Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/22/2014

A Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid crossed the border into eastern Ukraine without the permission of the Ukrainian government. Meanwhile, NATO says that Russian artillery units are now firing on Ukrainian forces from both sides of the border.

In other news, a Shiite suicide bomber and Shia gunmen attacked a Sunni mosque in Diyala Province north of Baghdad, killing at least 64 people.

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

Thanks to Fjordman, Jerry Gordon, JP, Steen, 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.

USA
» Montana, Wyoming Brace for Snow, Cold Temps While Much of the U.S. Sizzles
» US General: ‘Destroy the Islamic State Now’
 
Europe and the EU
» Man With Handgun Arrested After Body Found in Albanian Mosque, Switzerland
» Norway: PST Boss Seeks More Surveillance
» Sweden: Rush of Treasure Hunters to Öland
» Sweden: Ministry Tightens Travel Warnings to Ebola-Hit Region
» Sweden: Poll: Almost Half of Voters Are Feminists
» Two British Jihad Fighters Probed in Bid to Identify James Foley Executioner ‘John’
» UK: Ebola Scare Shuts Down Police Cells for 8 Hours
» UK: Net Closes on ‘Jihadi John’ As London Pair Probed
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Alert Father Saves 30 Kindergarten Children During Rocket Attacks Sustains Injuries
» Israel is Not ‘Sightless’ in Gaza
 
Middle East
» 32 Killed in Attacks in Eastern Iraq
» Hagel: IS an ‘Imminent Threat’
» Iraq Crisis: Live
» Iraq Conflict: Diyala Sunni Mosque Attack Kills Dozens
» Syrian Army Ambushes 140 IS Fighters in Al-Raqqa
 
Russia
» Russian Forces in Ukraine Are Firing Artillery, NATO Says
 
South Asia
» Afghan Militancy Claims 8 Lives Including ISAF Soldier
 
Australia — Pacific
» Christian and Jewish Leaders Campaign to Support Muslim Community
 
Latin America
» Luis Fleischman: Hostility Against Israel in Latin America: What Does it Really Mean?
 
Immigration
» 170 Migrants Feared Lost at Sea Off Libya, Country’s Coastguard Says
» Greece: Boat Carrying Undocumented Migrants Sinks Off Tilos Island, One Dead
 

Montana, Wyoming Brace for Snow, Cold Temps While Much of the U.S. Sizzles

While much of the U.S. will swelter in heat and humidity this weekend, it will feel more like fall, or even winter, for much of Montana and Wyoming.

An unseasonably cold low pressure system is expected to bring below-average temperatures to the northern Rockies through early next week. Temperatures will be up to 35 degrees below average in some locations this weekend. Glacier National Park may not even reach 50 degrees for a high on Saturday.

In fact, low temperatures will drop below freezing in the higher elevations, leading to the chance for the first snow of the season to fall. In West Glacier, Montana, the average date for the first temperature below 32 degrees is Sept. 13, so the cold conditions are about three weeks ahead of schedule.

There is abundant moisture with this system that will bring rain to the region with snow possible in the higher elevations. There will be gusty winds as well. The cold rain will be heavy at times and enhanced by deepening upslope flow on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.

Snow accumulations will generally be a few inches or less, and the snow is expected to melt quickly. Up to 5 inches of snow is possible at the highest elevations through Sunday.

Snow levels will lower to near 6,500 feet in Glacier National Park, with light accumulations possible at Logan Pass. The higher peaks of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming could see about 3 inches of snow by Sunday.

Snow has occurred in Glacier National Park in August before. The National Park Service says that in 1992 a foot of snow fell in the northeastern section of the park. Snow has fallen even in lower elevations in August. During the 1992 storm Great Falls, Montana, reported 8.3” of snow, and the coldest high temperature for the month of August was set at 38 degrees on Aug. 22.

This past June a snowstorm delayed the opening of Going-to-the-Sun Road, a main road in Glacier National Park.

Anyone with outdoor or travel plans this weekend in western Montana and Wyoming should be prepared for rapidly changing and winterlike conditions.

There is another chance of snow Monday and Tuesday as another disturbance moves through the region. Cold mornings will continue through Wednesday with frost likely as well. However, temperatures will moderate by late week and drier weather will return.

