The big news story is still Germanwings Flight 9525. Check the articles below about Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who deliberately crashed the jet in the French Alps. He is said to have suffered from depression, and investigators have removed “items of interest” from his home and that of his parents.
In other news, after a series of air attacks against Yemen, Saudi Arabia has indicated that it may stage a ground invasion of its southern neighbor. Meanwhile, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was traded by the United States for five Taliban terrorists, has been charged with desertion and may face life in prison.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andrea Shea King, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, 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.
Draghi Says QE Adds Percentage Point to Italy GDP
ECB chief says over-regulation keeps Italian firms small
(ANSA) — Rome, March 26 — The European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program should add one percentage point to Italy’s GDP in 2016, ECB President Mario Draghi told the Lower House Thursday.
QE should keep borrowing costs low, hold down the exchange rate, and that will push up economic growth, Draghi said. Italy’s GDP is forecast to rise 1.3% in 2016.
Draghi said that there is no shortage of bonds available for purchase through the quantitative easing program.
The ECB is aiming to buy 60 billion euros of bonds monthly for 18 months to stimulate demand and inflation but some critics have said they are concerned there won’t be enough available paper. His appearance marked the first time in six years that Draghi addressed the Italian Lower House, according to Bloomberg news.
He last spoke to Parliament in 2009 when Draghi was still head of the Italian central bank, Bank of Italy.
Financial market confidence in Italy’s fiscal competence and its economic prospects has improved significantly, shown by the narrowing interest-rate spread with Germany, he added.
Draghi recalled the very difficult period in 2011 when the spread between Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond and its German counterpart widened to about 500 basis points.
In comparison, the spread at midday Thursday stood at about 114 basis points, suggesting that investors no longer demand very high interest rates in exchange for investing in Italy. He noted that structural reforms are important to encourage ongoing growth, as does efforts to help commercial banks reduce the burden of bad loans.
The ECB “looks very favorably on initiatives to reduce the weight of impaired (loans) on banks’ balance sheets in order to free up resources,” to help businesses, said Draghi.
He said that ECB stress tests on major banks last year has helped strengthen financial institutions.
He added that he sees “more favourable growth prospects” for the eurozone.
Meanwhile, that over-regulation of business in Italy forces firms to remain small.
That lowers productivity for the economy as a whole, and reducing regulations could increase business size between 8% and 12%, he said.
Meawhile, Draghi added that too often, fiscal regulations in the eurozone have been ignored.
It might be more useful to replace rules with stronger institutions, he suggested.
“Fiscal rules in the eurozone were disregarded repeatedly, lending mutual trust a lot of tension,” he said.
He added that the ECB “is in favor of a bad bank in Italy” that would take on toxic loans, thus freeing up the country’s banks to extend credit. “Of course the ECB looks with favor on a bad bank in Italy,” Draghi said.
At the same time, the country has too many banks and “there are strong arguments in favor” of consolidating Italy’s banking system, he said.
Until not too long ago Italy had “750 banks, which means 750 boards of directors, each with a minimum of five members,” Draghi said.
“The clients pay for this whole system”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Finance May Offer Anti-Crisis Potential for Italy
Book presented in Milan calls for more attention to area
(ANSAmed) — MILAN — Islamic finance is an “unknown opportunity for Italy” and may serve as a driving force for growth of an economy that has not yet managed to leave the international economic crisis behind.
This is the view expressed by Maurizio Guandalini and Victor Uckmar, authors of the book ‘Gulf&Med. Il Mercato, gli Investimenti e la Finanza Islamica. Hub Italia, Business per la Crescita’ (‘Gulf&Med. The Market, Investments and Islamic Finance: Italy as a Hub, Business for Growth’) presented on Wednesday in Milan at a seminar organized by the ISTUD foundation. The authors of the book estimated that Gulf nations will rake in 18 trillion dollars in oil revenue by 2035, money that could be invested by the states — through sovereign wealth funds — in “goods, products, services and technology” that Italian firms are able to provide.
The problem is the asymmetry of information between Italy and Gulf states. The latter have shown that they are aware of the value of Italian products. In Italy, on the other hand, there is “paranoia and inaccuracy”, and Islamic finance is virtually unknown. Rival nations such as Great Britain employ an entirely different approach. London mayor Boris Johnson recently said that he was proud that “there is no other global capital challenging London’s position as the eighth emirate”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Price of Ground Beef Has Doubled Since the Last Financial Crisis
Since the depths of the last recession, the price of ground beef in the United States has doubled.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
80-Year Record Inventory of Crude Oil Straining Nation’s Storage Capacity
(CNSNews.com) — U.S. energy companies are producing so much crude oil these days that they are running out of places to store it.
“U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 8.2 million barrels from the previous week,” according to the March 20 weekly summary issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“At 466.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the highest level for this time of year in at least the last 80 years,” the agency noted. The last time the U.S. had so much oil in storage was 1930.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Simple Question — Thomas Sowell
It is amazing how a simple question can cause a complex lie to collapse like a house of cards. The simple question was asked by Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel, and it was addressed to two Democrats. He asked what has Hillary Clinton ever accomplished.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Back in February of 2012 USA Today writer Tom Vanden Brook and editor Ray Locker were targeted just days after contacting the owners of Leonie Industries, a Pentagon funded psyop contractor. Mysteriously, websites popped up, some of them claiming that Vanden Brook and Locker worked for the Taliban.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the enlisted U.S. soldier who left his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was later ransomed from an Islamist extremist network by the Obama administration for five Taliban leaders, was charged with desertion and ‘misbehavior before the enemy’ by the U.S. Army on Wednesday.
But he won’t face the death penalty if a military court martial finds him guilty of ‘Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty.’ The level of that charge the Pentagon levied on him carries a maximum of just a 5 year prison term.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police said on Thursday that a 29-year-old woman and her boyfriend faked her kidnap and led authorities on a ‘wild goose chase’.
Denise Huskins, boyfriend Aaron Quinn and the rest of her family have cut contact with the FBI and police after investigators announced there was no evidence to support claims she had been violently abducted in southern California on Monday.
The physical therapist was now reportedly holed up at an undisclosed location and had hired an attorney.
In a bizarre chain of events that have drawn comparisons with the movie, Gone Girl, Quinn reported Huskins’ ‘kidnap’ to police on Monday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For Asteroid-Capture Mission, NASA Picks ‘Option B’ For Boulder
NASA’s bold asteroid-capture mission will pluck a boulder off a big space rock rather than grab an entire near-Earth object, agency officials announced today (March 25).
NASA intends to drag the boulder to lunar orbit, where astronauts will visit it beginning in 2025. The space agency decided on the boulder snatch — “Option B,” as opposed to the whole-asteroid “Option A” — Tuesday (March 24) during the mission concept review of the asteroid-redirect effort, NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot told reporters during a teleconference today.
Option B will probably cost about $100 million more than Option A would have, but its advantages are worth the price-tag bump, Lightfoot said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Releases ‘Kill List’; Seven Texas Cities Included
The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk.
| — Hat tip: Andrea Shea King | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Helm: Troops to “Operate Undetected Amongst Civilian Population”
A key component of the controversial Jade Helm military exercise set to take part in nine U.S. states this summer will involve soldiers operating “undetected amongst civilian populations,” to see if they can infiltrate without being noticed.
The “realistic” military training exercise, which will involve the Green Berets, Navy Seals, and the 82nd Airborne Division, is set to take place from July 15-Sepember 15, but has prompted concerns after Texas and Utah were labeled “hostile” territory in documents related to the exercise.
A Houston Chronicle report reveals that soldiers will attempt to blend in with the local population in an effort to test the effectiveness of infiltration techniques. Residents will be advised to report “suspicious activity” during the exercise. “They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community,” said Roy Boyd, chief deputy with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. “They’re testing their abilities to basically blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.”
By directly involving unwitting members of the local population, this aspect of the drill contradicts the Army’s assertion that, “The public can expect nothing much different from their day-to-day activities since much of exercise will be conducted in remote areas.”
Jim Stewart, chief deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, told the Chronicle that the designation of Texas as “hostile territory” was merely a way of setting up a role playing exercise under which soldiers operate behind enemy lines.
