Dozens of Italian cabdrivers have been arrested by the German authorities for driving illegal Syrian immigrants to Germany. The Germans say that their actions violated immigration laws, but the Italian drivers said that they are not legally required to ascertain the immigration status of any paying passengers.
In Rotherham news, four members of the local Labour Party have been expelled for their part in the underage rape scandal. Meanwhile, the Rotherham police force is planning to investigate itself over its handling of the “grooming” issue.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, ESW, Fjordman, Gaia, 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.
Detroit Brings Bankruptcy Plan to Court With Billionaires
Detroit’s plan to fix its finances with hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations comes years after the U.S. automotive capital got hooked on philanthropy to rebuild its blighted neighborhoods, revamp its riverfront and lure new businesses.
At least since 2003, few big-city governments in the U.S. have leaned as heavily as Detroit on charity for community redevelopment, a habit that won’t change as it seeks to shed about $7.4 billion of debt and end court oversight of its finances.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes started a trial today in Detroit on whether to approve the city’s plan to exit its record $18 billion municipal bankruptcy with handouts from some of the richest foundations in the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Capital Requirements Drop by 10.6 Bn Over Last Year
On lower public debt interest rates says treasury
(ANSA) — Rome, September 1 — The public sector had capital requirements of 7.5 billion euros in August, down from 9.4 billion in the same period last year, the economy ministry said Monday.
Capital requirements in the first eight months of the year equaled 50.4 billion euros, or 10.6 billion euros less than in the same period in 2013.
The drop is due to lower interest rates on public debt, the treasury said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
As Space Shuttle Discovery Turns 30, Smithsonian Curator Shares Orbiter Secrets
NASA’s retired space shuttle Discovery will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its first launch being admired by fans of all ages, according to the Smithsonian curator charged with its care.
“If Discovery could talk, it would surely express happiness at seeing so many people coming to visit and saying how awesome it looks,” said Valerie Neal, Discovery’s curator at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and the author of the recently released book, “Discovery: Champion of the Space Shuttle Fleet.”
Discovery launched on the first of its 39 missions, STS-41D, on August 30, 1984. The flight logged the first week of the orbiter’s ultimate total of 365 days in space (spread out over 27 years). Discovery retired with the shuttle fleet in 2011 and became part of the Smithsonian’s collection a year later at the Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Complains Sat May Impose American Values on Its Best Students
Chinese students have shown an insatiable appetite for attending U.S. colleges — last year alone, more than 235,000 were enrolled at American institutions of higher education. But now, some in China are grousing that the SAT may impose American values on its best and brightest, who in preparation for the exam might be studying the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights instead of “The Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung.”
“Including content from America’s founding documents in a revised U.S. college entry exam has drawn attention in China, with worries the materials may impose the American values system on students,” China’s official New China News Agency said last week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Minister Accuses Officials of ‘Dereliction of Duty’ In Child Abuse Scandal
By William James
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) — Britain’s interior minister on Tuesday accused local authorities in the English town of Rotherham of a “complete dereliction of duty” for the way they responded to the sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 children by men of mostly Pakistani heritage.
Speaking in parliament, Home Secretary Theresa May said the government was considering investigating the local council in the northern English town, and specifically whether “institutionalised political correctness” — or a fear of being branded racist — was to blame for the cases being mishandled…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
British Jihadists to be Forced to Attend Deradicalisation Programmes, Says Cameron
David Cameron announces moves to reverse Islamist brainwashing of British jihadists in new court order controls
British jihadists returning from Iraq and Syria will be forced to attend “deradicalisation” programmes to reverse their warped brainwashing, David Cameron announced. Dangerous fanatics made subject to court controls will be ordered to engage in anti-extremism schemes as part of a raft of new measures to combat the risk of British Islamists returning to the UK.
The move comes amid growing concern over the threat posed by Britons who have joined the terror group Isil in Syria and Iraq. At least 500 are believed to have travelled out and half are now back on the streets of the UK, with some feared potentially plotting attacks here.
In a Commons statement, Mr Cameron said: “Adhering to British values is not an option or a choice.”…
There are a number of different programmes currently running that the government could use to deradicalise terrorists. The Al Furqan programme, which is run in prisons, uses Imams to challenge the views of extremist Islam through religious teaching…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Cave Carving May be 1st Known Example of Neanderthal Rock Art
Around 39,000 years ago, a Neanderthal huddled in the back of a seaside cave at Gibraltar, safe from the hyenas, lions and leopards that might have prowled outside. Under the flickering light of a campfire, he or she used a stone tool to carefully etch what looks like a grid or a hashtag onto a natural platform of bedrock.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Crackdown on British Jihadis ‘Will Push Youth Further Towards Extremism’
Muslim Council of Britain says constant talk of legislation and monitoring is leading marginalised Muslims towards radicalism
David Cameron’s renewed crackdown on British-born extremists will push marginalised young people further towards radicalisation, the UK’s biggest Muslim organisation has said.
Harun Khan, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), raised concerns about the prime minister’s anti-terrorism strategy amid signs of a wider impasse in relations between the government and Muslim groups.
“They need to be talking to us and others to understand what it is that’s leading these boys down this route,” Khan told the Guardian. “Part of the problem is the constant talk of legislation, harassment and monitoring, stripping people of their passports. This is what’s leading young people towards radicalism.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
David Cameron Shelves Move to Ban British Jihadis Returning to UK
Political and legal opposition forces PM to back down on key elements of plan to counteract Islamic State terrorist threat
David Cameron’s plan to fight the terrorist threat posed by Islamic State got off to a stuttering start when he was forced to shelve key proposals amid legal uncertainty, Liberal Democrat objections, and even doubts within the security services.
The prime minister unveiled a package of anti-terror measures in the Commons on Monday but was not able to include a widely trailed proposal to prevent British-born citizens returning to the country from Syria or Iraq if they were suspected of being involved in acts of terror.
Acknowledging the legal difficulties in preventing British citizens returning to the UK, admitting that it might render them stateless, the prime minister said new measures were still needed to prevent British jihadis returning.
He told MPs: “It is abhorrent that people who declare their allegiance elsewhere can return to the United Kingdom and pose a threat to our national security. “We are clear in principle that what we need is a targeted, discretionary power to allow us to exclude British nationals from the UK.”