[Return to headlines]
 

US General: ‘Destroy the Islamic State Now’

General John Allen, who is retired from the military, says that the Islamic State (known as ISIS, ISIL, or IS) must be destroyed now.

“The brutal murder of the brave American journalist James Foley is meant to directly terrorize the world’s media, the international community, and the United States. If all the actions of the Islamic State, or IS, to date weren’t sufficiently reprehensible, this act and the potential for other similar acts will snap American attention with laser-like focus onto the real danger IS poses to the existence of Iraq, the order of the region and to the homelands of Europe and America,” writes Allen in a piece for Defense One.

“Make no mistake, the abomination of IS is a clear and present danger to the U.S. The only question really is whether the U.S. and its allies and partners will act decisively now while they can still shape events to destroy IS, an act that seems increasingly self-obvious.”

Allen argues that because the U.S. has already struck ISIS and because the U.S. has unique military capabilities, it is incumbent upon America to do the dirty work.

“The U.S. is now firmly in the game and remains the only nation on the planet capable of exerting the kind of strategic leadership, influence and strike capacity to deal with IS. It is also the only power capable of organizing a coalition’s reaction to this regional and international threat. As a general officer commanding at several levels in the region, I can say with certainty that what we’re facing in northern Iraq is only partly a crisis about Iraq. It is about the region and potentially the world as we know it,” writes Allen.

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Man With Handgun Arrested After Body Found in Albanian Mosque, Switzerland

Former imam claims incident at El-Hidaje mosque in St Gallen was result of ‘personal conflict between two families’

A man was killed in a shooting at an Albanian mosque in St Gallen, Switzerland, and another man was arrested, Swiss police said on Friday.

Police arrested a man with a handgun after they were called to the mosque in a suburb of the town after reports of gunfire, a spokesman for the cantonal police said. They said they have not yet been able to ascertain beyond doubt the identities of either man.

The body of a man was found in the prayer room of the mosque, the spokesman said, adding it was too early for the police to say what any motive may have been…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: PST Boss Seeks More Surveillance

Benedicte Bjørnland, chief of Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste), is calling for new and controversial means of surveillance that “send chills down the spine” of privacy advocates. Bjørnland contends the new surveillance methods are necessary in the fight against terrorism and extremism, but she looks unlikely to win political support.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Rush of Treasure Hunters to Öland

The Baltic island of Öland has seen major discoveries of ancient coins, and now a big increase in the number of people asking permission to scan the ground with metal detectors.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Ministry Tightens Travel Warnings to Ebola-Hit Region

Sweden’s foreign ministry is now advising against all travel to the Ebola-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The ministry had previously advised against non-essential travel to the West African nations.

More and more countries in Africa are closing their borders to stop the spread of tropical infection.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Poll: Almost Half of Voters Are Feminists

A survey suggests that almost half of Swedish voters identify as feminists, up from a third before last election.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Two British Jihad Fighters Probed in Bid to Identify James Foley Executioner ‘John’

Two British jihadis could hold the key to unmasking executioner John.

Aine Davis, 30, left Hammersmith, London, last year to fight for Islamic State in war-torn Syria.

A student was recently acquitted of trying to smuggle £16,000 to him in her knickers.

Davis’s wife, Amal El-Wahabi, 27, of Harlesden, London, was convicted of funding terrorism.

A former drug dealer known as Biggz, Davis converted to Islam after being radicalised in jail.

Police are investigating his links to extremists in London.

He has not yet been ruled out of a probe to unmask the executioner, one of a group of three British jihadis nicknamed the Beatles.

A second possible link is London rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 23, who left his family’s £1million home in Maida Vale to join jihadis in Syria.

He has posted images of himself posing with weapons there…

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Ebola Scare Shuts Down Police Cells for 8 Hours

Police in Exeter city centre sent new arrests elsewhere after a woman from Ebola-stricken Guinea fell ill with a mild fever

A police station closed its cells and sent all new prisoners to other stations after an African woman being held there came down with a mild fever that officers feared may be the deadly Ebola virus.