The Army has failed to specifically address why Texas, Utah and a pocket of southern California were labeled as hostile territories in training documents for the exercise, merely insisting that the drill is designed to prepare troops for foreign occupations and has nothing to do with preparations for martial law.
No less than 17 different Texas cities will see an Army presence as part of the exercise, which will involve, “participants in civilian dress and civilian vehicles, military aircraft, low-altitude airdrops of personnel and weapons with blank rounds, to avert fearful reactions”.
News outlets, primarily Infowars, who questioned the nature of the exercise have come under fire from the Army and other mainstream media outlets, with the Chronicle characterizing the reaction as an example of, “ultra-right-wing fears of a government takeover in the Lone Star State”.
Despite assurances that the training is to prepare troops for overseas missions, Army documents in the past have made clear that plans for martial law are in place for within the Continental United States (CONUS).
A leaked 2012 US Army Military Police training manual, entitled “Civil Disturbance Operations,” described how soldiers would be ordered to confiscate firearms and kill American “dissidents.” The manual also revealed that prisoners would be detained in temporary internment camps and “re-educated” to gain a new appreciation of “U.S. policies,” in accordance with U.S. Army FM 3-19.40 Internment/Resettlement Operations.
[Comment: Dry run — right on your face America. Classic psyop — deny, deny, and deny again (even while doing it).]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New York Building Collapses After Explosion in Manhattan
At least 12 people have been injured after a gas explosion caused two buildings to collapse in New York City.
On Thursday afternoon, more than 100 fire-fighters converged to battle the resulting blaze that affected four buildings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said there were no reports of missing persons, but noted that the situation was fluid.
Officials said they believe work was being done to the building’s gas utilities before the blast.
The explosion triggered a fire in a building that housed a sushi restaurant. The blaze then quickly spread to adjacent buildings, official said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Soldier Arrested Over ‘Plotting to Support IS’
A US soldier and his cousin have been arrested and charged with conspiring to support the Islamic State, the Department of Justice has said.
The National Guard soldier, 22, and the other man allegedly discussed using army uniforms and military access to attack an Illinois military facility.
The soldier also planned to travel to the Middle East to fight with the Islamic State, say prosecutors.
Both men have been charged with trying to provide support to a terror group.
The FBI arrested the soldier at Chicago Midway International Airport on Wednesday as he attempted to fly to Cairo, and arrested his 29-year-old cousin at his suburban home on the same day.
They face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (£167,800), if found guilty.
The soldier tried to depart from Chicago to fly to Cairo on Wednesday
Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds first came to the attention of the FBI in 2014, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Investigators allege that he and Jonas Edmonds, his cousin, had plotted for Hasan Edmonds to travel overseas with a view to fight on behalf of the Islamic State.
The pair also planned for Jonas Edmonds to carry out an attack against a military facility in northern Illinois, where Hasan Edmonds had been training.
The cousins revealed their plot to an undercover FBI agent, and said they would use Hasan Edmonds’ military uniform to gain access to the facility.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Cops Harass Legal Gun Owner, Confiscate Weapon
A legal gun owner filmed himself and his friend being harassed by state troopers in South Florida, after being stopped for speeding and forced to hand over a legally owned firearm.
The driver and his passenger repeatedly asked the officers under what law they were authorised to confiscate a legally owned gun from their vehicle.
It quickly became obvious that the cops didn’t know or care if there was such a law.
The driver, Cody Lewis, noted during the video “this is what a police state looks like,” as one officer stood guard by his vehicle holding his own gun.
Lewis attempted to reason with the cops, stating that although there were five officers, some with their hands on their own weapons, he was not scared, and did not assume that they were bad people, so why should they assume he is?
Lewis also explained that legally he did not have to tell the officers that there was a weapon in the vehicle, but he opted to do so.
He also notes that many people have ended up dead at the hands of cops because of the way the officers act in such situations, approaching citizens with their hand on their weapons, or with guns drawn.
[Comment: Recommended viewing, reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Andreas Lubitz, Germanwings Co-Pilot, Blamed for Crash
Montabaur, Germany (CNN) The house where Andreas Lubitz’s parents live was shuttered Thursday and guarded by police.
A group of men, perhaps investigators, were the only ones granted access.
This town in western Germany is where Lubitz, the 28-year-old co-pilot authorities now blame for the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, pursued his love of flying from a young age.
At a club on the outskirts of the city, pilots who knew him said they were shocked to hear what investigators said.
They said the man they know never would have deliberately crashed a plane.
Officials have said they’re still baffled about why Lubitz would set the Airbus A320 on course to crash into the French Alps. But Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said that’s what happened, based on audio from the cockpit voice recorder, which indicated that the pilot was locked out of the cockpit as Lubitz steered the plane.
It seems, Robin said, that Lubitz “wanted to destroy the aircraft.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Autopilot on Doomed German Plane Reportedly Set to Crash
The autopilot on the doomed Germanwings plane that crashed into the Alps was abruptly switched to descend to 100 feet, according to a new report Thursday.
FlightRadar24, an online tracking service that uses satellite data, found evidence the autopilot was adjusted to its lowest setting before the plane started its steady fall from the sky, Reuters reported.
French prosecutors said Andreas Lubitz, the 28-year-old who officials locked the pilot out of the Germanwings cockpit and then calmly slammed the plane into a mountainside at 430 miles per hour.
US may let Tehran run hundreds of centrifuges at a once-secret bunker
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A law student was today cleared of targeting Tony and Cherie Blair and plotting to carry out a ‘Mumbai-style’ attack, following the UK’s first secret terror case.
Erol Incedal, 27, sobbed as he was found not guilty of plotting with a terrorist in Syria to either attack individuals or carry out a massacre using a Kalashnikov following a retrial at the Old Bailey.
Last year, he was convicted of possessing a bomb-making manual on a memory card at the time he was arrested in October 2013.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Comet-Chasing Rosetta Mission Keeps Surprising Scientists
In 2004, Rosetta the spacecraft and Philae the robot set out on a mission to catch a distant comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. What they are now doing over a decade later is re-writing, in surprising new ways, our understanding of how the solar system formed.
Work on the Rosetta project has been going on all over Europe. The mission’s most surprising discovery so far was made by scientists in Bern, Switzerland.
“We have seen early on in the mission that the water that we have up there is completely different from the water that we measure here in the laboratory,” said Kathrin Altwegg, Professor of Physics at the University of Bern.
“This is a very good proof that the comet has other water than we have here on Earth,” she said.
A previous measurement from another similar type of comet had found that its water was just like that on Earth. So the quite different result from Rosetta’s Rosina instrument made a big wave in the science community.
“That’s a real surprise. That sends us back to the drawing board in terms of trying to figure out how did Earth get all of its water, if not from material coming from deeper in the solar system,” says Claudia Alexander, Project Scientist at NASA, which has been contributing to the Rosetta mission.
There have been more surprises: the comet surface has what look like cracks, boulders, mountains, craters and ripples, but are really alien features — like nothing mankind has ever seen before.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Gunman’s Alleged Aiders to Remain in Custody
In a closed-door hearing, authorities decided to keep five men charged with helping Copenhagen gunman Omar El-Hussein locked up for another four weeks.
Five men charged with helping the gunman behind last month’s deadly attacks in Copenhagen have been remanded in custody for another four weeks, police said on Thursday.
“The five suspects in connection with the shootings… will remain in custody,” Copenhagen Police wrote on Twitter.
Custody hearings held for the five, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were not open to the public.
Two men, aged 25 and 30, on Friday faced preliminary charges of helping gunman Omar El-Hussein get rid of an M95 assault rifle he used outside a cultural centre hosting a debate on free speech and Islam, where he shot dead a filmmaker on February 14.
They were also charged with helping him get rid of clothing after the attack, and for providing “other equipment” for the shooting that took place a few hours later outside a synagogue, where a Jewish man was killed.
Two other men, aged 20 and 22, have been detained since February 16, also on suspicion of helping him get rid of the M95 weapon and of supplying him with two firearms used at the synagogue.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Driverless Cars to Create 320,000 UK Jobs and Save 2,500 Lives
Driverless cars will accelerate the renaissance Britain’s automotive industry is currently enjoying, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, adding tens of billions to the economy and saving thousands of lives.
