Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/7/2014

A 28-year-old “Canadian” named Rafid Jihad has been charged with attempted murder after attacking a 13-year-old boy with a hammer and fracturing his skull. The victim is in serious condition after surgery, but is expected to make a full recovery.

In other news, more than 180 people were killed, and roughly the same number wounded, in terrorist attacks across Iraq.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, Insubria, JP, Vlad Tepes, 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
» Prosecutors Ask Seven Years for Former MPS Chairman Mussari
» Southern Italy’s GDP Fell 4% in 2013
 
USA
» CIA Joins Twitter With Cryptic Message
» Driver Charged in Crash That Killed 1 and Critically Injured the Comedian Tracy Morgan
» Jihadist Recruitment in West Difficult to Stop
» Newly Renovated Islamic Center of Greater Miami Mosque in Miami Gardens is a Striking Sight
» Of Throw-Downs, Take-Downs and Duranty Prizes
» Tonalist Wins Belmont Stakes, Denying Triple Crown for California Chrome
 
Canada
» Charges Laid in Hammer Attack on Boy, 13
 
Europe and the EU
» EU ‘Science’ is Twisted, Says Its Top Expert
» Germany: Welcome to Berlin’s House of One — A Church, Synagogue and Mosque
» Hollande’s D-Day Speech Praises Red Army’s Courage
» Maria Sharapova Wins French Open
» Nine Seriously Injured in Explosion in Germany
» Rare Photo Suggests Nazis Used Italians in Normandy Defenses
» Slovakia, Czech Republic: NATO Troops and Bases Not Welcome
» UK: ‘Hellfire’ Muslim Teachers at ‘Trojan Horse’ School Warned Six-Year-Olds About ‘White Prostitutes’
» UK: Housing Shortage Forces Londoners to Live in Garages
» UK: New TV Channel for ‘Comfortably British’ Muslims Set for Launch
» UK: Radical Islam in Secular Schools: Now the Shocking Truth Emerges
» UK: Tory Bloodbath Over Muslim ‘Trojan Horse’ Schools Fiasco …
» UK: Trojan Horse Ringleaders Face Ban for Extremist Plot
» UK: Thug Who Attacked Traffic Warden With Hammer Grins as He Walks Free From Court
 
North Africa
» Algerian Premier Excludes Military Intervention in Libya
» Bomb Blast Kills 1 in Egypt
 
Middle East
» Bodies of 21 Policemen Found in Iraq’s Mosul
» Carnage Across Iraq Leaves 184 Killed, 183 Wounded
» Iraq University Raided in Day of Bloodshed
» Iraq: 20 Killed in Bomb Attacks in Baghdad
» Iraqi Forces Free Hostage Students at Anbar University
» Iraqi Security Forces Retake Control of Anbar University, 9 Militants Killed
» Scores Killed in Iraq Car Blasts
» Taliban Members Released in Exchange for Bowe Bergdahl Begin New Lives in Qatar
» Turkish Law Forbids Alcohol Advertising
» U.S. Providing Arms to Syrian Rebels, Says Security Chief
 
Russia
» Russia and Ukraine Close to Gas Deal, Says Putin
 
South Asia
» Fox News: US Soldier Bergdahl Converted to Islam in Captivity
» India Monitoring Russia’s Move to Sell Choppers to Pakistan
» Mentally Disabled Woman Raped and Burned Alive in India
» Suicide Car Bomb Wounds 5 Afghan Soldiers, Taliban Claims Responsibility
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Nigeria: Boko Haram — Soldiers Wage War on Newspapers
» Nigerian Editors Condemn Military Attack on Newspapers
 
Immigration
» Hamburg, Germany: Stop the Lampedusa Squatters in Front of City Hall With a No-Go Zone
» Italy: Another 367 Migrants Disembark in Palermo
» Over a Thousand Immigrants Rescued Off Coast of Sicily
 

Prosecutors Ask Seven Years for Former MPS Chairman Mussari

Former GM, finance chief face six in alleged bank fraud

(ANSA) — Siena, June 6 — Prosecutors on Friday asked judges to convict and sentence Giuseppe Mussari, the former chairman at troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), to seven years in prison for fraud. They then asked for six years in prison for former general manager Antonio Vigni and former chief of finance Gianluca Baldassarri. MPS has also been at the center of a judicial investigation into its acquisition of smaller rival Antonveneta in 2008 as well as the derivatives trades the bank allegedly used to conceal losses.