Devon and Cornwall Police were unable to use the twenty-cell custody block in Exeter city centre for at least eight hours while cells were cleaned and staff given health checks…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Net Closes on ‘Jihadi John’ As London Pair Probed

SAS is put on standby as it emerges an NHS doctor from East London may hold the key to identifying the jihadi who beheaded James Foley

An NHS doctor from east London who was previously accused of kidnapping Western journalists in Syria may hold the key to identifying the jihadi who beheaded James Foley, intelligence sources have disclosed…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Alert Father Saves 30 Kindergarten Children During Rocket Attacks Sustains Injuries

Some 30 Israel children at Kibbutz Nir Oz avoided disaster Thursday morning as Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired no less than 11 mortar shells into their village.

A father of one of the children, Jan Berman, was wounded in the attack, as he shepherded the kids to safety…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Israel is Not ‘Sightless’ in Gaza

Yesterday in Jerusalem, with visiting American Congressaman Darrell Issa (R-CA) at his side, Israeli PM Netanyahu heaped considerable praise on Shin Bet-Israel’s General Security Service — for the targeted killings of senior Hamas commanders in Rafah. The International Business Times (IBT) quoted Netanyahu saying:

The “hard work and professionalism” of Shin Bet had enabled the Israeli military to “carry out this operation against the Hamas leaders who plotted fatal attacks against Israelis,” Netanyahu reportedly said, referring to pre-dawn air strikes in Rafah that killed the three Hamas commanders.

“In the name of every Israeli citizen, I thank the Shin Bet, the heads of the intelligence and operational units, and the chief of the organization, Yoram Cohen,” he said, according to Ha’aretz. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that it had killed six militants of the Islamic Jihad — a Palestinian Islamist organization — as they were “about to launch rockets into Israel.”

Possibly in retaliation, today, Hamas, publicly executed 18 ‘collaborators’. These public executions come in the midst of a rising wave of ‘collaborator’ executions in the terrorist stronghold of Gaza. Israel National News reported a series of such reprisals in an article, “Hamas Goes on an ‘Israel Collaborator’ Killing Spree”.Whether it is human intelligence through cultivation of assets, or ELINT ears and eyes in the skies over Gaza, these targeted assassination episodes by the IDF with assistance from Shin bet have succeeded in decimating the military leadership of Hamas. These actions clearly indicate that unlike the Biblical Shimshon, Samson the Nazerite, Israel is not ‘sightless’ in Gaza…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

32 Killed in Attacks in Eastern Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — At least 32 people were killed and 12 others wounded on Friday in bombings and shootings in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, police sources said.

Five people were killed and 12 others injured, all of them Shiites, when three roadside bombs exploded in Himreen area, northern Diyala, a police source told Xinhua.

Half an hour later, unidentified gunmen attacked a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers in the area of Bani Weis, about 5 km from Himreen area, killing at least 27 worshipers…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Hagel: IS an ‘Imminent Threat’

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday that the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group poses an “imminent threat” to the United States and may take years to defeat.

“They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Hagel said at a Pentagon news conference, according to the Bloomberg news agency…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Crisis: Live

Follow live coverage as Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond rules out negotiating with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the battle against Islamic State

21.22 UN warns against sectarian violence

Nickolay E. Mladenov, special representative of the secretary general for Iraq and head of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, has tweeted: “#UN Secretary-General condemns attack on Diyala mosque in #Iraq that killed dozens of #Sunni worshippers; warns against sectarian violence.”

It comes two days after he tweeted his concerns about violence in the country: “I am concerned with recent violence against Sunnis in #Iraq. Officials must do all to prevent threats, abductions and killings.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq Conflict: Diyala Sunni Mosque Attack Kills Dozens

An attack by suspected Shia militiamen on a Sunni mosque in Iraq’s Diyala province has killed at least 64 people.

Officials say a bomber blew himself up in the mosque during Friday prayers and gunmen fired on fleeing worshippers.

The attack is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing from Sunni groups in its battle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Army Ambushes 140 IS Fighters in Al-Raqqa

DAMASCUS, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — As many as 140 fighters of the so- called Islamic State (IS) were killed on Thursday in an ambush by the Syrian army in the vicinity of the al-Tabaqqa airbase in northern al-Raqqa province, the pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV reported.

The Syrian army killed the 140 IS fighters which has unleashed an attack since the beginning of this week to strip the government troops of the al-Tabaqa airbase, the last stronghold of the government troops in al-Raqqa…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Forces in Ukraine Are Firing Artillery, NATO Says

The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday.