The claims come in a new report examining the impact technical advances will have on motoring, produced by KPMG for trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
European Jews Are ‘Living in Fear Like in the 1930s’ Claims Ronald Lauder
Ronald Lauder told a congressional committee in Washington that America must take the lead against the surge in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe in order to ‘defeat the new flame of Islamic terror’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France Declares War on Radical Islam
by Soeren Kern
The moves are part of a raft of new anti-terrorism measures aimed at preventing French citizens or residents from joining jihadist groups abroad. The new powers are controversial because they can be implemented without judicial approval.
“These are legal tools, but not tools of exception, nor of generalized surveillance of citizens. There cannot be a lawless zone in the digital space. Often we cannot predict the threat, the services must have the power to react quickly.” — Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France.
“When you do a projection for the months to come, there could be 5,000 (Europeans waging jihad in Iraq and Syria) before summer and 10,000 before the end of the year. Do you realize the threat that this represents?” — Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germanwings Co-Pilot Battled Depression in ‘09, Friends Say
The co-pilot who authorities say deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard, had battled depression and burnout in the past, his friends told the German magazine Der Spiegel.
Andreas Lubitz, the 28-year-old co-pilot who investigators believe locked the Germanwings pilot out of the cockpit and intentionally flew the Airbus A320 into a mountain, took a break in 2009 from his lifelong pursuit of flying because of the condition, according to the magazine. But he soon resumed the ambition that had gripped him from an early age.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germanwings Co-Pilot ‘Deliberately Crashed’ Plane After Locking Out Captain
The co-pilot of the airliner that crashed in France this week, killing 150 people, locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately flew the aircraft into a mountain.
The finding will raise questions as to how a pilot can be locked out from their own cockpit. Ironically, this is possible because of rules brought in by the International Civil Aviation Organisation after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 to keep hijackers out of the cockpit. These enforce the use of strong, locking, bulletproof cockpit doors on passenger-carrying airliners.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IceBridge Overflies Norwegian Camp on Drifting Sea Ice
Studying sea ice in the Fram Strait, a passage between Greenland and Svalbard that is the main gateway for Arctic sea ice into the open ocean, is not easy. In this area, not only does ice flow southward quickly — at the same time, warmer ocean waters melt and thin it from below, making it easier for waves to break the ice into smaller floes. This dynamic, unstable environment makes it hard for scientists to set camps on the sea ice and collect direct measurements. In turn, scarce field data means that remote measurements of sea ice in the Fram Strait have few sources of validation.
Enter the collaboration between an expedition led by the Norwegian Polar Institute, called the Norwegian Young Sea Ice Cruise (N-ICE2015), and Operation IceBridge, NASA’s biannual airborne survey of polar sea and land ice.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘We All Adore the Evil Dwarf’ Berlusconi Trial Witness Says
Wiretaps in ongoing Ruby perjury probe
(ANSA) — Milan, March 24 — Young women who attended alleged sex parties at former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Arcore villa “all adored the evil dwarf”, one former trial witness tells another in a wiretap released Tuesday.
The wiretaps are being carried out in the ongoing so-called Ruby-ter perjury investigation against witnesses at a trial that saw Berlusconi acquitted of sex with an underage prostitute.
“My boyfriend adores the evil dwarf, you adore the evil dwarf, we all adore him,” Aris Espinosa told Imma De Vivo over the phone in a November 18 tapped conversation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
MPs Warn on Growing Numbers of British Jihadists
Not enough is being done to prevent people leaving the UK to join Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a group of MPs has warned.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said Britain must win their “hearts and minds”.
The committee’s report comes as the BBC launches a database tracking British jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
It shows that many people left in clusters from certain UK areas — often due to friendships and peer groups.
The MPs’ report argues that preventative work with communities, families and international partners is “vital” and needs to be a top priority for the Home Office.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: A-ha to Tour Five Years After ‘Farewell’ Gig
Norwegian pop band A-ha, who have sold more than 35 million albums since they first topped the charts in the 1980s, announced a comeback on Wednesday just five years after their last break-up.
The band members went their separate ways in 2010 after a sell-out world tour entitled Ending On A High Note.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Air Changes Cockpit Rules After Germanwings Crash
Budget airline Norwegian Air said on Thursday it had changed procedures to have two people in the cockpit at all times during a flight after the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps.
A co-pilot locked himself alone in the cockpit and flew it into a mountain with what appears to have been the intent to destroy it, a French prosecutor said on Thursday.
“We have been planning to change our procedures, but this accident has sped up the implementation. From now on, two people from the crew will always have to be present in the cockpit,” a spokeswoman for Norwegian Air said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police Find More Italian Pro-ISIS Propaganda on Web
Alleged author part of recently busted jihadi cell
(ANSA) — Rome, March 26 — Anti-terror police on Thursday said they are investigating an Italian-language piece of Islamic State propaganda that has been circulating on the Web. Titled ‘A Valid Caliphate or Not?’ it is signed “Your brother in Allah, Mehdi”. Police say this is the same signature that appeared on another Italian-language Internet document titled ‘Islamic State, a Reality that Would Like to Communicate With You’.
Investigators say both documents may have been authored by Madhi el-Halili, a 20-year-old Italian of Moroccan descent who was arrested Wednesday near Turin on charges of promoting association to a group with intent to commit acts of international terrorism.
El-Halili was one of three suspects arrested in Italy and Albania in an operation to bust an alleged Islamic extremist cell that was dedicated to recruiting jihadists and helping them reach ISIS militias. The operation was the result of a two-year Brescia-based investigation by Italian anti-terrorism police.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Learner Drivers Asked if Alcohol is ‘A Mitigating Circumstance’ During Rape
Swedish learner drivers undergoing a compulsory theory course are invited to discuss if it is ‘an aggravating or mitigating circumstance’ is a woman is drunk during sexual assault.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Man Who Murdered Everybody Aboard Flight 4U9525
Screams as passengers realised in final seconds co-pilot was deliberately flying them into mountain after locking captain out of cockpit
The co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings Airbus A320 locked his captain out of the cockpit before deliberately crashing into a mountain to ‘destroy the plane’, it was sensationally revealed today.
French prosecutor Brice Robin gave further chilling details of the final ten minutes in the cockpit before the Airbus A320 plunged into the French Alps killing 150 people.
Revealing data extracted from the black box voice recorder, he said the co-pilot — 28-year-old German Andreas Lubitz — locked his captain out after the senior officer left the cockpit.
At that point, Lubitz used the flight managing system to put the plane into a descent, something that can only be done manually — and deliberately.
He said: ‘The intention was to destroy the plane. Death was instant. The plane hit the mountain at 700kmh (430mph)…
Claims that the Airbus crashed after the pilots’ windscreen broke, causing a sudden drop in oxygen, surfaced online yesterday. An anonymous user alleged on the Aviation Herald website that the black box voice recorder recovered from the wreckage contained the sounds of ‘cracks’ in the cockpit.
The user wrote: ‘It seems structural failure (windshield? not determined yet). It was quick… sound of cracks, but crew initiated emergency descent by autopilot and then they weren’t heard any more. Autopilot was on during whole descent, but disconnected automatically shortly before impact.’
Did everybody fall unconscious?
This is one of the most plausible theories given the lack of communication from the aircraft.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
There Weren’t Rules to Stop the Germanwings Co-Pilot From Flying Alone
No pilot is ever alone inside the cockpit of U.S. airlines. Now similar regulations could spread around the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Antibiotic Erythromycin Taken in Pregnancy Linked to Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy
Pregnant women have been warned that a type of antibiotic could harm their unborn baby.
Researchers from Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London have linked erythromycin pills with epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
The study tracked the health of babies born to 200,000 British women. Overall, the babies born to women who took antibiotics were no more likely to develop epilepsy or cerebral palsy.
