Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/19/2018

Four Nigerian nationals were convicted on prostitution charges in Italy. The men had forced women into prostitution using voodoo rites. Both pimps and hookers arrived in Italy by boat as migrants.

In other news, according to the latest polls, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) has surged ahead of the SPD (Social Democrats), thereby becoming the second-most popular party in Germany.

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

Thanks to Charles Low, DH, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Srdja Trifkovic, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Charles Hugh Smith: ‘All Currencies Will See a Catastrophic Drop’ in the Economic Collapse
» Italy: ECB Orders Halt in Payments by Latvian Bank ABLV
» Slovenia: 2.2% Increase in Pensions, Frozen Since 2010
 
USA
» 100 Chicago Professors “Propose to Exclude Viewpoints They Find Objectionable”
» Julian Assange’s President’s Day Dig at Hillary Was Predictable, But the Responses Were Lit
» MEF Asks for Public’s Help Collecting Examples of Tech Censorship
» Minnesota Grand Jury Indicts 3 Men on Charges of Sending Drone Parts to Hezbollah
 
Canada
» Citizen Group La Meute Speaks at Hijab Hoax Protest: “In 2019, Trudeau is Out!”
» Smart Grids, Smart Meters, Smart Switches Will Allow Utilities to Spy on Its Customers
 
Europe and the EU
» ‘666 Devil’ Dark Web Paedophile Who Targeted Hundreds Jailed for 32 Years
» Brexit is Europe’s Tech Capital
» De Guindos Named ECB VP
» EP ‘Central’ To EMA Decision — Tajani
» Germany: Meet Jens Spahn, Merkel’s Possible Successor
» Is ‘Czexit’ Coming? Czech Businesses Fearing Brexit-Style EU Referendum
» Italy: Campania Governor Lashes Out at M5S, Wants Public Debate
» Italy: University Students Refuse Black Flatmate
» Italy: Gentiloni in RAI Fee Move But Grasso Says Can’t Be PM
» Italy: Won’t Receive ‘Scum’ Anymore — Calenda on Embraco
» Meridiana Becomes Air Italy, Challenges Alitalia
» ‘Military Arm’ Party of Remain Movement Launched to Stop Brexit
» Norway Road Authority Buys Reflective Vests for Tourists
» Orban Opens Electoral Campaign, ‘Hungary First’
» Spain’s Supreme Court Sets €60,000 Bail for Catalan Secession Leader
» Teen in Sweden Beat Sister With Baseball Bat for Refusing to Wear Islamic Veil
» Windows Blown Out in Explosion at Home in Southern Sweden
 
North Africa
» British Tourists Return to Tunisia
» Israel to Export 15-Bln-USD Worth of Gas to Egypt
 
Middle East
» Erdogan Vows to Putin to Continue Advancing on Afrin
» Iraqi Archbishop: Muslim ‘Slow-Motion Genocide’ Of Christians Began 1400 Years Ago
» Letter From Lebanon: The Phoenician Phoenix
» Saudi Arabian Women Can Open Business Without Men’s Consent
» Syrian Pro-Govt Forces to Enter Afrin ‘In Coming Hours’
» Turkey Threatens to Invade Greece
 
Far East
» Bird Flu From Chinese Poultry Infects Humans for the First Time: Dangerous Human/Bird Flu Virus Hybrids Possible
 
Australia — Pacific
» So Now She Gets Up: Burqa-Wearing Terrorist’s Wife Charged With ‘Failing to Rise for a Judge’ Decides to Stand for a Magistrate After She Said ‘She Only Rises for Allah’
 
Immigration
» “Christianity is Europe’s Last Hope” — Hungary’s Orban Calls for Global Anti-Migrant Alliance
» Appeals Court Acquits Man Over Norway Asylum Centre Arson
» German Taxpayer Finances Sharia Loving Refugee Who Has Two Wives and Six Children
» Germany’s Crisis: Now Anti-Migrant AfD Become Second Largest Party in Shock Poll
» Islamic Invasion: They’re Here to Conquer, And They All Know it
» Italy: Nigerians Convicted of Pimping Women With Voodoo Rites
» Italy Election 2018: Two Things Will Decide Result — Immigration and Italy’s Weak Economy
 