The three are accused of market manipulation, false statements to the market and regulatory obstruction in relation to the Antonveneta deal and the derivatives trades.

MPS recapitalized in 2012 and again in January 2013 when news circulated that top management had entered into secret derivatives contracts with Deutsche Bank and Nomura in order to hide estimated losses of between 500 million euros and 750 million euros in two of its divisions.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Southern Italy’s GDP Fell 4% in 2013

More than twice national average

(ANSA) — Rome, June 6 — The long recession that Italy is still struggling to recover from has hit the country’s less wealthy southern regions much harder than the rest of the nation, Istat said Friday. The national statistics agency said it estimated that southern Italy’s gross domestic product fell 4% in 2013, more than twice the national average of 1.9%.

Istat said that the “dynamics” of the recession were “different at the regional level” even though GDP fell everywhere last year.

While the south suffered most, GDP in central Italy dropped 1.8%, while it fell 1.5% in the north-east and 0.6% in the north-west. Italy looked to have come out of its longest postwar recession when it posted a rise in GDP of 0.1% in the last quarter of 2013.

But recovery hopes were dented last month when Istat said GDP actually shrank by 0.1% in the first three months of this year, rather than increase as had been expected.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

CIA Joins Twitter With Cryptic Message

In launching Twitter feed, US spy agency says it can neither confirm nor deny its first tweet

The CIA, one of the world’s most secretive organisations, became a little more public on Friday after joining social media site Twitter. The spy agency’s debut tweet revealed a cryptic sense of humour, slying saying it could neither confirm or deny it was the CIA’s first tweet.

Despite only posting a single brief message, the account gained more than 160,000 followers in the first few hours…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Driver Charged in Crash That Killed 1 and Critically Injured the Comedian Tracy Morgan

The actor and comedian Tracy Morgan was critically injured early Saturday and another man was killed after the limousine bus in which they were riding was hit by a tractor-trailer in a six-vehicle accident on the New Jersey Turnpike, the state police said.

The crash, which occurred about 1 a.m. on the northbound side of the turnpike in Cranbury Township in Middlesex County, about 45 miles from New York City, sent three other passengers to the hospital with injuries.

The dead man was identified by the police as James McNair, 63, of Peekskill, N.Y., a comedian who was traveling with Mr. Morgan, 45, a former “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” cast member.

The truck driver, identified by the police as Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga., was charged later on Saturday with one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto, according to Middlesex County’s acting prosecutor and the state police.

[Return to headlines]
 

Jihadist Recruitment in West Difficult to Stop

Abdi Mohamud Nur seemed like a pretty average American kid. Part of Minneapolis’ sizable community of Somali-Americans, Nur was obedient and good-natured, his sister, Ifrah, said. He loved basketball. He graduated from a Minneapolis high school last year and enrolled at a local college.

In March of this year, Ifrah said, things changed. Nur, 20, joined a local mosque in the Minnesotan city. He became “reserved and unsocial,” Iftah told VOA…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Newly Renovated Islamic Center of Greater Miami Mosque in Miami Gardens is a Striking Sight

There was a time when the Islamic Center of Greater Miami could not fully accommodate the growing Muslim community. Worshipers would overflow outside of the mosque at 4305 NW 183rd St. in Miami Gardens — the second oldest mosque in South Florida — trying to hear the sermon…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Of Throw-Downs, Take-Downs and Duranty Prizes

by Diana West

[…]

Rather than dwell on the sordidness of journalism today, I would like to harken back to the sordidness of journalism yesterday — to the time of Walter Duranty, the lying, fabricating NYT Pulitzer Prize winner best known for failing on purpose to report the state-engineered Ukraine terror famine by which Stalin killed some five or six or more million people by starving them to death, now immortalized in this rather dubious annual dinner in Manhattan.