But the prime minister’s clear statement of intent was not backed by any proposals to match the rhetoric of Friday, when he used a Downing Street press conference to warn of the dangers of the “generational struggle” posed by the emergence of Islamic State (Isis)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Extremists Cannot be Allowed to Roam Freely in Britain
Unless the root cause of this poisonous ideology is fixed, we will be fighting the consequences in Britain for decades
According to the Government’s official measure, a terrorist attack in the UK is at present “highly likely”. This is not something to be complacent about: we cannot afford to ignore the disturbing fact that an estimated 500 British citizens have travelled to the Middle East to fight in a murderous conflict — and that they pose a serious threat to the public if they return home (as many already have)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ten-Million-Euro Golden Parachute for Luxottica CEO
Plus 1.4 million for severance, non-compete clause
(ANSA) — Milan, September 1 — Luxottica will give outgoing CEO Andrea Guerra a golden parachute of 10 million euros, company sources said Monday after a board meeting of the eyewear giant.
Guerra is also to receive almost 600,000 euros in severance pay and another 800,000 euros as part of a non-compete clause for the next two years. “We hope for annual growth of at least 7% going forward,” said Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio. Luxottica shares have taken a battering recently amid media reports that Guerra was set to quit over what newspapers including business daily Il Sole 24 Ore said was a sharp disagreement over strategy with Del Vecchio.
Luxottica shares closed up 0.47% at 40.84 euros on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mogherini Nomination ‘Renzi’s Victory’ Writes Le Monde
Italian minister could prove worthy in EU post, says Le Figaro
(ANSA) — Paris, September 1 — The nomination of Federica Mogherini to replace Catherine Ashton as EU foreign affairs chief is Premier Matteo Renzi’s victory, French newspaper Le Monde said Monday. “Renzi’s tenacity has paid off,” wrote Le Monde, which last month editorialized against the candidacy of Mogherini. The Italian foreign minister was perceived by some as lacking in experience, and as being soft on Russia. Also on Monday, Le Figaro newspaper opined that Mogherini “appears to be on the right path…to proving her mettle on the international scene”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Neanderthals Made Some of Europe’s Oldest Art
Criss-cross patterns deep in a Gibraltan cave suggest that the species had minds capable of abstract artistic expression.
It looks like a game of tic tac toe, but engravings found deep inside a cave in Gibraltar might be a Neanderthal masterpiece. At more than 39,000 years old, the etchings rival in age the oldest cave art in Europe — and they are the first to be unquestionably done by a Neanderthal, claim the researchers who discovered them. Other scientists, however, say that the artwork’s attribution is not an open-and-shut case.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Fundamentalist Muslims Condemn Anti-Jihad Measures
The Cabinet’s new policy to enforce stricter measures against the threat of jihadism amongst Dutch nationals is not supported by some Muslim organizations, who argue that the Cabinet is going to target all Muslims rather than a select group, the Algemeen Dagblad reports.
Muslim organization Hizb ut Tahrir plans to spread around a million flyers that explains their argument against the Cabinet’s new measures.
The pamphlets will be spread in the Randstad area. “We want to show that the measures are not only directed at the extremists, but at all Muslims”, spokesperson Oklay Pala tells the AD. The spokesperson argues that all Muslims have the potential to be radicalized, and the potential to become jihadists in the Cabinet’s eyes.
On Friday, the Cabinet introduced the plan to confiscate passports from people who have been signaled as potential jihadists, and who have wishes to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight for IS and other terrorist groups there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Man Arrested in the Hague After Returning From Syria
A 29-year-old man from The Hague was arrested at his home on Tuesday on suspicion of having fought with fundamentalist militias in Syria.
The man, who also faces charges of possessing seditious material, is being held in solitary confinement, police said.
Police have declined to say when the man is thought to have left for Syria or when he returned. The government is taking a tough line against returnees in an effort to stop people joining the fighting in Syria and Iraq and encouraging others to do so.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Court Readies for Wilders Racism Case
Though justice has not yet decided to prosecute Geert Wilders, the court in The Hague is busy preparing for the trial against him.
This month justice will decide whether the PVV leader will be prosecuted for his statement about “less Moroccans” during an election meeting in a cafe in the Hague. A spokesperson for the Prosecutor in The Hague did not say on what date the decision to prosecute will be made, but based on an internally circulating rumor September is the target month, De Telegraaf reports.
Wilders asked attending PVV supporters the question “Do you want more or less Moroccans?” to which they replied by chanting “Less! Less! Less!”. This caused an outcry in March. Throughout the country more than 5 thousand reports were filed against him for group defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred.
In preparation for the possible prosecution of the PVV leader, the court in The Hague has appointed two judges for the trial — Elianne van Rens and Hubert Nijman.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pound Slumps as Yes to Scots’ Independence Rises
No lead narrows to six points
(ANSA) — Rome, September 2 — The pound slumped Tuesday as a poll showed support for Scottish independence rose to 47% ahead of the September 18 referendum.
The No campaign’s lead shrank from 22 points at the start of August to six points, according to Yougov.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: The Private School Jihadist
This is the Scottish private schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join Islamic fighters — and is calling on Muslims to carry out a bloody atrocity on British streets.
Glasgow-born Aqsa Mahmood, 20, is the daughter of a successful businessman and was educated at a top private school in the city. Last year she abandoned a university course to join fanatical Islamic State jihadists fighting in Syria.
Since then she has tweeted a series of radical messages, including a call for others to copy the shocking murder of soldier Lee Rigby, the Boston Marathon bombing and the massacre at the Fort Hood US Army base in Texas…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Top Cleric Urges Pope to Act Over Mosque Attacks
Drawing attention to steadily rising attacks against mosques in Germany, Turkey’s top cleric has said the Pope must “translate words into deeds with regard to the misperception and misinterpretation of Islam.”
In Germany, from 2001 to 2013, an average of 22 mosques were attacked each year, Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey’s Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), said on Sept. 2, adding that the figure had risen to 36 in 2013 and to 70 in 2014.
All religious institutions, the Vatican being in the first place, should focus on these rising attacks against mosques in Germany, Görmez said, while speaking at a meeting at the Diyanet’s Ankara headquarters. The meeting was also attended by a senior member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Ankara deputy Emrullah Isler, who served as deputy prime minister until the new government took office a few days ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boris Johnson Says Airport Plan Not Dead Despite Rejection
London Mayor Boris Johnson has said his proposal for an island airport in the Thames estuary is not dead, despite the Airports Commission rejecting the idea.
Commission chairman Sir Howard Davies said the huge cost, economic disruption and environmental concerns made the proposal unviable.
The mayor called this short-sighted, but said plans to expand either Gatwick or Heathrow airports would fail.
These plans face huge opposition and no government would back them, he claimed.