Charles Hugh Smith: ‘All Currencies Will See a Catastrophic Drop’ in the Economic Collapse

Financial writer Charles Hugh Smith recently sat down for an interview in which he boldly declared that ALL currencies — not just the United States dollar -will see a catastrophic drop during the coming economic collapse. It’s not just the dollar, but every currency backed by government force will fall.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ECB Orders Halt in Payments by Latvian Bank ABLV

Accusations of money laundering breaching sanctions North Korea

(ANSA) — TRIESTE — Latvia’s financial regulator has ordered the crisis-struck ABLV Bank to cease all payments on the request of the European Central Bank amid U.S. accusations of money laundering and breaching sanctions on North Korea.

The ECB said Monday that the Financial and Capital Markets Commission of Latvia has imposed “a prohibition of all payments by ABLV Bank on its financial liabilities” until further notice.

The ECB noted that ABLV has seen a sharp deterioration of its financial position. ABLV is Latvia’s third largest bank by assets.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Slovenia: 2.2% Increase in Pensions, Frozen Since 2010

108mn fund approved, by April

(ANSA) — LJUBLJANA, FEB 19 — Slovenia’s Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (Zpiz) has chosen to allocate 108mn euro to increase by 2,2% the pension or disability support for about 650,000 citizens. The increase, passed today by the Council of the Institute, is part of the plan designed to adjust pensions, whose growth was frozen since 2010, due to austerity measures and public spending cuts. The adjustment will be paid at the end of the month; in spring, an extraordinary increase by 1.1% was announced. The meeting of the new Zpiz Council, made up of 27 members, was attended for the first time by a representative of the Slovenian student organization, that make a 1,5% contribution to the pension fund, thanks to the lighter regime for their professional performances.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

100 Chicago Professors “Propose to Exclude Viewpoints They Find Objectionable”

Even The Wall Street Journal’s op-ed pages have realized that American Universities, and their tenured ivory-tower-protagonists’ “free speech” arguments, have sent the Spinal Tap hypocrisy amplifier to 11.

Authored by Tunku Varadajaran, op-ed via The Wall Street Journal,

Chicago

Snow carpets the ground at the University of Chicago, and footfalls everywhere are soft, giving the place a hushed serenity. Serene, too, is Robert Zimmer, the university’s 70-year-old president, as he talks about a speaking invitation that could turn his campus turbulent.

Steve Bannon is scheduled to talk at the school early next month — there’s no confirmed date — and Mr. Zimmer is taking criticism for the imminent appearance of Donald Trump’s former right-hand man, a paladin of alt-robust conservatives. Mr. Bannon is precisely the sort of figure who is anathema on American campuses, yet Mr. Zimmer is unfazed by the prospect of his visit, confident that it will pass with no great fuss.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Julian Assange’s President’s Day Dig at Hillary Was Predictable, But the Responses Were Lit

Julian Assange took a totally unnecessary dig at Hillary Clinton on President’s Day.

The WikiLeaks founder quoted a now-infamous tweet from the former Democratic presidential nominee, wishing a “future president” — herself — a happy birthday, but he added two words and a hashtag.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

MEF Asks for Public’s Help Collecting Examples of Tech Censorship

PHILADELPHIA — February 19, 2018 — The Middle East Forum (MEF) is extremely concerned by the growing level of censorship by tech companies against those whom Silicon Valley finds politically unpalatable. Examples we have recently come across even include the suppression of anti-Islamist information published by moderate Muslim activists.

We have previously written about Google’s work with the NYT, Guardian and Wikipedia to automate censorship of “offensive” content. YouTube and Google are now following Twitter’s practice of “shadow-banning” — hiding or down-ranking content that tech companies find politically unpalatable. And many of you will have come across examples of Facebook deleting posts or suspending accounts.

Has this issue affected you or someone you know? MEF is looking for your help. We are collecting instances of censorship by tech companies — especially when it relates to anti-Islamist content. Any examples and information you can send us are extremely useful. If you have screenshots or other evidence, that is best; but we are also happy to hear anecdotal evidence. Please note: if the information that was censored actually incited violence, then we are not interested. Instead, we want to see examples of unreasonable censorship. Also please note that we may make public any examples as part of an eventual report.