Duranty’s perfidy is also covered in American Betrayal, but it’s worth noting that this perfidy was not Duranty’s alone. He had journalist-peers who put out similar lies, and who cooperated in a scheme to suppress the truth about the famine as told by one remarkable truth-teller, Gareth Jones.

This is a story that reeks morally, but it is important to come to grips with it for what it tells us about the way media work in the modern age — the modern age that began in the 1930s with the election of FDR: Ideology and/or expedience over all. Maybe it all began one spring night in 1993 in a Moscow hotel room in an incident we only know of because it is recorded in a chapter in Assignment in Utopia, the memoir of the ex-Socialist journalist Eugene Lyons, another truth-teller. The chapter is called: “The Press Corps Conceals a Famine.”

From American Betrayal, pp. 101-103:…

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
 

Tonalist Wins Belmont Stakes, Denying Triple Crown for California Chrome

Tonalist won the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park, denying California Chrome his shot at becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner and the first since Affirmed in 1978.

California Chrome, who won his previous six starts by a combined 27 1/2 lengths, including the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, finished in fifth place under Victor Espinoza.

[Return to headlines]
 

Charges Laid in Hammer Attack on Boy, 13

Police in Windsor, Ont., have charged a 28-year-old man with attempted murder following a hammer attack that left a 13-year-old boy in serious condition.

The boy was struck several times in the head and received multiple skull fractures, police said. He was taken to hospital in London, Ont., where he remained Saturday. Police said his condition had been upgraded to stable following surgery, and doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Police said the boy was walking by the suspect’s home around 10:45 Friday morning when he was attacked with a hammer. Police haven’t said what may have provoked the attack.

Rafid Jihad, of Windsor, was taken into custody shortly after the incident and charged.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

EU ‘Science’ is Twisted, Says Its Top Expert

by Christopher Booker

Professor Anne Glover said the EU Commission routinely ignores scientific evidence

Scarcely noticed over here was a remarkable speech made the other day in Brussels by Professor Anne Glover, pictured, the chief scientific adviser to the European Commission. As reported on the Continent under the headline: “Twisting facts to fit the political agenda”, she launched into a trenchant attack on how the Commission routinely ignores scientific evidence when this contradicts some “political imperative” it has decided on for other reasons, such as pressure from lobby groups. On a whole range of issues, it has then hired reports from lavishly paid consultants to come up with the arguments it needs to support its political agenda.

There may be little new about this to hardened Brussels-watchers, but what was surprising was its source…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Welcome to Berlin’s House of One — A Church, Synagogue and Mosque

It has been dubbed the “Wonder of Berlin”. And if a Protestant pastor, a rabbi and an imam can realise their shared dream, the world’s first house of prayer for three religions will open its doors in the German capital in four years’ time, with the building costs being paid for by donations…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Hollande’s D-Day Speech Praises Red Army’s Courage

(AGI) Ouistreham (France), June 6 — French President Francois Hollande, in his D-Day speech, said that France and its allies are in debt to the Red Army and the courage shown by Russian soldiers. Hollande also paid homage to the bravery of the Germans, “also victims of Nazism.” Speaking to dozens of heads of state and government and hundreds of veterans who have come to Ouistreham, in Normandy, for the 70th anniversary of the allied landings, Hollande saluted British, American, Canadian, Polish and Australian soldiers.

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

Maria Sharapova Wins French Open

Maria Sharapova of Russia won her second French Open on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4, victory against Simona Halep of Romania.

The 2012 champion here and the runner-up last year, Sharapova, 27, has also come a long way in a year. After the French Open last year, she lost in the second round at Wimbledon, missed most of the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, went through two coaching changes, and slipped from fourth to eighth in the rankings.

