. Protest of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs : “A provocative and unprecedented act”. The Metropolitan of Odessa leaves town.

Moscow (AsiaNews ) — The refusal of entry to the Moscow Patriarchate’s “foreign minister”, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, has raised yet another diplomatic row between Kiev and the Russian Federation, casting shadows on the fate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Among the most senior representatives of the Russian Patriarchate, the chairman of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations was rejected entry at the border and forced to return to Russia, on May 9. Arriving at the international airport of Dnepropetrovsk, Hilarion was stopped at passport control, before the authorities showed him an official note which prohibited him from entering the territory of Ukraine. As reported by the Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, no further explanation was provided.

Hilarion was slated to participate in the celebrations for the 75th birthday of Metropolitan Irinej of Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd , as the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill .. The message sent by the Russian Orthodox primate was read to Irinej, who arrived at the scene after the mishap at customs, in a room at the airport.

The Russian Orthodox Church has strongly condemned the episode, calling it “an attempt to transfer the civil and political conflict in Ukraine to the religious sphere”. Hilarion — who said he was “surprised” — warned that “what happened raises many questions, because the Church carries out only a mission of peace”. “Whoever made that decision did not act very wisely, because the Russian Orthodox Church is outside of politics” Archpriest Igor Yakymchuk , who accompanied Hilarion in his visit to Ukraine told Kommersant. According to the priest, the Patriarchate will take measures in response to the incident, although “ it is still not clear what”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also intervened. It has demanded an apology and “exhaustive explanations” from the Ukrainian authorities, branding the episode as a “provocative and unprecedented” act. “Moscow is worried by the continuous measures by the current regime of Kiev, which only contribute to the further destabilization of the situation in the country”, a statement from the ministry said, which emphasizes that “today even the canonical Orthodox Church has become their target”.

After several days of silence, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from the incident. “The right to entry, is up to the Border Service ,” said spokesman Yevgeny Perebyinis .

Since last month , Ukraine has “temporarily” banned entry to Russian male citizens, aged between 16 and 60 years, for reasons related to the deteriorating situation in the eastern regions of the country.

Another sign of the intensification of diplomatic tension even around the state of the Orthodox Church regards the Metropolitan of Odessa and Izmail, Agafangel, who has been missing since last week . According to the online newspaper Rupor Odessy , citing the press service of the diocese , the religious left town on a previously organized “vacation”, but without specifying where he currently is.

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

Russia: Bulgarian, Serbian South Stream Sections Progress on Schedule

Chairman of the Russian State Duma Sergey Naryshkin has assured that the construction of the Serbian and Bulgarian sections of the South Stream gas pipeline proceeds as scheduled.

Naryshkin, who was on a two-day visit to Belgrade in early May, said in an interview for Rossiya 24 TV that everything proceeded according to plan and the documents had been coordinated.

He added that the construction of the Serbian section of the gas pipeline would begin in 2014 and it would start carrying gas supplies in 2016, with Belgrade expected to receive the first revenues from it, according to reports of the BGNES news agency.

Naryshkin also informed that all went as planned as regards the implementation of the Bulgarian stretch of the gas pipeline.

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

Russia’s Duma Considers Law to Ban Condom Ads

(AGI) Moscow, May 14 — The parliamentarians of Russia’s Duma are considering a law which will ban the advertising of pharmaceutical products, including condoms and pregnancy tests.

The bill, which states that advertising these products will only be allowed in specialised publications or during medical and pharmaceutical conferences, received its second reading on Wednesday. Its promoters said the bill was necessary because of the proliferation of adverts promoting self-medication drugs instead of consulting doctors. The ban would also apply to adverts for abortions, which were made illegal last year, said the Newsru.ru website.The ban on condom ads and campaigns distributing free condoms is being considered even though the HIV virus is still very widespread.

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

Russia Signs 30-Year Contract to Supply Natural Gas to China

Russia has signed a long-term deal to supply natural gas to China. The agreement comes after more than a decade of negotiations that had repeatedly stalled over the price.

“Through mutual compromise we managed to reach not only acceptable, but rather satisfactory, terms on this contract for both sides,” Putin said, describing his Chinese counterparts as “difficult, hard negotiators.”