The proposal for a Thames Estuary airport — dubbed Boris Island because of the mayor’s strong backing — would have led to the development of a four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Brave Son of Murdered Soldier Lee Rigby Lays Wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum …
When Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered last year, his son Jack was just two years old.
Today he showed a courage beyond his years, clutching his mother’s hand, surrounded by family, all paying their respects at the National National Memorial Arboretum — where his father’s name was today etched into the wall of honour.
Jack, who is believed to have turned four today, joined his mother Rebecca at the moving dedication service in Alrewas, Staffordshire, where they laid a wreath in honour of Lee Rigby…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Child Abuse Campaigner: Rotherham Scandal is Part of a ‘Vastly Wider Issue’
Hilary Willmer worked with families in Rotherham in the late 1990s and blames the police and council for not acting
Child abuse is far more widespread than has previously been acknowledged, with “huge numbers” of victims, a child protection campaigner who tried to draw attention to the Rotherham scandal more than 10 years ago has warned.
Hilary Willmer, the chair of trustees at the charity Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace), was speaking out following the report into the Rotherham abuse scandal, which found more than 1,400 youngsters were abused over 16 years.
She suggested that similar numbers of children may have been abused in other areas, saying it is a “vastly wider issue”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ex-Rotherham Chief to be Quizzed
Rotherham council’s former top officer is to be questioned by his current boss over what he knew about the town’s sex abuse scandal.
Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said he would speak to Ged Fitzgerald, Rotherham’s chief executive from 2001 to 2003 and now in the same role in the Merseyside city, about what he knew about a Home Office report that revealed widespread sexual abuse of under-age girls…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Extra Patrols for Protests [Rotherham]
Protesters took to the streets of Rotherham to voice their outrage over the town’s child abuse scandal — but police said there were ‘no instances of disorder’ during the demonstrations.
Several protests took place around the town on Saturday but police said each passed off peacefully apart from ‘some minor delays’ for traffic and shoppers…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Graham Stringer: Sack Rotherham Council — and Start From Scratch
The levels of rape and abuse revealed in Rotherham would shocking in a war zone. Changing the culture of its council would take a Herculean effort — better to abolish it and start again
Some years ago on an official visit to Australia, I was the guest of the Mayor of Melbourne. He was a charming and intelligent host with lots of innovative ideas on how to improve his city and the services it provided to the public.
In spite of the fact that he was undoubtedly doing a good job, I thought his position was untenable.
The reason was simple: he had been appointed by the government and not elected by the people of Melbourne. This I thought was an affront to local democracy, in which I believe strongly. The electorate should be the final arbiter of who runs their city.
Rotherham and the South Yorkshire Police have changed my view…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Home Office Worker Investigating Rotherham Child Abuse ‘Had Data Stolen’
Local council took data from office, accused me of insensitivity and tried to sack me, researcher claims on Panorama
A Home Office official who investigated the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham accused the council of being involved in the unauthorised removal of information from her office.
Her report in 2002 suggested there were then more than 270 victims of the scandal, which was finally exposed last week with revelations that at least 1,400 children were abused from 1997 to 2013.
She told Panorama that she had sent her report to both the council and the Home Office on a Friday, but when she returned on Monday she found her office had been raided.
“They’d gained access to the office and taken my data, so out of the number of filing cabinets, there was one drawer emptied and it was emptied of my data. It had to be an employee of the council,” she said.
The Home Office researcher, who was not named by Panorama, also said she had been accused of being insensitive when she told one official that most of the perpetrators were from Rotherham’s Pakistani community.
A female colleague talked to her about the incident. “She said you must never refer to that again — you must never refer to Asian men. “And her other response was to book me on a two-day ethnicity and diversity course to raise my awareness of ethnic issues.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour Suspends Four Over Rotherham Grooming as 70 Are Arrested in Other Yorkshire Towns
THE Labour Party has suspended four members, including Rotherham councillors and former councillors, in the wake of the scathing report into child sexual abuse in the town.
The party suspended councillors Gwendoline Russell and Shaukat Ali, as well as the council’s former leader Roger Stone and ex-deputy leader Jahangir Akhtar, pending an investigation…
Meanwhile, more than 70 men have been arrested during lengthy police investigations into claims of child sexual exploitation by alleged ‘grooming’ gangs in neighbouring West Yorkshire.
Three major investigations, in Leeds, Calderdale and Keighley, involve allegations of multiple offences of sexual exploitation.
In Keighley, 28 men are on bail in relation to alleged offences against four girls and in Calderdale, 31 men are on bail for alleged offences against two girls. In Leeds, 12 men are going through the courts having been charged with sexual offences against a girl.
South Yorkshire Police announced that Chief Constable David Crompton has commissioned an independent investigation into the force’s handling of child sexual exploitation…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Multiculturalism: What the Left Would Prefer You Didn’t Know…
By James Delingpole
All right, so it was only a straw poll conducted among viewers of yesterday’s BBC Sunday Morning Live debate programme: 95 per cent of Britons think multiculturalism has been a failure.
But as majority verdicts go, it was a pretty resounding one — and it was delivered despite the BBC’s best efforts to muddy the waters, first by wheeling out two of the nation’s Multi Culti Apologist big guns Owen Jones and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, and second by pretending that multiculturalism means something other than what it actually means…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Could Put More Children at Risk, Warns Theresa May
Home Secretary confirmed to MPs in a debate in the House of Commons that the Government is looking at changing the law to bring in the mandatory reporting of suspicions of child abuse
Forcing teachers and other professionals to report child abuse suspicions or face prosecution could lead to fewer children being protected, Theresa May has said.
The Home Secretary confirmed to MPs in a debate in the House of Commons that the Government is looking at changing the law to bring in the mandatory reporting of suspicions of child abuse…
[Reader comment by yourbiggestfan on 2 September 2014.]
The issue here is not the reporting of child abuse, it is the failure of enforcement agencies to act. They knew what was going on in Rotherham and in many other towns. Politics prevented people from stopping the abuse. This was a political decision by the Labour Party at national level and the Labour Party at council level. They stopped the police investigating it and prevented child support agencies from protecting these children. The policy of doing nothing was agreed for the sake of ‘social cohesion’. Letting people come into your country with no checks or constraints made to ensure they upheld British values and British laws has led to this.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Men Smoke Shisha Pipe in Middle of Knightsbridge Traffic
A group of young men were spotted smoking shisha in the middle of Brompton Road outside Harrods
A group of nonchalant young men attracted a lot of attention by smoking a shisha pipe in the middle of Knightsbridge’s busiest street. The relaxed smokers angered motorists after setting up two foldable wooden chairs in between two lanes of traffic on Sunday evening. They were spotted casually drinking and smoking as motorists watched on.