But women treated with erythromycin and other pills from the macrolide family of antibiotics were almost twice as likely to have a baby with one of these conditions as those given penicillin.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that a third of expectant mothers were given antibiotics during pregnancy, most commonly penicillin.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Anger as £19million ‘Neutral’ Quango Attacks Tories on Human Rights
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, chaired by Baroness Onora O’Neill (pictured), said the Human Rights Act had ‘consistently proved its value’ in an online statement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Dead Woman Gets Tax Bill for 1p
Elsie Watson from Woodley near Stockport left the one penny debt before she died aged 92. The bill was sent to her son Barry Holland who was told he could pay in instalments.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Families of NHS Patients Given Infected Blood Slam ‘Whitewash’ Report
A six year inquiry said the trauma suffered by thousands of people in the 1970s and 80s was the ‘the stuff of nightmares’, but insisted ‘all that could reasonably be done was done’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Grooming Bans Could Stop Child Sex Abuse Say Councils
Councils in England and Wales want new powers to combat predatory men suspected of grooming children for sex.
They want the government to introduce so-called child sexual exploitation disruption orders which councils could apply for through magistrates.
Sanctions to prevent the grooming of vulnerable children are too limited, says the Local Government Association.
Evidence from abuse inquiries from Oxford to Rotherham heard that time and again, police and social workers had no means of intervening to prevent the grooming and sexual exploitation of children, until they had evidence that a child had already been harmed, it adds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A whirlwind romance quickly turned into a nightmare for a British grandmother who married a man 20 years her junior in The Gambia.
Anne-Marie, 52, from Warwickshire, met husband Omar on a night out when he was in the UK on a student visa.
At the time, she was 41 with two children from a previous relationship and he was 21.
‘He was handsome and charismatic, he said he’d treat me like a queen and I would never want for anything. He told me everything I wanted to hear,’ she told Channel 5 show Love Rats Abroad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
This is the incredible moment that Oliver Frost shaved more than eight seconds off his own world record for solving a 4×4 Rubik’s Cube whilst blindfolded.
The 21-year-old neuroscience student from the University of Westminster shortened his own best time for completing the conundrum to 2 minutes 10.47 seconds.
He smashed his previous record of 2 minutes 18.65 seconds to retain the title for a fourth time during a competition at the University of Edinburgh.
To tackle the riddle that has stumped avid-gamers for years, Oliver practices extensively to hone his memory skills.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What We Know About the Germanwings Co-Pilot
Here’s what we know about the Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who French prosecutors deliberately suspect of crashing the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
Andreas Lubitz, a 28-year-old German pilot, lived with his parents in Montabaur, western Germany.
French prosecutors now suspect he deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane into the French Alps on Tuesday after “purposefully” locking the pilot out of the cockpit and refusing to let him back in.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
World Muslim League: Some Italy’s Imams ‘Ignorant’
Unable to prevent extremism, need to reorganize mosques
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Tasked with reorganizing Italy’s Muslim community, World Muslim League new president in Italy, Fareed Alkhotani, called the community “the worst” in Europe for dialogue and inclusion, telling reporters the Italian Muslim people is often ignorant of the Koran, not able to integrate into Italian society, closed in a way apart and led by some imams who are not well prepared and, consequently, unable to prevent and combat Al Qaeda or Isis terrorist ideas.
Alkhotani said, “Muslims in Italy do not have a thorough understanding of the Islamic religion and are not able to dialogue with the national government, as opposed to what they do communities in Austria, Belgium, France and Germany”.
Italy’s approximately 1.7 millions Muslims are divided into two thousand mosques, associations, cultural centers that often go in separate directions. According to the World Muslim League, the Muslim minority in Italy has the worst relationship in Europe in regard to faith and residence country.
Alkhotani listed three reasons for the lack of relationship as “ ignorance of the Koran” among common peoaple amd especially young people; Muslims are socially on the lower rangs with low paid jobs and “do not have the cultural tools to fit in the society”, and they “buil parallel, closed societies by nationality of origin”. Subsequently, “dialogue is prevented” and has provoked “the lack of recognition of the Muslim community by Italian authorities, despite the requests of certain Islamic organizations, such as Ucoii, Coreis, Maghreb federation”.
“If you want to have a serious dialogue”, the World Muslim League president said, “you must on take the values of Italian citizenship, confront yourselves with democratic principles of the host nation”, adding that “it is not acceptable to have mosques, associations, places of worship linked to the countries of origin and not to the rules and problems of Italian society. Small or large, the Muslim minority has to be part of Italy.” In recent months, Alkhotani has visited almost all Muslim places of worship in Italy. “Some of the imams do not know their job, they never made precise studies”, Alkhotani said. “They do not openly invite to go fight with Isis, but make sermons suitable for a popular district of Cairo, not for people who live in Europe”. They create, indirectly, a culture broth for extremism. Terrorism can only be avoided “preaching good” , true Islam and its teachings of peace and tolerance that ISIS militias “trample in all their actions.” Alkhotani said that up until now, not many from Italy have left to join the caliphate, but “for us they are still too many”.
Regarding to Rome mosque, Alkhotani said that the management “did not perform its role of connection between Muslims and Italian society and has not been able to promote religious dialogue”.
The project of the Muslim World League is to reorganize in entirety on the basis of regional councils and elected representative in Muslim communities and a national council elected by regional representatives. For now, only 250 associations of two thousand are participating.
“It will be a long process, it will take about ten years”, Alkhotani said.
The Muslim World League, founded 52 years ago by a Saudi initiative, collects the ulema, or body of scholars, from dozens of Muslim countries, including Iran, and has among its objectives to inspire Islam-Islam dialogue and dialogue between Islam and other religions. The league, which has its headquarters in Mecca, finances, by statute, Rome’s mosque and cultural center.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya’s Oil Production Hits 490,000 Barrels a Day
(AGI) Tripoli, March 24 — Libya’s oil production is currently running at 490,000 barrels a day, according to the Bahraini newspaper ‘al Wasat’, which cited data from local sources. In the past few days crude oil exported via the east Libyan harbours of Hariga and Zueltina totalled 1.3 million barrels.
Daily oil extractions have suffered a sharp decline since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and the subsequent military conflict — some 60 percent down on the 1.6 million barrels plus before the revolts of 2011. The Islamic State’s presence in the eastern cities of Sirte and Derna has increased the risk of attacks on oil plants. One of the most severe attacks occurred on Feb 4th when an Ansar al Sharia commando, linked to Isis, attacked the Mabruk oil field, south of Sirte, run by French Total together with NOC (the Libyan state-owned oil company). The Jihadists entered the site shooting, and killed 13 people, including three Filipino and two Ghanese workers. Following the attack, the daily production dropped for a few weeks to about 200,000 barrels — only one eighth of the pre-2011 levels.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Signals Local Al Qaeda Links to Bardo Museum Attack
(Reuters) — Tunisia said on Thursday that an attack on a Tunis museum last week was launched by a cell of 23 militants, including an Algerian and Moroccans, with overlapping allegiances to a number of hardline islamist groups.
Tunisian Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli said 80 percent of the group had already been arrested over the killing of 20 tourists including Japanese, French and Italians in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
“This cell is linked to Okba Ibn Nafaa and Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, most of them came originally from Ansar al Sharia,” Gharsalli said. “It is a group of 23 people, including two Moroccans and an Algerian, but 80 percent of them are already arrested.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Benjamin Netanyahu Criticised as He Tries to Make Amends With Israel’s Arab Population
Benjamin Netanyahu was officially asked to form Israel’s next government on Wednesday, but Arab citizens have not forgotten how the prime minister turned upon them in order to win votes last week.
On election day, the prime minister called on Jews to vote for him because Arabs were being “bussed in” to polling stations “in droves”. The gambit helped win Mr Netanyahu Right-wing votes but drew fire from liberals and from overseas.
Reuven Rivlin, the president, formally asked Mr Netanyahu to lead the next coalition but delivered a blunt dig at his provocations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Science Ministry Appoints Palestinian 2nd in Command
Abu Hamed, from East Jerusalem, climbs Israeli government ranks
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, MARCH 23 — A Palestinian from East Jerusalem has been appointed to the most prestigious positions in the Israeli government administration — deputy to the Chief Scientist in the Ministry for Science, Technology and Space.
Tareq Abu Hamed has become the highest ranking Palestinian of the Israeli government administration, according to the broadcaster I24. Abu Hamed, a 42-year-old doctor, directed the Centre for Renewable Energy prior to entering the ministry two years ago.
His supervisors were struck by his scientific capacities and are convinced that his appointment will be crowned with success.