Under the $400-billion (292-billion-euro) agreement, at least 38 billion cubic meters of Russia’s natural gas will begin flowing into the Chinese market annually. The project — which is to begin in 2018 — also includes the construction of a new pipeline to connect China’s northeast with Gazprom’s line in the Pacific coast city of Vladivostok.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that his country would be investing $55 billion into the deal, while China would put forward at least $20 billion as well.

The gas deal is a financial and diplomatic boost for Moscow, which has been targeted over the Ukraine crisis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Signs 30-Year Gas Contract With China

Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC on Wednesday signed a 30-year contract on natural gas supplies to China worth $400 billion, reports ITAR-TASS. The document was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Gazprom shares went up by two percent immediately after the deal.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan: Air Strike in North Waziristan: 32 Dead Among Taliban

Victims reported to include prominent figures of the Islamist guerrillas. Unconfirmed reports of injuries among civilians, including women and children. A rebel stronghold was the target of the attack. The Army continues its campaign, amid stalled peace talks between the government and the Taliban.

Islamabad ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — The death toll from a pre-dawn Pakistani army air strike at is of 32 militants dead, including leading figures of the Islamist insurgency. The attack was aimed at a remote tribal area of North Waziristan, a mountainous region in the north — east of the country, on the border with Afghanistan. An army source in Islamabad spoke of “targeted air strikes “ which also hit “some commanders” of the fundamentalist militias, even no names were specified. The Army continues its military campaign against the Pakistani Taliban, amid stalled peace talks between the government and the Taliban in an attempt to end the violence in the country .

In North Waziristan, intelligence sources report that the target zone of the air raid was a hideout for “terrorists implicated in some recent attacks, including the bombing of a refugee camp in Peshawar , attacks in the tribal regions of Bajaur and Mohmand”, as well as attacks on security forces in the region.

Local witnesses claim civilians were wounded in the air raid and that they include women and children, but there is no official confirmation. Independent verification is impossible because reporters are not allowed access to the area, considered a stronghold of the Taliban Islamists affiliated with al — Qaeda. For many governments, including Washington, it is the most dangerous area in the world.

The government launched peace talks with the Taliban in January, followed by the presentation last month of the first Code of Conduct on national security. Neither initiative stopped the spiral of Islamic extremist violence that has bloodied the country for some time now. If, on the one hand, the TTP has vowed to respect the cease- fire, on the other, Taliban militia groups have attacked institutions, police stations and military targets on several occasions. In response, the army has carried out a series of raids in the tribal areas against Islamist strongholds.

The truce between the government and Taliban expired on April 16 , but the Islamists have confirmed their intention to continue negotiations. Moreover, in the context of the talks, the Taliban demand the release of hundreds of prisoners, the army’s withdrawal from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and the introduction of Islamic law (sharia).

With a population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim), Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest Muslim nation after Indonesia. About 80 per cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6 per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per cent). Violence against ethnic and religious minorities is commonplace across the country, with Shia Muslims and Christians as the main target, with things getting worse.

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

Chinese, Russian Naval Forces Gather for Drill

(People’s Daily Online) — Beijing, May 21 — The naval forces of China and Russia are scheduled to conduct the “Joint Sea-2014” drill in the northern waters and aerial space of the East China Sea from May 20 to 26.

The navy of China sent three guided missile destroyers, Zhengzhou, Harbin and Ningbo, two guided missile frigates, Yantai and Liuzhou, the comprehensive supply ship Qiandaohu, new-type guided missile speedboats, two submarines, multiple-type fixed-wing warplanes, and ship-borne helicopters to participate in this drill.

The Russian Navy’s six participating warships arrived in Shanghai on May 18. The guided missile cruiser Varyag, the anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev, the destroyer Bystry, and the landing ship Admiral Nevelskoi are the main battle ships of the Pacific Fleet of Russia.

The drill will test the two parties’ capabilities to launch joint operations such as anti-ship strike, anti-submarine combat and rescue of hijacked vessels.

This will be the third such exercise after joint drills held off the coast of Russia’s Far East in July 2013 and in the Yellow Sea in April 2012.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Media Brands US a ‘Mincing Rascal’ Over Hacking Charges

Chinese state media labelled the United States a “mincing rascal” and “high-level hooligan” on Wednesday in response to Washington charging five Chinese military officers with hacking US companies to steal trade secrets.