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Nine Seriously Injured in Explosion in Germany

FRANKFURT, June 6 (Xinhua) — Nine people were seriously injured on Friday in an explosion in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg, according to local press reports.

The accident occurred at a restaurant at around 17:50 local time, leaving nine people seriously injured and five of them are in critical condition. Police said it was probably a gas explosion, which took place in the second floor of the restaurant.

Some pedestrians were also reported injured as shattered glass was blown out. Some policemen, fire fighters and rescue team have reached the scene and the police cordoned off some roads in the city.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Rare Photo Suggests Nazis Used Italians in Normandy Defenses

Italians surrendering to Americans after D-Day puzzle historians

(ANSA) — Rome, June 6 — A rare photograph of Italian troops evidently surrendering to American soldiers on a Normandy battlefield has fuelled speculation about possible Italian military involvement against Allied forces after D-Day.

Also surrendering with the Italians in the picture are German soldiers. The Italians in the photo wore military uniforms but some of them wore typical Sicilian “coppola” flat caps favoured by shepherds.

The Italian soldiers were not wearing the insignia of the Republic of Salò, the Nazi puppet government set up in northern Italy under figurehead leadership of Benito Mussolini.

One theory is that the Italians were forced labourers known as “Interned Italian Workers”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Slovakia, Czech Republic: NATO Troops and Bases Not Welcome

Two Eastern European nations, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have refused to host foreign troops and military bases. The prime ministers of both countries have consecutively spoken against the proposal voiced by US President Barack Obama.

Following the example of their neighbor the Czech Republic, the prime minister of Slovakia stated that his country is ready to meet its obligations as a NATO member state, but stationing foreign troops on its territory is out of the question.

Slovak PM Robert Fico said he “can’t imagine foreign troops being deployed on our territory in the form of some bases.”

The proposal to host more NATO troops in Eastern Europe was voiced by Obama on his current tour of Europe.

Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw, Obama said America is stepping up its partnership with countries in Eastern Europe with a view to bolstering security.

Initially, it was Poland that asked for a greater US military presence in Eastern Europe.

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

UK: ‘Hellfire’ Muslim Teachers at ‘Trojan Horse’ School Warned Six-Year-Olds About ‘White Prostitutes’

Pupils as young as six were taught to treat Western women as ‘white prostitutes’ by a school at the centre of the ‘Trojan Horse’ Islamist plot. The shocking disclosure comes ahead of two bombshell reports into claims Muslim radicals conspired to infiltrate governing bodies of Birmingham schools.

A leaked copy of one report says teachers at Oldknow Academy told school inspectors they were alarmed by the use of terms such as ‘white prostitute’ and ‘hellfire’ in school assemblies, and that non-Muslim teachers were banned from being present…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Housing Shortage Forces Londoners to Live in Garages

(AGI) London, June 6 — The latest solution to the housing problem in London is living in garages, writes the Guardian newspaper, adding that it has made parts of the city resemble Calcutta. The newspaper, which broke the story, writes that many of the city’s boroughs, such as Newham, have begun a campaign against landlords who rent garages that have been converted into apartments.

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

UK: New TV Channel for ‘Comfortably British’ Muslims Set for Launch

British Muslim TV, a new channel aimed at British Muslims is set for launch this month. Its arrival joins an already growing number of specialized, niche channels for religious and ethnic minorities in recent years. But unlike most of these channels, the program content of British Muslim TV has been exclusively funded and made in the UK.

Soon to air on the British Sky digital platform, filming has already been under way to create content that reflects the different voices of the Muslim community in Britain and to embody the tag line “Confidently Muslim, Comfortably British”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Radical Islam in Secular Schools: Now the Shocking Truth Emerges

by Damian Thompson

“Students’ understanding of the arts, different cultures and other beliefs are limited.” That’s one of the complaints about Birmingham schools made by Ofsted in their leaked report. It sounds like a relatively mild criticism.