Help us document this disturbing trend.

If you have information, please send it to censorship@meforum.org

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Minnesota Grand Jury Indicts 3 Men on Charges of Sending Drone Parts to Hezbollah

A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted three people on charges that they conspired to export drone parts and technology from the U.S. to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, authorities announced Friday.

The U.S. attorney’s office for Minnesota said two of the suspects — brothers Usama and Issam Hamade — are now in custody in South Africa, while the third, Samir “Tony” Berro, remains at large. All three are Lebanese citizens. Usama “Prince Sam” Hamade also has South African citizenship, while Berro and Issam Hamade are also U.K. citizens.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Citizen Group La Meute Speaks at Hijab Hoax Protest: “In 2019, Trudeau is Out!”

A spokesman with Canadian citizen group, La Meute (est. 42K members in Quebec) joined Asian-Canadians at their Parliament Hill protest to lend their support as the community continues to seek an apology from Justin Trudeau for his role in spreading the Hijab Hoax.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Smart Grids, Smart Meters, Smart Switches Will Allow Utilities to Spy on Its Customers

The federal government in Canada has moved to pass coal phase-out legislation into law with its Just Transition Task Force in favor of “clean energy.”

“The end of coal power will help usher in a new era for renewable energy,” said David Suzuki Foundation director of science and policy Ian Bruce. “With conventional coal-fired power officially headed for the history books, people across the country can literally breathe easier about the future of energy production.”

Clean energy sounds great, especially nuclear and gas, but wind and solar electricity production, at the current rate of production and cost, cannot possibly replace all the energy needs of the planet for the industrial and public energy sectors.

Rationing electricity via smart meters which turns off power during peak electricity use and now Smart Cooling Rewards are ways in which the global warming advocates are forcing people to do without electricity in order to save the planet from a manufactured global warming catastrophe renamed climate change which we used to call seasons.

It is hard to convince people to give up their civilization, air conditioning, refrigeration, cars, central heat, and other amenities that make life more comfortable. They were bribed or forced to install smart meters on their homes. But people fought back and many states now have opt-out programs.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘666 Devil’ Dark Web Paedophile Who Targeted Hundreds Jailed for 32 Years

LONDON (AP) — A British judge sentenced a prolific pedophile to 32 years in prison Monday in what the U.K.’s national law enforcement agency described as a watershed moment for coming to grips with technology’s ability to support and spread depravity.

Geophysicist Matthew Falder admitted to 137 offenses, including blackmail, voyeurism and encouraging the rape of a child.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Brexit is Europe’s Tech Capital

London remains Europe’s tech capital and big companies like Facebook and Amazon have increased their workforce in the city.

London has 100,000 more software developers than its closest competitor, according to figures from promotional company London and Partners and the tech website Stack Overflow.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

De Guindos Named ECB VP

After Ireland’s Lane withdraws

(ANSA) — Brussels, February 19 — Spanish Economy Minister Luis De Guindos was named vice president of the European Central Bank by Eurozone finance ministers in the Eurogroup on Monday.

De Guindos got the nod after Ireland withdrew its candidate Philip Lane, head of the Irish central bank.

The appointment is the first of a series of changes at the ECB over the coming two years, including the post of the chief of the bank currently held by Italian Mario Draghi.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

EP ‘Central’ To EMA Decision — Tajani

Italy, Milan have appealed agst move to Amsterdam

(ANSA) — Brussels, February 19 — The European Parliament should be “central” to any decision on the new location for the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is moving from London after Brexit, EP Presint Antonio Tajani said Monday. “I claim the central nature of the European Parliament in the decision on the new seat of the medicines agency,” he said. Italy and Milan have appealed against last year’s decision to move the EMA to Amsterdam, amid concerns the office in the Dutch city there may not be ready.

Tajani said “in order to change seat you need to reform the regulation, and to reform the regulation you need an ordinary legislative procedure which is in course. We’ll see what the EP’s environmental committee decides, and we’ll see what the sovereign assembly decides, which will certainly work in the interests of European citizens”.

Milan lost out to Amsterdam in a tie-break lottery after ending up with the same votes at an EU ministers’ meeting on November 20.