The attacks came as analysts revealed that the hacking techniques China is accused of using against American companies turned out to be disappointingly mundane, tricking employees into opening e-mail attachments or clicking on innocent-looking website links.

In some cases, the government says, the hackers used “spear-phishing”, a well-known scam to trick employees into infecting their own computers by opening emails with infected links.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

GlaxoSmithKlein Accused of Corruption in China

(AGI) Beijing, May 14 — Corruption charges have been made against 46 people in a case involving bribes paid by British Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK) worth hundreds of millions of euros. GSK is accused to paying doctors and hospitals to get them to prescribe their products to patients.

The charges come after a 10-month investigation in Chagsha, capital of Hunan Province. According to the Xinhua news agency, Mark Reilly, who has been head of the Chinese division of GSK since 2009, is among those under arrest.

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

American Man’s Wife is Sentenced to Death in Sudan: Where’s the Dream Act for Meriam Ibrahim?

By Mark Steyn

Excerpt: As I’ve discussed here and on air, Meriam Ibrahim is the wife of a US citizen, Daniel Wani. Mr Wani lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, a couple hours south of SteynOnline corporate HQ. He has lived in the Granite State for 17 years. He has been a US citizen for almost a decade. I don’t think it’s in the interests of Americans for thug states to learn they can execute the spouses of US citizens with impunity. That will not improve the security of Americans and westerners as they move around the world. As I said the other day, the spouse of a US citizen is entitled to US citizenship herself: It’s essentially non-discretionary. So Mrs Wani is in effect an American-in-waiting.

           — Hat tip: KP [Return to headlines]
 

Dozens Killed in Twin Boko Haram Attacks Near Nigeria’s Chibok

Latest attack comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram

Two attacks by Boko Haram gunmen killed 30 people near Chibok, the northeast Nigerian town where the Islamists kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month. The first attack on Monday afternoon killed 10 in the village of Shawa, some 4.3 miles from Chibok, a number of residents said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Islam: ‘Appalling and Abhorrent’ In the Eyes of a Blind World?

by Raymond Ibrahim

A few days ago in Sudan, an eight-month pregnant wife and mother was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce Christ and embrace Islam.

Tragic as this story is, it is also immensely commonplace in Islamic countries. Why? Because Islamic law does in fact punish the apostate from Islam—including with death—in accordance with the commands of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Indeed, many Muslim clerics believe that “If the (death) penalty for apostasy was ignored, there would not be an Islam today; Islam would have ended on the death of the prophet,” as top Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi once declared on live television.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Deaths Reported in Nigeria in Wake of Twin Jos Attacks

Islamist militants have been blamed for the killing of up to 30 people in Nigeria. Reports of the attacks come after more than 100 people died in twin bomb blasts in the Nigerian city of Jos.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Fidel Castro’s Daughter Says He Had ‘High Level of Cruelty’

Daughter also called Castro ‘an absent father’

(ANSA) — Miami, May 16 — Fidel Castro’s natural daughter said the former Cuban dictator was “a person with a fairly high level of cruelty” in a Friday news report.

Alina Fernandez Revuelta called Castro “an absent father” in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE conducted in Miami, where Revuelta has lived since she fled Cuba with a false passport in 1993.

“I found out I was his daughter when I was 10 years old, and this coincided with one of the long periods in which he disappeared. He was a tender, nocturnal visitor, but I never got in the habit of calling him ‘Papa’,” said Revuelta.

Revuelta grew up with her mother, Natalia Revuelta Clews, and her stepfather, Orlando Fernandez.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Russia, Cuba Sign Memorandum on Security and Defence

The Security Council of Russia and the Committee for National Security and Defence of Cuba signed a memorandum on cooperation in Moscow on Wednesday and agreed to set up a joint working group, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said at a joint meeting.

Yesterday, a Cuban delegation headed by special spokesman for the chairman of the Council of Ministers and the State Council of Cuba Alejandro Castro Espin arrived in Moscow and had a meeting with the leaders of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

Patrushev said that the situation in the world is changing fast, so now Russia and Cuba will have an opportunity to respond to the events in a more rapid manner.

Castro Estin shared his Russian colleague’s view saying that Russia and Cuba need an instrument for responding to sensitive issues. The memorandum will help to determine priorities in cooperation for providing effective security for both our countries, Castro Espin said.