Not so. What the Trojan Horse scandal has revealed is that leaders of the Muslim community in Birmingham have been creating a Wahhabi-inspired counterculture in secular, not faith, schools…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Tory Bloodbath Over Muslim ‘Trojan Horse’ Schools Fiasco …

David Cameron’s Government was in crisis last night after Michael Gove was forced to make a grovelling apology to the Prime Minister for undermining Theresa May — and her spin doctor had to quit for attacking Mr Gove…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Trojan Horse Ringleaders Face Ban for Extremist Plot

by Andrew Gilligan

Powers introduced by Education Secretary Michael Gove to ban Birmingham plotters from all UK schools for life

Teachers and governors involved in the alleged “Trojan Horse” Islamic takeover plot face life-long bans from all schools in Britain under new powers being taken by Michael Gove. Mr Gove, the Education Secretary, wants to use the new powers to ensure that anyone found to have been involved in the plot — allegedly designed to Islamise secular state education in Birmingham — is prevented from working in schools elsewhere in the country.

He is also considering removing all state schools in Birmingham from the local education authority’s control, The Telegraph understands…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Thug Who Attacked Traffic Warden With Hammer Grins as He Walks Free From Court

Arafat Akhtar battered defenseless Davis Truman over the head after he was handed a ticket for parking on double yellow lines

A grinning thug has walked free from court despite admitting battering a traffic warden over the head with a hammer. Arafat Akhtar, 26, hit defenseless David Truman with the weapon after being handed a ticket for parking on double yellow lines. The motorist then sped away from the scene in Birmingham but later contacted cops…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Algerian Premier Excludes Military Intervention in Libya

(AGI/NOVA) — Algiers, June 6 — The Algerian Prime Minister, Abdel Malik Sellal, indicated that his country would not engage in any military intervention against extremist Islamist groups abroad, especially in Libya. Speaking to the local daily “el Khabar”, the Algerian premier explained that “there is false news concerning our participation in an joint American-French operation against terrorist bases in southern Libya.” ..

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

Bomb Blast Kills 1 in Egypt

CAIRO, June 7 (Xinhua) — A bomb blast killed a man and injured his brother nearby the Egyptian capital city of Cairo on Saturday, state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported on its website.

The pair was securing an area in Cairo’s neighboring province Giza and they found a suspicious item. When checking out the item, it detonated as it was a home-made bomb, the report said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Bodies of 21 Policemen Found in Iraq’s Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq, June 7 (Xinhua) — The bodies of 21 policemen were found executed by militants in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, capital of Nineveh province, as fierce battles continue into the second day, a provincial police source said on Saturday.

“The police found the bodies of 19 policemen and two officers who were kidnapped yesterday dumped in executing-style in 17th July neighborhood in western Mosul,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Carnage Across Iraq Leaves 184 Killed, 183 Wounded

Militants continued their siege of Mosul today and also attack a university in Ramadi. Later in the day, Baghdad suffered from a series of bombings. Overall, at least 184 people were killed and 183 were wounded…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq University Raided in Day of Bloodshed

Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham launch attacks across country, including a siege at a university in Ramadi

Militant Islamists from the Middle East’s most feared al-Qaeda offshoot stormed a university in Iraq on Saturday as part of an operation across the country that left scores dead.

Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis), which now controls swathes of territory on either side of the Syria-Iraq border, moved on the university in Ramadi, in the western province of Anbar, which they have been trying to take over since the end of last year…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: 20 Killed in Bomb Attacks in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, June 7 (Xinhua) — At least 20 people were killed and 80 others wounded in car bomb and roadside bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad on Saturday night, police and medic sources told Xinhua.

The deadliest bombing occurred in Bayaa district in southwestern Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 13 others…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraqi Forces Free Hostage Students at Anbar University

(AGI) Baghdad, June 7 — Iraqi security forces freed all 600 students who were taken hostage in the University of Anbar on Sunday morning by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The news was confirmed by police sources in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar governorate.