Abu Hamed told the Israeli press meanwhile that the continuous passage between the Israeli and Palestinian realities is quite “schizophrenic”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tel Aviv ‘Sex Appeal’ And Gay-Friendliness Draws Tourists
Tel Aviv is promoting itself at the Naples Mediterranean Tourism Bourse (BMT) as a gay-friendly city with ‘sex appeal’ as part of its bid to draw more youths to the city. The Israeli national tourism bureau noted that there would be a Gay Pride Festival in Eilat on May 7-9 and one in Tel Aviv on June 4-14. The niche market is one that Israel is enjoying ever greater success in. Tel Aviv is considered one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world. New flights from March 30 will connect Naples with Tel Aviv and cut travel time to only three hours.
The Israeli city has long attracted young crowds and was recently inserted onto Thrillist.com as a city with one of the ‘sexiest neighborhoods’ in the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As US Lets Yemen Fall, Israeli Ire Pales Next to Arab Fury
The outcome of the Saudi military operation may not be decisive, but reflects much Saudi, Jordanian and Egyptian frustration. The anger of these regimes is not directed at Iran, which is more or less engaged in the kind of hostile activity expected of it, but mainly at Washington.
It is slightly hard to believe, but at a time when the White House is intensively negotiating with Iran in an attempt to reach an agreement on the nation’s nuclear program withing the next five days, the Shiites in Tehran have helped topple a majority Sunni regime and made significant territorial advances. Yemen is a state with a long and unmanned border with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s number one regional rival. Yet Washington remains silent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan Signs USD 10 Billion Deal With Russia
To construct a nuclear power plan with two reactors
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN — Jordan and Russia signed on Tuesday a $ 10 billion deal to construct nuclear power plan with two reactor of total output of 2000 megawatts, officials announced.
The agreement was signed in Amman by Jordan’s nuclear commission Chief, Umaya Toukan and CEO of Russian Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, on behalf of the Russian government. Toukan said the deal sets the legal and political framework to support the project and identify the general principles of cooperation between Jordan and Russian.
Jordan will own a controlling stake of 50.1 percent, whereas Russia will contribute 49.9 percent of the project’s total cost.
The deal stresses the two countries’ commitment to supporting the project and includes details on the plant’s nuclear fuel and nuclear waste treatment. Jordan said the deal will see Jordan return spent fuel to Russia and implement local regulations in running the plants.
Officials said Russia will turn into a strategic partner for the kingdom in nuclear projects, providing technical expertise, research aid and nuclear fuel for the reactors, according to Petra news Agency.
The peaceful nuclear plant is expected to provide the kingdom with badly needed energy source after the kingdom’s population has grew in the past years as a result of an influx of refugees from across the region. Jordan imports most of its fuel needs and has suffered as a result of fluctuating fuel prices.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
President Hadi Leaves Yemen as Saudis Bomb Rebels
Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi has arrived in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, according to officials, as Saudi Arabia continues to launch air strikes against Shia Houthi rebels.
It is the first confirmation of his whereabouts since Wednesday, when he fled rebel forces in the city of Aden.
Officials say he will now travel to Egypt for a two-day Arab league summit.
Saudi authorities began air strikes in Yemen on Wednesday night, a step Iran called “dangerous”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi-Led Forces Strike Rebel Bases in Yemen as Iran Warns of ‘Dangerous Step’
A coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against military bases held by Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen early Thursday, as Iran warned that Riyadh was taking a “dangerous step.”
The statement Thursday from Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham did not name Saudi Arabia but called the airstrikes an “invasion.” The statement went on to claim that the campaign would worsen the already deteriorating security situation in Yemen.
Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya News reported that the kingdom had deployed 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units. News footage of the strikes aired by Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV showed flashing lights and what sounded like machine gun fire.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Threatens Ground Invasion of Yemen
A mass Sunni coalition led by Saudi Arabia was on Thursday night threatening a ground invasion of Yemen with tens of thousands of troops to drive out an Iran-linked Shia militia, which would plunge the Middle East into an openly sectarian regional war.
The Houthi rebel group which has seized much of Yemen and driven the Sunni, western-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi into flight said 18 civilians were killed in overnight air raids by the coalition.
Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Jordan were supporting Yemen’s Gulf neighbours in the operation, and Egyptian troop carriers were said to be waiting off Yemen’s coast.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Senior Houthi Official Al-Bakhiti: Saudi Military Intervention in Yemen Will End Rule of Saud Family
MEMRITVVideos
In a March 23 interview, senior Houthi official Muhammad Al-Bakhiti said: “If Saudi Arabia intervenes militarily, this will lead to the end of the rule of the Saud clan in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques.” The interview aired on Mayadeen TV.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sharia in Action: Islamic State Stones Couple to Death for Adultery
Stoning adulterers is not “extremist”; it is Islamic law. The caliph Umar, one of Muhammad’s closest companions, even maintained that it was originally in the Qur’an:
‘Umar said, “I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, “We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book,” and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.” Sufyan added, “I have memorized this narration in this way.” ‘Umar added, “Surely Allah’s Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him.” (Bukhari, vol. 8, bk. 82, no. 816)
“Allah’s Apostle” is, of course, Muhammad, who did indeed carry out stonings.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Shiite Militia ‘No Longer Leading Tikrit Recapture Bid’
Iraqi army ‘clearing’ city says Gen Austin
(ANSA) — Rome, March 26 — Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq are no longer leading an operation to recapture Tikrit from Islamic State (ISIS) militants, a US general said Thursday.
Gen Lloyd Austin, head of US Central Command, said the Shia pullback was a precondition for US-led air strikes, which began on Wednesday night.
Iraqi forces then launched a final push to drive ISIS from the city. Iraq had asked the US-led coalition to mount air strikes on militants in Tikrit after the offensive stalled.
Gen Austin told the US Senate Armed Services Committee about 4,000 Iraqi army and federal police personnel were now carrying out “clearing operations” in Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The trade-off would allow Iran to run several hundred of the devices at its Fordo facility, although the Iranians would not be allowed to do work that could lead to an atomic bomb and the site would be subject to international inspections, according to Western officials familiar with details of negotiations now underway. In return, Iran would be required to scale back the number of centrifuges it runs at its Natanz facility and accept other restrictions on nuclear-related work.
Instead of uranium, which can be enriched to be the fissile core of a nuclear weapon, any centrifuges permitted at Fordo would be fed elements such as zinc, xenon or germanium for separating out isotopes used in medicine, industry or science, the officials said. The number of centrifuges would not be enough to produce the amount of uranium needed to produce a weapon within a year — the minimum time-frame that Washington and its negotiating partners demand.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: EU Affairs Minister, Patience is Not Eternal
“The European Union can not afford to say no to Turkey. The consequences would be negative for Europe, certainly not for us”, European Union Affairs Minister and Chief Negotiator to Turkey Volkan Bozkir said at a International Affairs meeting in Rome on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Yemen Has the Power to Rally Oil Prices
(MarketWatch)—Yemen produces roughly 130,000 barrels of crude oil a day, but it still has the power the rally oil prices.
It is all about location. It sits at the Bab el-Mandab Strait, a key chokepoint in international shipping—making it important in terms of international energy trade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
About 3.8 million barrels of oil a day passed through Bab el-Mandeb in 2013, and a closure of the Strait would keep tankers in the Persian Gulf from reaching the Suez Canal and the SUMED Pipeline, forcing them around the tip of Africa, the EIA said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen: Egyptian-Saudi Ground Attack in the Offing, AP
Egyptian and Saudi forces will conduct a ground operation in Yemen against Shia Houthi rebels, three unnamed officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday.
The forces are expected to enter Yemen overland from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen’s Red and Arabian Sea coasts. The sources did not specify the number of troops that would be deployed in the attack nor when it would be launched, but did say that the operation would begin once airstrikes had weakened the rebels and the forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The attack, which other unnamed nations will be taking part in, aims to push the rebels to negotiate, the sources added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lithuanians Under Police State Attack
According to news reports and to this appeal by Kristoferis Voishka the pro-American government installed in Lithuania is persecuting Lithuanians who dissent from the anti-Russian propaganda that is driving Washington’s NATO puppets to war with Russia. Unlike their puppet government, Lithuanians understand that war with Russia means that Lithuania on the front line will be utterly destroyed, a result that would not bother Washington in the least, just as Washington is undisturbed when its forces obliterate weddings, funerals, and children’s soccer games.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Has Constructed Massive Underground Shelters in Anticipation of Nuclear War
Did you know that the Russians have a massive underground complex in the Ural mountains that has been estimated to be approximately 400 square miles in size?