Police responded to reports of four men obstructing traffic outside Harrods on Brompton Road, west London, but the group had already left when officers arrived…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pupils at ‘Trojan Horse’ School Were Shown Jihadist Video
MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee are told that pupils from a school at the centre of the alleged “Trojan Horse” plot were shown an extremist film by staff
Pupils from a Birmingham school at the centre of the so-called “Trojan Horse” investigation were shown a jihadist promotional video in the classroom, it has been revealed.
Ian Kershaw, who conducted an inquiry on behalf of Birmingham City Council, said the film portrayed images of “violent extremism” had been played to children despite concerns it was “completely unacceptable”.
Giving evidence to MPs on Tuesday, he insisted senior staff at the school — which was not named — failed to discipline the teacher involved after the incident came to light.
Peter Clarke, the former Scotland Yard anti-terror chief, told how a similar film may have been “shown or copied” by a technician within one of Birmingham’s schools.
He also said it was likely that issues had spread beyond schools in the city and called on the Department for Education to “take a very careful look at whether the sorts of things that we found in Birmingham are indeed happening elsewhere”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Panorama: Stolen Childhoods: The Grooming Scandal [BBC Iplayer]
Alison Holt investigates the grooming and sexual exploitation of children which has devastated lives in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham for more than twenty years.
First shown: 8.30pm 1 Sep 2014 Available for 11 months Duration 30 mins
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police to Investigate Their Handling of Rotherham Child Abuse Scandal
South Yorkshire force announces ‘fully independent and impartial investigation’ as Labour suspends four councillors
South Yorkshire police have announced a “fully independent investigation” into the force’s handling of the Rotherham child exploitation scandal as the Labour party suspended four Labour councillors in Rotherham.
Roger Stone, who has already resigned as former council leader, Gwendoline Ann Russell, Jahangir Akhtar and Shaukat Ali have been suspended pending investigation after Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, last week said large numbers of young people in Rotherham were systematically abused and let down by those who should have protected them…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rotherham Child Abuse Scandal: New Victims Come Forward
Twelve new victims have made allegations of child sexual abuse in Rotherham since a report found at least 1,400 children were abused, police say.
South Yorkshire Chief Constable David Crompton revealed the new cases as he gave evidence to a Commons committee…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Researcher ‘Sent on Diversity Course’ After Raising Alarm Over Rotherham Sex Abuse
The Home Office researcher was told to “never, ever” repeat evidence, contained in her 2001 report, that most of the perpetrators were Asian men
A researcher who raised the alarm over the sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rotherham more than a decade ago was sent on a ‘ethnicity and diversity course’ by child protection bosses who refused to act on her evidence.
The researcher, who was seconded to Rotherham council by the Home Office, was told she must “never, ever” again refer to the fact that the abusers were predominantly Asian men.
Speaking to the BBC’s Panorama programme under the condition of anonymity, the researcher said that she identified more 270 victims of trafficking and underage prostitution by mainly Muslim gangs in Rotherham…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
By Michael Deacon, Parliamentary Sketchwriter
David Cameron tells the House of Commons that the Government plans to introduce new powers to defend Britain from terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists
With the terrorist threat level now raised to “severe”, David Cameron has been trying to work out how to stop Britain being attacked by home-grown jihadists. Having considered proposals such as the cancellation of suspects’ passports and stripping them of British citizenship, the Prime Minister is determined to protect our freedom. Only one thing appears to be hindering him. Our freedom…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Stonehenge: Ghostly Outlines of Missing Stones Appear
It is a mystery which has intrigued archaeologists for centuries: did the huge Neolithic stones which make up Stonehenge form a complete circle?
Now the puzzle has been answered after the dry summer revealed the faint outline of the missing megaliths.
Usually the ground is watered by stewards, to keep the earth moist and the grass healthy.
But this year, the hose they used was too short to reach the whole site. By chance, the incomplete section of the inner stone circle was left to dry out.
When archaeological features have been buried in the ground for a long time, they affect the rate that grass grows above them, even long after they have disappeared.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Guardian View on David Cameron’s Hastily Concocted Anti-Terror Plans
The prime minister sounded calm enough discussing the generalities of the Islamic State threat. But his specific proposals smacked of panic
On Friday, the prime minister talked about a “greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before”, hinting that parliament should be ready to grant sweeping anti-terror powers commensurate with the Islamic State emergency. There is a real threat, but the pitch was questionable, because — as Paddy Ashdown pointed out at the weekend — Britain lived for decades under the shadow of the IRA, which, with the volume of traffic across the Irish Sea, was in many ways harder to police.
By Monday, in his tone, though sadly not in his specific proposals, Mr Cameron had calmed down. Fresh from a summit of a European Union that he often derides, he held up various pan-continental strides on security. He spoke respectfully of Islam…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Four Beheaded Bodies Found in Sinai, Eight Overall
Sources, jihadists ‘hunting down’ spies, hundreds of families fleeing
A frame for the video on the behading of four alleged members of Mossad by al Qaida-linked jihadist in Sinai (archive)
(ANSAmed) — AL ARISH (SINAI) — Four beheaded bodies have been found in Sinai over the past 48 hours, security sources on the ground said Monday. Overall, eight people have been beheaded in the peninsula over the past few weeks.
Last week, al Qaida-linked jihadist group in Sinai, Ansar beit al Maqdis, posted a video showing the beheading of four alleged members of Mossad.
The jihadist group is terrorizing the peninsula. Members “set up checkpoints during the night to hunt down those considered to be ‘cooperating’ with the army”, well-informed sources told ANSA. “They have already killed 10 tribal chiefs, while hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes fearing the retaliation of jihadists”, added the source.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Attack in Rafah, At Least 11 Soldiers Killed
In the explosion of a bomb placed on side of road
(ANSAmed) — AL ARISH — At least 11 soldiers have died and dozens have been wounded, some of them seriously, in an attack in Rafah, on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, security sources said Tuesday. The soldiers, who were travelling on board a tank, died when a bomb placed on the side of the road exploded. The army in northern Sinai is on high alert to track down those responsible for the attack.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya Dawn Islamists Take Tripoli, Chaos Continues
New government being formed in Tobruk
(ANSAmed) — ROME, SEPTEMBER 1 — Tripoli has fallen under the control of the predominantly Islamist militias in the Libya Dawn movement.