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

Iraqi Security Forces Retake Control of Anbar University, 9 Militants Killed

RAMADI, Iraq, June 7 (Xinhua) — The Iraqi security forces on Saturday retook control of campus of Anbar University in Iraq’s western province of Anbar in fierce battle, leaving at least nine militants killed, a provincial police source said.

Earlier in the day, dozens of gunmen stormed campus of Anbar University, which located in the western edge of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, while hundreds of students and teachers were trapped in the school buildings, the source said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Scores Killed in Iraq Car Blasts

A series of car bombs exploded across Iraq’s capital tonight, killing at least 52 people in a day of violence that saw militants storm a university in the country’s restive Anbar province and take dozens hostage, authorities said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Taliban Members Released in Exchange for Bowe Bergdahl Begin New Lives in Qatar

Exclusive: From Guantánamo to the al-Muaither neighbourhood in Doha — how the Taliban released in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl settling in to Qatar neighbourhood of air-conditioned private castles and flashy cars

BMWs and 4×4 vehicles crammed the car park and pavements around the tall white mosque where worshippers were reciting the midday prayer. Outside, in the suffocating 45 degree desert heat, perfectly tarmacked, wide roads run alongside row after row of large, high walled, residential compounds.

It is here, in al-Muaither, a neighbourhood on the outskirts the Qatari capital Doha, that the five Taliban members released from Guantánamo detention centre have been taken to settle in to their new life as free men, The Telegraph has learned…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish Law Forbids Alcohol Advertising

A new Turkish law ordering an end to all advertisements for alcohol brands is causing a headache for shop owners.

Istanbul’s trendy night spots are due for a facelift when a new law comes into effect next week, ordering an end to all advertisements for alcohol brands.

Whether the blue, white and gold logo of the local Efes pilsner, the various markings of Turkey’s signature anis-flavoured arak drink or the omnipresent black-and-white Number 7 of Jack Daniels, it is all set to come down.

“We have to cover up the logos, inside the shop and outside,” explains Ahmet, a kiosk owner on a street crowded with bars and restaurants in the popular Beyoglu district…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Providing Arms to Syrian Rebels, Says Security Chief

(AGI) Colleville-sur-Mer, June 6 — In light of the latest developments in the civil war in Syria, which has seen Bashar al-Assad’s regime bolstered by help from Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, the U.S. has ramped up its support for rebels fighting the regime. Washington has always said it was providing non-lethal support only, but White House national security adviser Susan Rice said on Friday that the U.S. had boosted its lethal and non-lethal support for the moderate vetted opposition. Ms Rice was speaking while travelling to the D-Day 70th anniversary celebrations in Normandy.

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

Russia and Ukraine Close to Gas Deal, Says Putin

(AGI) Moscow, June 6 — Russia and Ukraine look close to an agreement on gas supplies, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin was speaking after a short meeting with Ukraine’s new president, Petro Proshenko, on the sidelines of the D-Day 70th anniversary celebrations in Normandy. For his part, Mr Proshenko said there was a good chance that the talks with Russia would be successful.

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

Fox News: US Soldier Bergdahl Converted to Islam in Captivity

In a story that begins to look like a plot from American TV show “Homeland”, Fox News Channel, citing secret documents it obtained, claims that US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released last week from captivity by the Taliban, during the five-year imprisonment converted to Islam and even called himself a mujahid.

According to the channel, a source close to Bergdahl’s captors reported that the American prisoner had declared himself a mujahid, or a fighter against the infidels, a term the Taliban use for Americans.

He also played football with the Taliban and participated in Kalashnikov train shootings. At some point, he got permission from the Taliban to carry his own weapons.

However, his relationship with the Taliban was not always as rosy: for a long time he was guarded by 200 people.

Once Bergdahl tried to escape, spending five days in freedom, only to be re-captured again and put in an iron cage, says Fox News.