In other words, it is roughly as big as the area inside the Washington D.C. beltway.
Back in the 1990s, the Clinton administration was deeply concerned about the construction of this enormous complex deep inside Yamantau mountain, but they could never seem to get any straight answers from the Russians. The command center for this complex is rumored to be 3,000 feet directly straight down from the summit of this giant rock quartz mountain. And of course U.S. military officials will admit that there are dozens of other similar sites throughout Russia, although most of them are thought to be quite a bit smaller. But that is not all that the Russians have been up to.
For example, Russian television has reported that 5,000 new emergency nuclear bomb shelters were scheduled to have been completed in the city of Moscow alone by the end of 2012. Most Americans don’t realize this, but the Russians have never stopped making preparations for nuclear war. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has essentially done nothing to prepare our citizens for an attack. The assumption seems to be that a nuclear attack will probably never happen, and that if it does it will probably mean the end of our civilization anyway.
Needless to say, the Russians are very secretive about their massive underground facility at Yamantau mountain, and no American has ever been inside. The following is what Wikipedia has to say about it…
[Comment: The US has also been building underground bases — but not for the sheeple — they are for the elitists. Websearch “denver airport underground”. Be sure to check out the disturbing murals depicting the future the elitists are working hard to achieve (vigilantcitizen.com has a detailed analysis of the murals: vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-the-denver-international-airport/ ).]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: West Bengal: Death Threats Against a Catholic Girls’ School
The Sisters of the Child Mary have received letters in threatening to “burn the school and the local church” if they do not leave. The police step up security around the institute. Archbishop of Calcutta: “We do not know who is behind the threats, but we are not scared. The sisters will never leave their mission”.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “The sisters will never leave their mission. We are not afraid of these threats”, says Msgr. Thomas D’Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta, commenting on the threatening letters received by the female Catholic high school St. Capitanio of Nagrakata in West Bengal. The letters warn the Sisters of the Child Mary (Sisters of Charity), who run the institution, to close the facility and leave.
For the moment, the prelate said, “it is not clear who is behind these threats. The author of these letters threaten to burn down the school and church if the sisters do not leave. The case is already in the hands of the police and district officials have assured the sisters and provided the necessary protection”.
Sister Anise Jacob, the school principal, filed a complaint on 22 March, and since then the security measures have increased. Police have set up pickets outside the building and in adjacent areas.
“The school — the bishop tells AsiaNews — is very old. Most of the students are tribal Adivasis. 192 girls live in the hostel. Nearby there is also a boys’ school. “
According to Msgr. D’Souza “it is possible that the letters are a way to divert attention and aggravate the issue. However, we are waiting for the message content to be decrypted, to understand who is behind all this. The Catholic Church is in touch with the police officers and with the sisters. Investigations proceed and the convent is protected. The local population has organized committees to control the area”.
On March 13, another female religious convent in West Bengal was attacked, during which the 72-year old superior was the victim of a gang rape.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Jakarta: Hijab for Policewomen Gets Go Ahead to Joy of Extremist Opposition
Gen. Haiti, Chief of police, has approved the use of hijab throughout the force. So far it was used only in Aceh, the only province where sharia is law. Satisfaction among members of the pro-Islamic parties. PKS politician: “Apex of a long battle.”
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — General Badrotin Haiti, current Chief of Police pending his official appointment, has given the green light to the controversial provision that allows women police in Indonesia to wear the hijab, the Islamic veil.
The official decision came yesterday and ended years of debate and division between pro-veil Islamic extremist groups and members of civil society, stressing instead the importance of the “secular” character of the police. So far the hijab was worn by women police in Aceh province alone, the only one in which sharia is law in the largest Muslim country in the world.
Gen. Haiti’s decision has ended a debate that has lasted for years in the country with highs and lows. He has given the green light to the use of hijab, although not yet in effect the commander in chief. In fact, his appointment is still before Parliament, which must give its final approval.
Some years ago, the police commander of the province of East Java was driven from office because he had “forcibly” imposed the use of the veil on policewomen. Civil society had launched a massive protest campaign, stressing that officials responsible for the safety of all citizens should not be drawn into “political” or “confessional” disputes. And their clothing, activists pointed out “has nothing to do with their duties”.
Today many Islamic extremist groups and radical movements have enthusiastically embraced and welcomed the decision. Almuzzamil Yusuf, a member of the pro-Islamic Justice and Prosperous Party (PKS) speaks of “victory” after a long battle. “It is the culmination of a long battle — says the politician — […] and we are really pleased with the decision.”
Other members of the Islamist front are also celebrating, including Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi who calls for “full support” for the decision. He also points out that the purchase of veils for policewomen “had already been put in the budget” and approved by Parliament “last year”, so the norm “must immediately be fully applied”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadis Seek to Cleanse Pakistan of Christians
by Raymond Ibrahim
On Sunday, March 15, as Christian churches around the world were celebrating morning mass, two churches in Pakistan were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers. At least 17 people were killed and over 70 were wounded.
The two churches (located in Youhanabad, Lahore’s Christian quarter) were St. John’s Catholic Church and Christ Church (Protestant).
The Taliban claimed responsibility. It is believed that the group had hoped for much greater death tolls, as there were almost 2,000 people in both churches at the time of the explosions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China: Zhejiang: Protestant Clergyman Jailed for Opposing Cross Removal
Rev Yizi Huang is the first person to be convicted for trying to stop the removal of a cross. In Zhejiang province, local authorities have so far torn down at least 400 crosses and religious buildings.
Beijing (AsiaNews/ChinaAid) — A Protestant clergyman was sentenced to a year in prison for opposing the removal of the cross from his church. A court in Wenzhou (Pingyang County, Zhejiang province) convicted Rev Huang Yizi (pictured) yesterday for “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”.
The clergyman had been arrested on 2 August 2014 after he and some of his parishioners tried to stop police from removing the cross form the Salvation Church in Wenzhou.
In Zhejiang province, local authorities have tore down at least 400 crosses from officially registered places of worship as well as demolished some churches.
For local Christians, the local government is trying to stifle the growth of Christian communities, whose numbers have been steadily rising across the region.
The cross was removed on 21 July. Huang and his parishioners tried to stop it, but were beaten back by force. During the scuffle, 14 protesters suffered injuries.
Huang then tried the legal route and hired lawyers to sue the police for violating China’s constitution. This is probably why he was arrested in early August of last year and later convicted.
During the trial, some 500 of his supporters crowded outside the Pingyang County courthouse.
Yizi Huang is the first person to be convicted for opposing the cross demolition campaign.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Manila Accuses Beijing of Wanting to Control the Entire South China Sea
Philippine Foreign Minister speaks of “ China’s expansionist agenda” dominated by “massive” reclamation projects. Beijing’s “growing” activities aimed to affect the work of the UN international tribunal, convoked by Manila to resolve the dispute. China continues to claim sovereignty of the area.
Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Manila has accused Beijing of “trying to take control” of almost the entire South China Sea, with an “expansionist” agenda dominated by “massive reclamation projects” in the area.
This latest harsh criticism was expressed today by the Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario who claims the Chinese aim to undermine the work of the United Nations tribunal. Early next year, the judges of the International UN will be called upon to judge a dispute, reported by Manila, over the waters in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Philippine minister says that China “is accelerating” the “expansionist” agenda and “changing” the status quo, in an attempt to “take control of almost the entire China Sea” before the UN court will decide on the dispute .
In contrast, Beijing remains firm on its position by claiming sovereignty over the area, rich in oil, natural resources and raw materials. For China — which basis its’ claims on an old and controversial map — fall under their control but also zones around the coasts of the Philippines and other nations of Southeast Asia.
In recent years there has been a real escalation of tension, with China growing increasingly energetic and vigorous in making its presence felt in the seas of the surrounding nations. For the Philippine Minister del Rosario these “activities” have been stepped up, culminating in January in a Chinese vessel attacking a fishing boat in Manila, near the coast of the Philippines.