The group took over the city after weeks of fighting against the Operation Dignity coalition of rival militias under former general Khalifa Haftar. The first clashes took place in July near the Tripoli airport. Libya Herald reports that the provisional government under the Tobruk (far eastern Libya) House of Representatives has admitted not having any control over the ministries and government institutions in the capital. The online site of the daily noted that this had become obvious, as Tripoli ministers no longer exercise any power in the country. The House of Representatives has tasked its provisional prime minister, Abdullah Al-Thinni, to form a new government after the resignation of his ministers last week. Thinni, who in June was sworn in after various vicissitudes, has two weeks to draw up a new list of ministers, which the parliamentary body has requested be fewer than the previous one. Rendering these decisions nothing more than procedural details, however, is the chaos reigning throughout the country and its de facto division into three distinct realities: the ‘legitimate’ one resulting from the June 25 elections and now in ‘exile’ in Tobruk, the ‘caliphate’ led by Ansar Al-Sharia in Benghazi, and the Revolutionaries Council in Tripoli, the new group of fighters that have taken over the capital. Last week the same militants reinstated the General National Congress (GNC, parliamentary body meant to be replaced by the House of Representatives now in Tobruk), naming Omar Hassi as its prime minister. Ansar Al-Sharia jihadists said on Monday that the new Revolutionaries Council in Tripoli, which had said it wanted to create a democratic state, “violates the principles of Islam”.
“We rose up against Gaddafi and now Haftar to raise the flag of Islam,” they say, “not to create another tyranny that enables the return of Western hegemony.” Monsignor Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli, told the Vatican news agency FIDES that “the situation is mostly under control. There is more calm than a few days ago and you no longer hear bombing. So far, as a Christian community, we have not encountered any problems.” A video from Tripoli has been circulated showing a group of Libya Dawn members looking out from the balcony of the US embassy, which was evacuated in late July, and swimming in its pool. However, according to US Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones — who from Malta commented on the video with a tweet — the compound “does not seem to have been looted”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: 25 Dead in Battle for Benghazi Airport
Islamist Ansar Al-Sharia vs. Haftar’s forces loyal to Tobruk
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, SEPTEMBER 2 — Violent clashes near Benghazi’s Benina International Airport were rekindled on Tuesday. At least 25 were killed: 14 of the troops under former general Khalifa Haftar and 11 of the militants fighting with the Islamist group Ansar Al-Sharia and allied forces, reported the MENA news agency. Dozens have been killed in the fighting since Saturday.
Ansar Al-Sharia militants have launched an offensive to take over the airport, one of the few strategic points in Benghazi controlled by the special forces answering to Haftar and the House of Representatives that meets in the eastern city of Tobruk. The ‘government forces’ are backed by military fighter jets carrying out airstrikes on jihadist positions, who return fire with artillery and Grad rockets.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Missing Libyan Jetliners Raise Fears of Suicide Airliner Attacks on 9/11
Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.
Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the date marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.
“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” said one official. “We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Christian Man Tortured and Killed by Islamic State Militants for Refusing to Convert to Islam
For more than three weeks, Salem Matti Kourk was holed up in his home to avoid capture by Islamists. Once he ran out of food, he went out to find some but was stopped and beaten to death, his body dumped on a street. For Chaldean Patriarchate, he is “another martyr, a victim of extremist folly.” In the capital, a car bomb kills a young Syrian Catholic student.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) — Islamic State fighters spills more Christian blood in Iraq as they continue to persecute unarmed civilians, including children.
Sources within the Chaldean Patriarchate told AsiaNews that yesterday Sunni fundamentalists tortured and killed a Christian man in Bartala, a small predominantly Syriac town in the Niniveh Plains that has been occupied by Jihadists for the past few weeks. He was part of a small group who did not flee when the place was overrun.
According to reports from a witness, the martyr — as the Patriarchate calls him — was a man of 43, Salem Matti Kourki. He died yesterday after being brutally beaten and tortured by terrorists for refusing to convert to Islam.
One of Salem’s relatives said that the victim could not flee with his family when Islamists entered the town of Bartala on 8 August because he suffered from heart disease.
He was holed up in his home for more than three weeks, eating and drinking what had been stockpiled in the house.
Yesterday, after he ran out of food and water, he went out to find some food. However, he was stopped at an IS checkpoint in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary, in the city centre, and was immediately arrested. IS fighters tried to convert him by force to Islam but he refused outright.
The fundamentalists beat and tortured him causing his death, then dumped his body in the street, which was found a few hours later by local residents, who took him and buried him.
A funeral service will be held on Friday at the Oum El Nour Syriac Orthodox Church in Ankawa, a Christian suburb of Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, to honour the memory of the martyr Salem.
Meanwhile, more Christians are dying in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.
According to reports from Mgr Pius Qasha Khoury, from the Syrian Catholic Church of Mansour/Baghdad, one of his parishioners was killed by a car bomb, which exploded in the Bayaa area, at 9 pm yesterday.
The prelate explained that the young martyr, Fadi Nabil Ibrahim Abbush, was born in 1994 and was in the second stage of college, studying accounting.
In his community, the young man was known for his good character, commitment and regular participation — along with his family — in the activities of the local church.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Relatives of Missing Soldiers Attack Parliament
Some injured
(ANSA) — Baghdad, September 2 — Iraqi relatives of soldiers missing since ISIS took a military base in June assaulted the Baghdad parliament Tuesday.
Some people were injured in scuffled as the relatives demanded news of their loved ones.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
IS Extremists Ban Sport, Music and Art at Schools in Favour of Sharia Teachings
AN EDICT from the Islamic State has banned the teaching of music, social studies, artistic drawing, sport and philosophy from all schools in the IS-controlled city of Raqqa.
The teaching of any religious studies that refer to Christianity has also been forbidden, along with any mention of Charles Darwin and natural selection.
Mathematical teachings may not refer to the earning of interest or be used to explain the electoral process and democracy.
The “General Statement to all Education and Teaching Institutions”, posted on Twitter, came into force four days ago and signifies that the creation of the new caliphate under Sharia Law is well underway.
Edict … a decree on education issued by the Islamic State four days ago. Source: Supplied Source: Supplied
Supposedly happy school-age children supporting IS feature on hardline Twitter terror feeds emerging from the northern Syrian city, which fell to IS in January, along with the routine scenes of corpses and carnage.
Gender segregation and the requirement that schoolgirls to wear the hijab once they enter grade six are already obligatory, but the new rules indicate that Raqqa has begun formally organising its Sharia governance.