The documents obtained by the channel have been prepared by Eclipse Group, which has close ties to the Pentagon.

The company is headed by Dewey Clarridge, a former senior CIA official, who came under trial and was later pardoned by President Bush in the scandalous case of Iran-Contra.

Bergdahl went missing after he left a US base in Afghanistan in 2009. Soon it was revealed that he had been taken prisoner by the Taliban.

Last week, after five years of imprisonment, it was announced that the sergeant would be released in exchange for five Taliban commanders detained at Guantanamo prison.

Under the terms of the exchange, the freed Taliban are transferred to Qatar and must stay on its territory for a year.

The Pentagon said that it would clarify the circumstances of the sergeant’s captivity when he fully recovers from the hardships.

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

India Monitoring Russia’s Move to Sell Choppers to Pakistan

A couple of days after Russia made an unexpected move to lift its long-standing, self-imposed embargo on weapons deliveries to Pakistan in order to supply Islamabad with attack helicopters, ‘concerned’ India has said that it is closely watching Moscow’s move to understand the changing geo-political situation in the region.

In New Delhi, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Thursday that India did not expect Russia, popularly known as India’s friend, to make such a move. The official, who wants to remain anonymous, stressed: “Yes, there is some concern here. But then, other countries, like the US and France, also sell their weaponry to both sides of the line of control. If the French sells Agosta-90B submarines to Pakistan, they sell the Scorpene submarines to us.” At the same time, he admitted that India would have to change its defence policy, if Pakistan received Mi-35 helicopters from Russia.

Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Alexander M Kadakin assured the Indian leadership Moscow would never make any such move that could hurt its “deep and strategic” partnership with India. However, Kadakin’s assurance failed to convince the Indian defence experts, who believe that the Russian military equipment, ranging from aero-engines for its JF-17 fighters to variants of Russian radars and guns, would certainly create troubles for India.

Defence experts are also of the opinion that the defence policy of the previous Indian government has encouraged Russia to lift the embargo on weapons deliveries to Pakistan. For many years, Russia had been India’s largest defence supplier. India had acquired military equipment worth over USD 40 billion from Russia in 1963-98. Since the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan, India has started making serious efforts to turn to other countries, such as the US, Israel and France, to meet its military requirements. Over the last decade, the US bagged Indian defence deals worth nearly USD 10 billion. As a result, Moscow has decided to explore more South Asian markets to sell its military equipment.

In this changing scenario, the Indian leadership has decided to adopt ‘wait and watch’ policy before striking any defence deal with its ‘old friend’ Russia.

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

Mentally Disabled Woman Raped and Burned Alive in India

(AGI) New Delhi, June 7 — A mentally disabled 42-year-old mother of two children, Alorani Deb, was raped and burned alive by three men in Harina, in the Tripura state in north-eastern India, a police spokesman stated. The news was reported by local media. Local political forces, including the Communist Party, have asked for an exemplary punishment for the culprits.

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

Suicide Car Bomb Wounds 5 Afghan Soldiers, Taliban Claims Responsibility

KABUL, June 7 (Xinhua) — A suicide car bomb that shocked the Taliban former stronghold the southern Kandahar province on Saturday injured five Afghan soldiers, provincial administration said in a statement sent to media. “A terrorist riding explosive-laden car blew it up next to a military base in Maiwand district at around 08:00 a.m. local time, wounding five Afghan soldiers,” the statement said.

The bomber was also killed in the blast, it added…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Boko Haram — Soldiers Wage War on Newspapers

Lagos — The fight against Boko Haram and its insurgency took a bizarre twist in the early hours of yesterday when armed soldiers unleashed their might on newspapers, disrupting their distribution, confiscating the newspapers and consequently stopping their sales in many parts of the country.

They, amazingly, said it was for security reasons.

Vanguard, The Leadership, and The Nation were notably affected across the country…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigerian Editors Condemn Military Attack on Newspapers

The Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, on Friday, condemned the seizure of some Nigerian newspapers meant to be sold to the general public. This is contained in a statement issued by Femi Adesina, President of the Guild.