The West has long accused Russia of supporting the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, but this is the first time it has said it had evidence of the direct involvement of the Russian military.

The Russian move represents a significant escalation of the Kremlin’s involvement in the fighting there and comes as a convoy of Russian trucks with humanitarian provisions has crossed into Ukrainian territory without Kiev’s permission.

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Afghan Militancy Claims 8 Lives Including ISAF Soldier

KABUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — The ongoing militancy and conflicts have claimed the lives of eight people including an ISAF service member in the militancy-plagued Afghanistan on Friday.

A soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died of non-battle wounds in Afghanistan on Friday, the alliance said in a statement released here…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Christian and Jewish Leaders Campaign to Support Muslim Community

Multi-faith religious declare ‘We’ll love Muslims 100 years’ initiative to publicly support Australian Muslims

Christian and Jewish leaders have rallied to support the Muslim community, asking members of the Australian public to join them in a campaign called “We’ll love Muslims 100 years”.

Rabbi Zalman Kastel will join Australian Christian Churches pastor, Brad Chilcott, Tim Costello and other denominational leaders in three events in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia on Friday to declare their support for Australian Muslims.

The title makes a play on a recent headline in the Weekend Australian, “We’ll fight Islam 100 years”, which accompanied a story quoting a former head of army Peter Leahy saying that Australia must prepare for a war against radical Islam lasting for the rest of the century…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Luis Fleischman: Hostility Against Israel in Latin America: What Does it Really Mean?

During the recent “Operation Protecting Edge” held by Israel in response to attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians, most Latin American countries took a prejudiced and intentionally political attitude against the State of Israel.

Indeed, before any hard evidence was registered with regard to the circumstances under which this war is being fought, several Latin American countries reached conclusions. Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Ecuador and Peru temporarily withdrew their ambassadors from Tel Aviv in protest at what they considered “a disproportionate Israeli action that caused deaths of innocent Palestinians”. Mercosur, the main South American trade bloc, called on the United Nations to probe Israeli “war crimes”, echoing the discourse of the infamous United Nations Human Rights Council.

Marco Aurelio Garcia, ideologue and architect of Brazil’s foreign policy, described Israel’s actions as “genocide”. No word was said about Hamas’ aggression.

What’s more, the Brazilian government cited the death toll based on Palestinian sources that often lack sufficient credibility. Although figures are not yet clear, Israel has stated that at least half of the fallen were Palestinian Hamas terrorists or members of the Islamic Jihad.

Chile followed in the footsteps of Brazil on behalf of their interpretation of international law, ignoring that Israel’s war against Hamas is completely legitimate and legal. Also, overlooked by both Brazil and Chile was the fact that Hamas attacked Israel, threatened to kill its’ people, violated multiple ceasefires, and cynically used their own citizens as human shields. The use of their own people to be used as human shields was part of their strategy as was discovered in their written manuals. This is not to mention that, in addition, Hamas has effectively obstructed the peace process in Oslo, intimidated and weakend the Palestinian Authority and demanded the elimination of the State of Israel and the Jewish majority that inhabits it…

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170 Migrants Feared Lost at Sea Off Libya, Country’s Coastguard Says

A boat carrying 170 illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa is feared lost at sea off the capital, Tripoli, Libyan coastguard says

A Libyan coastguard official said a boat carrying 170 illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa was feared lost at sea off the capital, Tripoli.

“We are looking for 170 African passengers on a wooden boat that has foundered off the Guarakouzi area” some 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Tripoli, coastguard official Abdellatif Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP on Friday.

“A few miles off the coast, we found the remains of a wooden boat which had had some 200 migrants on board,” he said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Boat Carrying Undocumented Migrants Sinks Off Tilos Island, One Dead

ATHENS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — A boat carrying a yet unspecified number of undocumented migrants sank off the coasts of Tilos island in the Aegean Sea on Friday, causing the death of at least one passenger, Greek authorities said.

According to preliminary information from the Coast Guard, the tragedy occurred when the dinghy for still unclear reasons caught fire as it was sailing in international waters off the Greek island.

The dead body of a person was collected, while a rescue operation is underway to trace an unidentified number of missing people…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]