The edict requires that schools abolish the words “homeland” or “Syria” and replace them with “The Islamic State” or “the land of the Muslims” or “the province of ash-Sham”.
Schools must remove “all photos that do not concord with Islamic Sharia”, abolish the name “Syrian Arab Republic” and replace it with “Islamic State”.
Defiant … a member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham waves a flag in Raqqa, Syria. Source: Supplied
The Syrian national song is to be removed “wherever it is found” and will not be replaced with an IS song, given music is “definitively abolished from teaching programs”.
There must be “no teaching of nationalist doctrine” and instead a “commitment to Islam and its people and no affiliation with idolatry and its people”.
Point 10 states: “Abolition from the sciences of anything connected with the Darwin theory, natural selection and not attributing all creation to God Almighty and Exalted is He.”
Point 11 states: “The teacher is to make the students aware that all the laws of physics and chemistry are from God’s laws in creation.”
The rules state that the Syrian government’s Education Ministry no longer exists and has been replaced with the IS Ministry of Education and Teaching…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Steven Sotloff ‘Beheaded by Islamic State’
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) reportedly release video showing beheading of US hostage, Steven Sotloff
American hostage Steven Sotloff has reportedly been executed by jihadist terrorists. There was no immediate confirmation of the video.
Sotloff, 31, disappeared while reporting in Syria in August 2013. His apparent kidnap was not widely reported until he appeared on a video released last month by the Isil.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Sources: Clashes in Golan Between Rebels and Regime
Mortar shell explodes in occupied area, Israel boosts presence
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — Clashes between Syrian insurgents, including al Qaeda-linked fighters, and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad resumed on Monday on the Golan Heights right next to the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line, witnesses told ANSA via Skype.
The eye witnesses are close to the Qunaytra border crossing which was conquered by rebels a few days ago.
The sources confirmed Israeli press reports claiming that Damascus’ air force and artillery are attempting to re-gain control of the Qunaytra area.
A mortar shell from Syria exploded on Monday morning in the occupied Golan Heights, without causing victims. The Israeli army has however boosted its presence and has closed an area close to the Qunaytra crossing to civilians.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Court Dismisses Bribe Charges Against Erdogan’s Son
And 95 other defendants; ‘no legal grounds’
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, SEPTEMBER 1 — The office of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor on Monday dismissed the charges of corruption and bribery filed in December against 96 defendants, including former PM and now president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son Bilal, Turkish media reported.
The scandal had caused a major upset in the government of the prime minister at that time, with dozens of regime figures and family members of the head of the government accused of involvement. Erdogan reacted by removing from their positions thousands of high-ranking police officials and officers, including those tasked with anti-corruption investigations. He also accused his former ally Fetullah Gulen, head of the Islamic Gulen Movement (sometimes referred to as ‘Hizmet’), of being behind the inquiry. The new magistrates put in charge of the investigation released all those arrested. The inquiry has now been halted, said members of the opposition. No investigation has been initiated into the charges against Erdogan, who last month — despite scandals and accusations of authoritarianism — was elected president. The office of the new Istanbul chief prosecutor, appointed in the place of the magistrate who in December signed the indictments, said that the charges had been dismissed — according to Hurriyet online.
“By naming the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey as the leader of an [illegal] organization and labeling him ‘then-prime minister’ in the summary of proceedings, those who prepared the investigation showed that they attempted to remove the government by force,” wrote the prosecutors. Erdogan has repeatedly said that the corruption charges against his political allies were part of an “attempted coup”.
In a wiretapped call between Erdogan and his son posted on the internet in February, the prime minister was heard telling Bilal how to make millions of euros “disappear” from his home.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Activist Relives Humiliation Horrors
A pro-Ukrainian activist accused of spying for the Ukrainian army in Donetsk has endured hours of public humiliation orchestrated by the armed rebels in the centre of the eastern city.
Freed with the help of foreign journalists, Iryna Dovgan was on her way out of the rebel held area when the BBC’s Dina Newman spoke to her.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Turmoil Threatens NATO’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ Plans
(Reuters) — NATO will declare “mission accomplished” this week as it winds down more than a decade of operations in Afghanistan but departing combat troops look likely to leave behind political turmoil and an emboldened insurgency.
The embattled country is also suffering a sharp economic slowdown.
NATO had hoped its summit in Wales on Thursday and Friday would herald a smooth handover of security at the end of this year from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to Afghan forces. It then plans to cut back its role to a smaller mission to train and advise Afghan troops.
The 28-nation alliance had also hoped to celebrate Afghanistan’s first democratic transfer of power by inviting a new president to share the spotlight with U.S. President Barack Obama and the other 27 allied leaders.
Instead, NATO diplomats privately admit that the backdrop to the summit is the “worst case scenario”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India: Agra: Banning Hindu Women From Using Mobile Phones to Counter the ‘Love Jihad’
A committee of Vaishyas (mostly traders by caste) has made the proposal to counter alleged forced conversions by Muslims of women of other religions. For some analysts, this is the result of social polarisation in Uttar Pradesh, led by Hindu nationalists ahead of upcoming by-elections.
Agra (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Akhil Bharitiya Vaishya Ekta Parishad (ABVEP), a committee of vaishyas (mostly traders by caste), wants to ban teenage girls and young women — especially Hindus — from using mobile phones, to save them from the danger of the love jihad.
The term love jihad refers alleged forced conversions by Muslims of Hindu and Christian women through offers of marriage in exchange of compulsory conversion to Islam.
“Such things (mobiles, internet) lead young minds to fall in the ‘love jihad’ trap,” said ABEVP national president Sumant Gupta. “We are saddened and alarmed by the rising numbers of such cases in the state, especially when Vaishya girls are involved. We have no option but to take precautions.”
In order to promote its cause, the association will send out groups of young people and women across the state to explain to teenagers the “dangers” they run.
“We will convince them politely, with love. There will be no pressure or force,” Gupta said.
The group’s statements have sparked different local reactions. For Zishan Ahmed, a post-graduate student at Baba Saheb Bheemrao Ambedkar University, reacted with dismay. “These diktats are bewildering and humiliating for youngsters of both communities,” he said.
For many, this proposal is a sign of the recent polarisation in Uttar Pradesh, in particular since the elections last May.
A report that a young woman was gang-raped and forcibly converted to Islam brought ‘love jihad’ into national discourse, with the ultra-nationalist Hindu-based Bharatiya Janata Party BJP (BJP) alleging that the Uttar Pradesh state government led by Samajwadi Party was protecting Muslims responsible for such crimes against Hindu girls.