The Philippines and Vietnam are increasingly worried about Beijing’s imperialism in the South China and East China seas. The Chinese government claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent), including sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, in opposition to Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. In recent months, China has used various political, economic and diplomatic means to hamper non-Chinese vessels from fishing or moving through the disputed waters.
For the United States, which backs the claims of Southeast Asia nations, Beijing’s so-called ‘cow tongue’ line — which covers 80% of the 3.5 km2 — is both “illegal” and “irrational”.
Anyone with a hegemonic sway over the region would have a strategic advantage, in terms of seabed (oil and gas) development, but also in trade since two thirds of the world’s maritime trade transit through it. The escalation in tensions also threatens to spark a new planetary war.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: 1,000 Civilians Killed Since January, HRW
By Islamist armed group Boko Haram
(ANSA) — Abuja, March 26 — Attacks by Islamist group Boko Haram have killed over 1,000 civilians in 2015 while hundreds of women have been abducted and forced to convert to Islam and marry its fighters, according to a report released by US-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday.
HRW also said the group had deliberately attacked villages, committed mass killings and carried out abductions with attacks spreading from north-east Nigeria into Cameroon, Chad and Niger since last month.
According to HRW research, based on witness accounts and media reports, Boko Haram also kidnapped scores of young men, forcing them to join its ranks or face death.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil’s Scandal-Hit Rousseff Unveils Anti-Corruption Plan
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a package of anti-corruption bills Wednesday as she sought to battle back from a devastating scandal at state oil giant Petrobras that has ensnared her party.
“We are a government that does not tolerate corruption and we have the duty and obligation to fight impunity and corruption,” she said in the wake of massive protests against her administration.
The package includes bills to criminalize under-the-table campaign contributions, seize property from government officials who cannot document its origin and bar anyone without a clean criminal record from serving in public office.
Rousseff is reeling from nationwide demonstrations against her that drew hundreds of thousands of Brazilians into the streets Sunday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Debunking the Myth of the Job-Stealing Immigrant
By Adam Davidson
To me, immigration is the greatest example of our faulty thinking, a shortsightedness that hurts others while simultaneously hurting ourselves. The State Department issues fewer than half a million immigrant visas each year. Using the 7 percent figure from the Mariel boatlift research, it’s possible that we could absorb as many as 11 million immigrants annually. But if that’s politically untenable, what about doubling the visas we issue each year? It would still be fewer than a million, or less than 0.7 percent of the work force. If that didn’t go too badly, we could double it again the next year. The data are clear. We would be better off. In fact, the world would be better off.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Sees Ukrainian Asylum Seeker Boom
Denmark saw a huge spike in Ukrainians applying for asylum in 2014, according to data released by Eurostat last week and analyzed by The Local.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Here’s One Way to Double the World’s $80 Trillion Economy: Scrap Migration Restrictions
Eliminating cross-border barriers could lift global GDP by as much as 147 percent.
Global growth could use a little more juice these days. The answer could be easier than we think: We need to get moving.
While a freer flow of goods alone can boost global gross domestic product by a modest amount, loosening of restrictions to international migration could lift growth worldwide by 67 percent to 147.3 percent, according to economists’ estimates cited in research by Mark Wynne, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (Global GDP will probably be $81.5 trillion this year, International Monetary Fund estimates show.)
International migration is the “last frontier of globalization” while also appearing to show the least progress in recent decades, writes Wynne.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration Expert: Get Ready for ‘Surge 2’ From Central America
The influx of children from Central American countries that made headlines last summer has never really stopped — only slowed — and a new wave should be expected this summer, says Jessica Vaughan, director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies
More than 12,000 children have crossed the border since October 1, the beginning of the current fiscal year, but few are being sent back, Vaughan said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is turning over about 2,000 of the children into the country every month, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
“This supposedly is the slow time of the year but already we have very high numbers of people coming, and it shows that the surge really never stopped. It just lessened little bit,” Vaughan said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Refugees Found to Have Execution Videos on Their Mobile Phones
Norwegian police have revealed the gruesome clips they have discovered on the phones of new arrivals, but have admitted proving whether the asylum seekers have a hidden evil intent is prohibitively difficult.
The films found while making inspections of the tens of thousands of new arrivals included clips of executions, torture, and mutilations. Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen reported this week the police intelligence service harboured concerns about many of the asylum seekers, with members of IS in Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabaab in Somalia seeking refuge under false pretences.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugees Being Housed With Danish Families
Instead of grouping all of the refugees together in an asylum centre, Furesø Municipality just north of Copenhagen has begun housing some of them with Danish families.
The municipality believes that the refugees will benefit from experiencing daily life in Denmark and help strengthen their bonds with the Danes.
“It provides a network that can support the children having an after-school job and when the families need practical assistance,” Ole Bondo Christensen, the mayor of Furesø Municipality, told Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Asylum Seekers Will Continue to Choose Where to Live
The government will not abolish the law which allows asylum seekers to move where they want to, the Minister for Migration, Morgan Johansson, told Swedish Television News. This despite a decision in his own party to do just that, if they got into government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Sees Ukrainian Asylum Seeker Boom
Sweden saw a huge spike in Ukrainians seeking asylum in 2014, with nearly eight times more applicants than the previous year, according to Eurostat data analyzed by The Local.
1,320 people from Ukraine sought asylum in Sweden last year, compared to 170 applicants in 2013, before the bloody conflict with Russia began.
The jump represents a 770 percent increase.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Common Core: The Truth is Not True
Have you ever wondered why the same educators who teach your children that there’s no such thing as “right” or “wrong” go into screaming conniptions about “hate” and “bigotry” the moment you suggest, for example, that marriage consists of a man and a woman? Their whole “your truth, my truth” thing goes out the window, and you are an enemy of the people and must be destroyed—or at least “rehabilitated.”
Justin McBrayer, a professor of philosophy, noticed that his college freshmen don’t believe in “moral facts”—that “the overwhelming majority of college freshmen in their classrooms view moral claims as mere opinions that are not true or are true only relative to a culture.” He took some pains to find out why this is so, and reported his findings recently in a New York Times article, “Why Our Children Don’t Think There Are Moral Facts.” You really ought to read it.
Additionally, the professor has a son in second grade, and he visited the school to see if he might discover the roots of his students’ moral illiteracy.
He did.
Prominently displayed in the classroom was a poster that proclaimed, “Fact: Something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven. Opinion: What someone thinks, feels, or believes.”
This teaching—that anything you think, feel, or believe cannot be a “fact,” and thus cannot be “true”—is mandated by the federal government as part of Common Core. Read the professor’s article to see how this teaching is in itself illogical and cannot be true.
“It’s wrong to commit murder” is a statement of opinion, although most of us would say it was a moral fact, even a commandment from God. But then God Himself, by the standards of Common Core, is not something that can be proven to be true, and therefore isn’t true.
Do you see where this is heading? As Professor McBrayer put it, “Value claims are not facts.” And only “facts” are true.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yes, there are some homosexuals who are willing to go against the grain — even against their own militant lobby — and speak truth about homosexuality. And when they do speak truth, all hell breaks loose. It seems there is nothing worse than for a homosexual to break ranks with his own.
Of course we see this all the time with various militant ideologies. All these groups whine about tolerance and acceptance, but they refuse to show it even to their own when they dare to say a contrary word. Consider for example the angry atheists. If any atheist dares to turn away from his atheism, he is treated like a pariah, like scum, like dirt.
Simply consider the incredible case of world-renowned atheist Antony Flew. When he decided that the evidence must be followed, and that it leads away from atheism, he was viciously attacked by his own. They claimed he was going senile and so on, and went apoplectic in their denunciations. I discuss his story here: billmuehlenberg.com/2007/11/21/a-review-of-there-is-a-god-by-antony-flew/
And as we all know, Islam also treats their own “rebels” this way. To dare to question Islam means you are an apostate and you deserve the death penalty. There is absolutely no room for dissent in Islam. One either accepts the whole package, or prepares to lose his head.
It is exactly the same with the radical homosexual lobby. If any one of their own dares to deviate just an inch from the official party line, then all hell will break out as the dissidents are targeted, tracked down, and torn to shreds. Pretty much like the Communists used to do to supposed traitors in fact.