The Leadership and The Nation newspapers meant for the South-South, South East and the North were seized and some destroyed by the military on Friday. Punch Newspapers was also affected by the military onslaught…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Hamburg, Germany: Stop the Lampedusa Squatters in Front of City Hall With a No-Go Zone

For months, the Lampedusa “refugees” that have entered Germany from Italy illegally have “enriched” us. They wail of their sufferings, that are all the fault of the Germans. Armed with knives, they terrorize citizens. They demonstrate; call for free accommodation, education, social and medical care. In addition, they demand that the ban on working be lifted and of course, that they have an absolute right to stay. Now, apparently with the active support of left-anarchist groups, they have declared war on the Hamburg police and brawl with officials…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Another 367 Migrants Disembark in Palermo

(AGI) Palermo, June 7 — The Italian Navy’s “Sfinge” corvette has docked in the port of Palermo carrying 367 migrants, including 41 women and 52 minors. They were met on the dock by the city’s Civil Protection personnel.

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

Over a Thousand Immigrants Rescued Off Coast of Sicily

(AGI) Palermo, June 7 — Italy’s Coast Guard rescued around 1,100 immigrants through separate operations on Sunday morning, after rescuing 2,500 the previous day. The first rescue operation was carried out by the CP 302 vessel, which saved 94 immigrants approximately 40 miles from Lampedusa island. The SOS was signalled to the Coast Guard’s operations centre in Rome via satellite phone.

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

6 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/7/2014

  1. ” In other news, more than 180 people were killed, and roughly the same number wounded, in terrorist attacks across Iraq.”

    I wonder whose freedom fighters are those doing the killing in “THE VERY DEMOCRATIC IRAQ” It is as democratic as any country that created democracy in Iraq. That magic word that is empty and void. No No : Democracy means import muslim invaders and help them establish their Caliphate. What’s wrong with that? We are tolerant people.

  2. Rafid Jihad. Whose country or honorable politician does this freedom fighter belong to. They must be proud of what their honorable plans have achieved. JIhad: Jihad I said Jihad ” allah is on your side, ” Jihad : Did you buy the hammer with money given as welfare by the honorable?

  3. It’s pretty easy to solve the mass influx of immigrants and put an end to it. EU just doesn’t want to solve it. They want society to turn into Brazil until it collapses and becomes impossible to handle; too dangerous, too expensive.

    The EU system is now encouraging hundreds of thousands of Muslims to pour into Europe where they are let free within 24 hours of entering corrupt countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal. I am seeing a HUGE influx of non-EU migrants pouring into Europe on European passports acquired from claiming to have “ancestors” in Europe. Who came up with this stupid idea to hand passports to some distant relative in the first place?? The borders need to be shut closed completely.

    All they have to do to end this is to put 3 barricades along the EU borders with high towered armed posts along the third and final barricade (or even automated towers controlled by computers). When illegals enter the first barricade they get a warning that they will be shot should they proceed further. When they enter the second barricade they get a last and final warning. If they try and break through the third barricade they get shot. No questions asked. No human rights nonsense, no left wing crying. Shot. Plain and simple. Their countries of origin must be fined 500,000 euro for every single illegal that they allow to leave their country of origin.

    • … and should countries not comply paying the 500,000 fine for fake asylum seekers and illegal immigrants – all trade and aid ends with them then and there and they get blacklisted.

    • State corruption is hardly limited to the PIGS countries. It’s just that Northern Europeans are less voluble and more sophisticated about it. Brussels has an unbeatable lead in Corruption with a capital C.

      What you describe will never happen, nor should it. In fact, it’s inherently totalitarian. The state system we have in place now is draconian enough. Your “solution” is understandable but we need a better way to cut the Gordian knot.

      • Sadly right, Dymphna, if a tardy reply is allowed. Also many illegals intentionally travel without documents to make it harder to repatriate them.

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