Surendra Sharma, a city-based social activist, was not too pleased either. “The level of distrust between the two communities is more and more evident. This is happening because those who polarized people before the Lok Sabha elections now enjoy ministerial posts in state and Union cabinets,” he said.
“For Hindu nationalists the idea that a Hindu woman can fall in love with a Muslim, who is by definition ‘the other’, the enemy, is simply unacceptable,” some analysts explained. “A woman’s body and choices fall under patriarchal control.”
In the case of Vaishyas, this starts with mobile phones.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Set to Boost Ties With NATO
AUSTRALIA is set to boost ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the world’s most powerful political and military grouping.
FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop says Australia will accept a formal invitation to become an enhanced partner when she and Defence Minister David Johnston attend the NATO leaders summit in Wales this week.
Ms Bishop says it is a rare honour for Australia and the Australian Defence Force.
Australia’s relationship with NATO strengthened substantially over the past decade due to participation in NATO’s longest mission, the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission in Afghanistan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bishops Unite Against ‘Demonic’ Islamists
CHURCH leaders have called on Australians to stop turning a blind eye to the butchery of Christians, as well as Muslims and other groups, by radicals from Islamic State.
The Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher, said church leaders had been reluctant to speak out for fear of adding fuel to fire. “But, as fellow Christians and fellow human beings, we cannot turn a blind eye to this persecution and religious cleansing,’’ Bishop Fisher said. “The situation has deteriorated extraordinarily quickly. This is almost a classic case where intervention of some kind, such as the American strikes on extremists is warranted to defend innocent lives.’’
The Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, said people should think about what social psychosis was driving some young Muslims to give their lives fighting “on the altar of the demonic’’ for the Islamic State. “The situation needs prayer, action and deep reflection,’’ he said. “The extremists’ barbarism seems apocalyptic. It has nothing to do with real Islam or God and is blasphemy of a kind.’’
Australia’s newly consecrated Anglican Primate, Philip Freier, praised the Abbott government’s “rapid response in providing aid to the displaced thousands in Iraq’’. Archbishop Freier said the persecution of Christians facing forced conversion or death “was in danger of becoming genocide”.
Bishop Fisher said that while focusing on the atrocities against the Yazidis on Mount Sinjar, Australians had seemed “largely indifferent’’ to the beheadings and hangings of Christians, including children, by Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria. He called on Christians to launch a 21st-century “prayer crusade”.
| — Hat tip: ESW | [Return to headlines] |
By Tim Blair
A few years ago I became involved in a little online dispute with left-wing Brisbane feminist Kim Jameson. It all began when Kim criticised visiting Somalian author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a victim of female genital mutilation who subsequently abandoned her Muslim faith.
“Her view on Islam,” wrote Kim, “is too much coloured by her own experience.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Tim Blair
Most of Guardian cartoonist Andrew Marlton’s latest work is his usual low-cal leftist giggle-chow, but this frame is slightly more sinister
[…]
Marlton is very deliberately excusing, almost to the point of dismissal, the distribution and sale in Australia of books that celebrate Hitler, describe Jews as animals and baby killers, and assert women are worth only half as much as men. It’s no big deal to Marlton. Move along, people. Nothing to see here.
Just as there was nothing to see in Rotherham…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US Targets Al-Shabab in Somalia
Reportedly against leader
(ANSA) — Rome, September 2 — The United States on Tuesday carried out air strikes in Somalia, reportedly targeting the leader of al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab.
It is not clear if Ahmed Abdi Godane was hit in the strikes some 240km (150 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu.
One resident told the BBC he had seen the burnt-out remains of four vehicles. US officials say they will release further details later.
Al-Shabab controls many areas of southern and central Somalia.
The US has carried out several air strikes in Somalia in recent years.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
World is Losing Battle Against Ebola, Medics Say
After news another American doctor is infected with the virus, World Health Organisation chief says everyone involved had underestimated the outbreak
Doctors Without Borders, which has treated more than 1,000 Ebola patients in West Africa since March, is completely overwhelmed by the disease, said Joanne Liu, the organization’s president. She called on other countries to contribute civilian and military medical personnel familiar with biological disasters.
“Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it,” Liu said at a U.N. forum on the outbreak.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Alfano Pledges to Help Germany Curb Migrant Trafficking
After Italian cabbies arrested for driving refugees into Germany
(ANSA) — Berlin, September 2 — Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Tuesday that Italy will do everything in its power to curb illegal migrant trafficking across its borders with Germany.
“We are ready to participate in joint actions to alleviate and put an end to the phenomenon,” Alfano told reporters after meeting with his German counterpart, Thomas de Maiziere.
His comments came after news that German authorities have arrested dozens of Italian taxi drivers on charges of aiding and abetting illegal immigration for driving Syrian refugees across the border into Germany.
The refugees were well-dressed paying customers, and drivers-for-hire are not obligated to know their clients’ immigration status, a taxi cooperative spokesman said Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Arrests Italian Cabbies for ‘Migrant Trafficking’
After they drove Syrian refugees across border
(ANSA) — Vicenza, September 2 — Dozens of Italian taxi drivers have been arrested in Germany for allegedly trafficking Syrian refugees across the border, authorities said Tuesday.
At least four Italian drivers from northern Italy have been arrested in recent weeks for driving Syrian refugees across the border into Germany, officials said.
The refugees were fare-paying customers, and drivers are not obligated to discover their clients’ immigration status, taxi drivers associations said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Has Our Full Support on Migration Says Germany
‘Stop the blame game, we must come up with joint EU solution’
(ANSA) — Berlin, September 2 — Italy has Germany’s full support on the immigration front, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said after meeting with his Italian counterpart, Angelino Alfano. “Italy has a big responsibility right now, and it has our full support,” said the minister. EU countries must stop blaming one another for the migrant crisis, the burden of which has to date fallen mostly on Italian shoulders, the ministers said in a joint statement. “We must cooperate to find a common EU solution,” de Maiziere and Alfano said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grillo Accuses Govt of ‘Reimporting TB’ From Africa
‘Immigrants should be quarantined like we were on Ellis Island’
(ANSA) — Rome, September 2 — Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo on Tuesday accused the government of “re-importing TB” into Italy with its immigration policies.
In a post on his popular blog, Grillo followed this up by suggesting new arrivals to Italy should be quarantined “as our forefathers were on Ellis Island” in New York.