And we have the perfect example of this now unfolding before our very eyes…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Prohibits Sexist Advertising in City
Mayor Marino against ads ‘using a woman’s body in sexist way’
(ANSA) — Rome, March 23 — A new regulatory plan on advertising in the city of Rome will enter into effect in the coming days, and on Monday Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said advertising space would be prohibited to those who “use women’s bodies or launch sexist messages”.
“City advertising space will be able to be sold only to those who respect the rules in the new regulatory plan and so a woman’s body can’t be associated with images that objectify it or portray it in a sexist way,” Marino said.
Marino reviewed the city’s advertising code with respect to the “Friendly Images Award” (Premio Immagini Amiche) promoted by the Women’s Union in Italy (UDI) and the Office of Information of the European Parliament in Italy, aimed at promoting communication that “goes beyond stereotypes”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Queering Your Campus’ Workshop Calls Pro-Life Movement ‘Clinic Terrorists’
Young feminists who recently attended the 11th annual National Young Feminist Leadership Conference (NYFLC) will return to their college campuses with a new rallying cry to combat pro-life “clinic terrorists.”
During the conference, hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation, attendees could participate in a crash course on campus activism titled “Queering Your Campus.” According to NYFLC’s description of the workshop, students were taught how to organize on campus for gender-neutral restrooms and housing and foster “intersectional feminist activism.”
A flyer passed out during the workshop, and later obtained by Campus Reform, encouraged the young activists to “kick off [their] group meetings and amp up [their] next rally” using a variety
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CNN, has apparently changed the meaning of their initials from the “Clinton News Network” to the “Christ Negation Network.” They’ve got an atheistic bee in their bonnet and are have been on a tear the last few days, featuring programs that support the notion that there is no God.
For instance, on March 21st, they aired a program called The Friendly Atheist Next Door. March 22nd, viewers were treated to What Type of Atheist Would You Be? On March 23rd, they aired Examining the Stigma of Atheism. Earlier today, March 24th, they featured a story about a former pastor turned atheist in which he shares his message of nonbelief.
This evening, they showed a “Special Broadcast” Atheist: Inside the World of Non-Believers. To kick off this sophomoric effort to mock and deny the Creator of heaven and earth, Ron Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, taped the following commercial message:
“I’m Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I’m alarmed by the intrusion of religion into our secular government. That’s why I’m asking you to support the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the nation’s largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like the Founding Fathers intended. Please support the Freedom from Religion Foundation—Ron Reagan. Lifelong atheist. Not afraid of burning in hell.”
Let’s take a closer look at this farce of a commercial message. Ron Reagan states he is alarmed by the intrusion of religion into out secular government. HUH?! What parallel universe is this man inhabiting, because in my universe, the only ‘religion’ intruding into our secular government is Islam, and I highly doubt that’s what he’s referring to.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Death Throes of Common Core
Americans are learning the hard way that the federal government should not be permitted to impose one-size-fits-all standards to education. It was never intended to play a role in education and the absence of any mention in the Constitution is proof enough that education was intended to be supervised by the states where the school districts, schools, and parents are closest to the process.
Common Core is going to play a large role in the 2016 elections and that is likely to impact former Governor Jeb Bush the most. At the heart of the unhappiness with Common Core has been its emphasis on testing.
A March 20th Wall Street Journal article, “Bush Faces Test of Exam Policy”, reported that “A Rasmussen Reports nationwide survey in February found that 52% of respondents thought there was too much emphasis on testing in schools and 69% believed there was too much ‘teaching to the test.’“
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trouble in Transtopia: Murmurs of Sex Change Regret
Hollywood stars can speak openly about misgivings over their boob jobs and whatnot. Regarding her lip enhancement surgery, Courtney Love said: “I just want the mouth God gave me back.”
But the difference between Love and the guy with phantom penis syndrome is that the guy isn’t allowed to talk about his regret. Not openly. The transgender lobby actively polices and suppresses discussion of sex-change regret, and claims it’s rare (no more than “5 percent.”) However, if you do decide to “de-transition” to once again identify with the sex in your DNA, talking about it will get you targeted by trans activists. So it’s a challenge to understand the scope of regret for sex change surgery. It’s out there, but… ‘It’s Genital Mutilation’
Let’s start with Alan Finch, a resident of Australia who decided when he was 19 to transition from male to female, and in his 20s had genital surgery. But then, at age 36, Finch told the Guardian newspaper in 2004:
“. . . transsexualism was invented by psychiatrists. . . .You fundamentally can’t change sex … the surgery doesn’t alter you genetically. It’s genital mutilation. My ‘vagina’ was just the bag of my scrotum. It’s like a pouch, like a kangaroo. What’s scary is you still feel like you have a penis when you’re sexually aroused. It’s like phantom limb syndrome. It’s all been a terrible misadventure. I’ve never been a woman, just Alan . . . the analogy I use about giving surgery to someone desperate to change sex is it’s a bit like offering liposuction to an anorexic.”
Finch went on to sue the Australian gender identity clinic at Melbourne’s Monash Medical Center for misdiagnosis. He also was involved in starting an outreach to others called “Gender Menders.” The reaction from the transgender community was fast, furious, and abusive, particularly in the Susans.org discussion forum as described in Sheila Jeffrey’s book, “Gender Hurts.”
Since then, Finch’s outreach website has been archived and there is no further information online. In fact, Finch’s subsequent silence is the norm for those who change their minds. This is perhaps not surprising, given the vigor and vindictiveness of the transgender community in persecuting those who have the temerity to suggest that all is not well in sexual La-La Land. But if you look you can find rogue headlines every now and then that even Hollywood’s fawning over “all things trans” can’t quite control. There’s much evidence that the carefully crafted pictures of transgender “authenticity” and “happiness” are more fiction than fact.
Buried Stories of High-Profile Regret…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islam: Dirty Work at the Crossroads
In my years as a brakeman, I saw some pretty serious destruction.
Militant Islam is much like a huge, UNSTOPPABLE train — but its scope of damage is immeasurable, and there is no governing crew on board to impede train movement or issue warnings.
Islam has no home office, and its freelance bombers are undetectable and answer to no one.
The ruling spirit of Islam is the invisible power that drives that huge train of terror, and HE is clever enough not to give any warning to whatever stands in his way. Trying to understand, predict, or reason with such a malevolent spirit is a fool’s errand. Jesus called that dark power a thief, the father of lies and a murderer. Yet many of America’s liberal politicos and their naive constituency are now risking everything we value in order to promote a fawning and obsequious relationship with him.
But be not deceived; there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ Islam, just as there is no appreciable difference between a good rattlesnake and a dangerous one. As retired Admiral James ‘Ace’ Lyons recently and wisely pointed out: “Islam is Islam … It has no modifiers.” Islamists respectively elect to show their own chosen level of zeal through varying degrees of personal commitment to ‘jihad’ — the holy battle for dominance that all true followers must wage.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide by Airplane: It’s Rare, But it Happens
A 2014 study identifies 24 suspected U.S. cases of “aircraft-assisted” suicide over the past 20 years.
Writing in the latest issue of Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, Alpo Vuorio of the Mehiläinen Airport Health Centre in Finland and colleagues took a systematic look at past instances where “aircraft assisted suicide” was the suspected cause of a crash. In the 20 years between 1993 and 2012, 24 of 7,244 fatal aviation accidents (0.33 percent of the total) are thought to have been caused deliberately by a member of the pilot crew. Statistics for the United Kingdom during the 30 years ending in 1995 are similar: 3 of 1,000 fatalities, or 0.3 percent.
While most of these have been in small aircraft, it’s not unknown for an airline pilot to deliberately crash an airplane. One such suspected case is Silk Air Flight 185 in 1997, which went down in Indonesia, killing all 104 passengers and crew members. The fatal crash of an EgyptAir flight with 217 people on board in 1999 was attributed by U.S. investigators to the deliberate actions of the first officer. And just last November, LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 crashed in Namibia, resulting in 33 fatalities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sounds like it’s about to be time for the Sunni vs Shia version of WWI, except that it may end up more like WWII with nukes going off at the end.
Sometimes I wonder what the Muslim response would be to Mecca getting nuked. It might be a little hard to go on the haj, for example, if the key destination is a radioactive glass lake.