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

Vatican Probe Opened Into Mexican Priest’s ‘Child Sex Abuse’

‘Over 100 kids drugged and molested over 30 years by prelate’

(ANSA) — Mexico City, May 20 — The Vatican has opened a probe into a priest in Mexico accused of sexually abusing over 100 children over the course of 30 years. A spokesperson for the archdiocese of San Luis Potosi, central Mexico, said the Vatican has been investigating Eduardo Cordova amid allegations he molested children at various private schools. Meanwhile prosecutors have asked the local archbishop to turn over all files pertaining to complaints and accusations against the prelate. Local media say Cordova has long had a potent influence on local politics as a former member of the city council and an advisor on human rights. The case has brought back memories of Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ Catholic movement who inflicted decades of sexual abuse on boys and fathered several children, two of whom he also abused. Maciel, a close ally to Pope John Paul II, was stripped of his leadership role and ordered to a life of prayer and penitence by John Paul’s successor Benedict XVI in 2006 and died two years later in disgrace.

According to Alberto Athié, a former Legionaries of Christ priest who now advocates against clerical abuse, Cordova abused “dozens and dozens” of minors by drugging them before molesting them, and alleged that the local church hierarchy protected him for over 30 years.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Navy Rescues Another Migrant Boat Off Sicily

(AGI) Palermo, May 21 — The Italian naval vessel SanGiorgio has rescued a migrant boat carrying 400 migrants in the Strait of Messina as part of the ‘Mare Nostrum” rescue operations. Five hundred migrants, including 133 minors, are also due to land in the Sicilian city of Augusta on Wednesday. They were rescued on Monday by the Italian frigate Grecale and the patrol ship Foscari.

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

Luis Gutierrez: ‘Every Institution in America’ Should Work Around Fed. Immigration Laws

On Monday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) suggested that until Congress passes sweeping amnesty legislation, “every institution in America” should find ways to ignore or work around federal immigration laws. He also said that President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action program was the first step in implementing more amnesty programs.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Geithner: ‘How Well You Do in Life … Depends Too Much on the Color of Your Skin’

(CNSNews.com) — Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday said how well one does in life “depends too much on the color of your skin and how rich your parent is.”

“How well you do in life today, how good your education is, how good your health care is, depends too much on the color of your skin and how rich your parent is. And that’s something that should worry all Americans,” said Geithner. “Now, those are things government can do things about.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Should students about to read “The Great Gatsby” be forewarned about “a variety of scenes that reference gory, abusive and misogynistic violence,” as one Rutgers student proposed? Would any book that addresses racism — like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or “Things Fall Apart” — have to be preceded by a note of caution? Do sexual images from Greek mythology need to come with a viewer-beware label?

Colleges across the country this spring have been wrestling with student requests for what are known as “trigger warnings,” explicit alerts that the material they are about to read or see in a classroom might upset them or, as some students assert, cause symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims of rape or in war veterans.

The warnings, which have their ideological roots in feminist thought, have gained the most traction at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the student government formally called for them. But there have been similar requests from students at Oberlin College, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, George Washington University and other schools.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Earth’s Backup: Sending Religious Texts to the Moon

THINK of Earth as a giant supercomputer, with the moon as our backup hard drive. That’s the vision behind plans to use the moon as off-planet storage for the religious, cultural and even genetic trappings of humanity.

The movers and shakers behind this idea initially plan to hitch their wagons to privately funded firms vying to win millions in a Google-backed space flight competition, with the first of those missions scheduled to fly before the end of 2015.

Eventually, commercial moon landers may help carry a diverse library of cultural and biological records to the lunar surface, where they would be preserved in case Earth suffers a pandemic plague, nuclear holocaust or lethal asteroid strike.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EBay Urges Users to Change Passwords After Cyberattack

E-commerce site eBay has asked its users to change their passwords after a cyberattack compromised client identity information. The company, however, said that financial and credit card data appeared not to be affected.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Google Dethrones Apple in Brand Value Ranking

A new report by market research group Millward Brown has seen Google toppling Apple from the top spot in a ranking gauging the brand value of the world’s biggest companies. Google’s innovation drive played a major role.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/21/2014

  1. Re: “Earth’s Backup”- who’s going to be left to recover the records?!?

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