He went on to accuse “the left and radical chic” elements of ignoring the problem.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Immigrants Bring Disease’ Says M5S Leader Grillo
(AGI) Rome, Sept. 2 — The anti-establishment Five Star Movement’s Beppe Grillo has written in his blog that, “Yesterday’s news about infectious diseases brought from Africa and the fact that for the moment 40 police officers have so far been infected with TB, has had no effect whatsoever. There is no vaccine for TB, it is airborne and takes years to cure. We seem to wish to re-import it! But we should do so openly, informing citizens that the police are not protected in any manner at all.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris and Berlin Call on Rome to Respect EU Migration Norms
‘Migrants must be processed in first port of entry’
(ANSA) — Berlin, September 1 — The interior ministers of Germany and France on Monday called on Italy to respect EU regulations on asylum seekers.
“Many of the refugees disembarking in Italy are headed to north European countries,” the interior ministers said in a joint note after a bilateral meeting on Sunday.
EU regulations say “migrants must be processed in the first European port of entry,” the ministers pointed out.
The EU last week agreed to replace Italy’s Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) migrant search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean with an expanded version of European border agency Frontex.
While applauding Italy’s efforts to save the lives of people fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East, it has criticized the fact that Italian authorities do not process the newcomers, leaving them to languish in migrant reception centers for months on end, officials said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Anti-Immigrant Party Set for Big Gains
The Sweden Democrats, Sweden’s anti-immigrant party, is set for big gains in September as opinion polls double their number of supporters to around 10 percent, reports Reuters. The party could become Sweden’s third largest party in the parliament, behind the centre-left Social Democrats, and the centre-right Moderates.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Oxfam Wants Western Governments to Up Resettlement
Only 124,000 refugees in Europe, almost 1,2 mln in Lebanon
(ANSAmed) — ROME, AUGUST 29 — Only the opening of borders in Western and wealthy nations could help a population suffering immensely, warned Oxfam on Friday. The appeal came after the UNHCR announcement that the number of officially registered Syrian refugees had reached 3 million, while 10.8 million people including over 6 million internally displaced were in need of aid in the country. As of late August, UNHCR said that registered Syrian refugees numbered 1,169,846 in Lebanon, 832,503 in Turkey, 612,737 in Jordan (over 80% in the two official camps, Azraq and Zaatari), 215,369 in Iraq (a sharp decrease has been seen over the past two months, due to fighting in the country), 139,040 in Egypt, 23,367 in North Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Libya) and 123,600 in Europe.
Only approximately 5,000 refugees have been resettled in countries beyond Syria’s neighbors through the UN: 0.16% of the refugee population. Meanwhile the UN humanitarian appeal for the refugee response is still woefully underfunded, with less than half the money it needs. Though neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have been very generous in helping refugees to date, their generosity is wearing thin as often poor host communities bear the brunt of Syria’s ongoing crisis. The international community must play its part in offering refugees protection and supporting neighboring countries so they can keep their borders open to people fleeing the conflict, Oxfam said. Facing significant funding shortfalls, humanitarian agencies have already had to cut programs and target their assistance, leaving refugees to go without. In Jordan, Oxfam has had to halt cash payments that were helping 6,500 refugees in host communities. In June 2014, the UN was forced to downscale the funding target aimed at refugees from USD 4.20 to 3.74 billion due to a lack of available funds from donors.
“The fact that 3 million Syrians are now refugees is just part of the picture of human suffering. With 10.8 million more people needing help inside Syria and indiscriminate attacks on civilians claiming more lives each week, more and more families will be forced to seek sanctuary. Refugees are increasingly depleting their savings and assets,” underscored Oxfam Italia’s Riccardo Sansone.
Of the 10.8 million people in need of assistance out of a population of 22 million, the internally displaced now total about 6.4 million, while 4.7 million need aid and are in locations “difficult to access” locations, including about 241,000 living in areas besieged by government or opposition forces. The UN puts the number of recorded deaths at over 191,000 since the conflict began in March 2011, and ever more Syrians are forced to flee to bordering nations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A Few Small Changes Could Make the U.S. Military Trans-Inclusive
A new report outlines the logistics of letting the estimated 15,500 transgender individuals already in the military serve openly.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Oh Pleeeeease! Cameron now wants to de-program the Jihadi or the type of Muslim most like to refer to when dodging the obvious, the Radical or Extremist.
Because, according to the cowards, it has nothing to do with Islam!
Can’t someone, anyone, just tap him on the shoulder and tell him what the real issue is here – Fundamentalism?
Drawing attention to steadily rising attacks against mosques in Germany, Turkey’s top cleric has said the Pope must “translate words into deeds with regard to the misperception and misinterpretation of Islam.”
islam is a hateful, intolerant death cult. What is there to misinterpret or to misperceive? This is just another form of grievance mongering. European people “get” islam now. It’s a pity their politicians do not. Petro dollars anyone?
Police responded to reports of four men obstructing traffic outside Harrods on Brompton Road, west London, but the group had already left when officers arrived.
This is common with offences committed by muslims in the UK, particularly arabs. The police always turn up late to avoid having to arrest anyone. Are they worried they might get into trouble with their superiors? More petro dollars?
It seems UN by will tryed to deliver hostages to IS.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2014/09/01/filipino-force-defied-un-commander-golan-crisis-363061
“Forty-five Fijian peacekeepers who surrendered their firearms to the rebels last week are still being held by the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.
The commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which supervises the peacekeeping mission in Golan, was overseeing talks with the Syrian rebels to secure the freedom of the Fijians. However, Catapang said he would not agree to any resolution of the hostage crisis that would put Filipino troops in grave danger.
When the besieged Filipino troops sought his advice after they were ordered to lay down their arms as part of an arrangement with the rebels to secure the Fijians’ release, Catapang said he asked them to defy the order.
“I told them not to follow the order because that is a violation of our regulation, that we do not surrender our firearms, and, at the same time, there is no assurance that you will be safe after you give your firearms,” Catapang said.
“Our stand is, we will not allow our soldiers to become sacrificial pawns in order to save the Fijians,” Catapang said. “They should look for other ways and means to save the Fijians.”
UNDOF did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Catapang said an investigation would allow the UNDOF commander to explain his side and the Philippine military to explain why it advised the Filipino peacekeepers to defy his order.”
Re: Rotherham.
On BBC Radio 4’s “You and Yours” ‘phone-in yesterday (2nd), an early contributor made the point that the problem is Islamic misogyny, and was not censored.
A later caller drew particular attention to the attitude of Pashtun men of Kashmiri descent, which apparently embarrasses even other Muslims, but also to the impotence and disempowerment of women in such communities regarding their men’s behaviour.
Aaargh! I’ve repeated myself from yesterday. Senility gallops on apace…
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Shocker!