The government, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala and Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni have vowed to reverse that decision.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Meet Jens Spahn, Merkel’s Possible Successor

“I am a burkaphobe.”

“What is clear at any rate: the financing [of imams] by foreign actors must stop.” — Jens Spahn, Deutsche Welle.

“The message that ‘If you reach a Greek island, you will be in Germany in six days,’ not only encourages refugees from Syria, but also many people in Bangladesh and India. No country in the world, and no European Union, can withstand that if we give up control of our external borders.” — Jens Spahn, Die Zeit.

“To anyone who makes their way to Germany, it must made be clear that their life here will be very different from that at home. They should think carefully about whether they really want to live in this western culture.” — Die Welt.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Is ‘Czexit’ Coming? Czech Businesses Fearing Brexit-Style EU Referendum

CZECH business leaders are reportedly anxious about a possible EU referendum in the country that could bring about “Czexit”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Campania Governor Lashes Out at M5S, Wants Public Debate

After son probed for proposing illegal deals

(ANSA) — Naples, February 19 — Campania governor Vincenzo De Luca lashed out at the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) in a video posted on his Facebook page Monday on the issue of a probe into waste management and contracts in which his son is being investigated for possible involvement. “Those making the most use of this vile case,” De Luca said, “seems to be M5S. “I would like to renew my invitation to the M5S for a public debate on transparency, fairness and public morality. “For months I have been challenging candidate Luigino Di Maio to a debate where and when he wants, on the issue that he wants.

“I would like to debate this young man who receives 15,000 euros per month and who speaks out about ‘the caste’. “I am waiting for someone to respond to me and to decide to take part in this live debate.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: University Students Refuse Black Flatmate

In Teramo

(ANSA) — Teramo, February 19 — A group of students in Teramo refused to live with a black flatmate, sources said Monday.

The university in the Abruzzo city called it “a very serious case of racism”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Gentiloni in RAI Fee Move But Grasso Says Can’t Be PM

But Grasso slams premier for passing ‘fraudulent’ election law

(ANSA) — Rome, February 19 — Ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) Premier Paolo Gentiloni made a key electoral move on exempting more elderly from the RAI State broadcaster license fee Monday but Free and Equal (LeU) leader Pietro Grasso said the PD man could not be premier after the March 4 elections, having rammed though a “fraudulent” electoral law.

Meanwhile former PD mandarin, ex-premier and LeU bigwig Massimo D’Alema said it was “lunacy” to think that the PD could win the general election.

And on the right, anti-migrant, Eurospetic League leader Massimo Salvini reiterated to his alliance partner Silvio Berlusconi that if the billionaire’s Forza Italia (FI) gets one vote more than the League, then the three-time former premier and media magnate gets to choose who will be premier.

Gentiloni said Monday that 350,000 over-75s would be exempted from paying the RAI State broadcaster license fee. The number is thus raised from 115,000 at present, he said. A decree was just signed at the industry ministry, the premier said.

Gentiloni said this would mean “significant” relief for Italy’s elderly.

But Grasso came out against the widely touted possibility of Gentiloni remaining as premier after march 4, in the likely event of a hung parliament.

The LeU leader criticised the PD premier on the country’s controversial election law, on the sidelines of an election event on education and research in Bologna. “Let’s not forget that Gentiloni is the one who put three confidence votes to the Lower House and five to the Senate to approve a fraudulent election law, because as we have seen, it gives a vote to one list and others from another list are elected,” Grasso said.

The so-called Rosatellum 2 election law, a mix of first-past-the-post and proportional representation, has a ballot slip that critics say may sow confusion among voters. The former Senate Speaker added that it was “premature” to talk about the LeU reuniting with the PD to form a single centre-left bloc.

Meanwhile D’Alema, the former centre-left premier, said it was “lunacy to think that the PD can win the election” with it trailing badly in the last polls out Friday before a pre-election ban on polling.

On the right, League leader Salvini meanwhile told Berlusconi, reaffirming their pre-election deal: “if you get just one more vote than me then you can choose the premier”.

Salvini, whose party was trailing FI by about three points in the last polls, is running as premier candidate but Berlusconi cannot run because of a tax-evasion-linked office ban that runs out next year. The media magnate turned politician has touted European Parliament President Antonio Tajani to be FI’s premier candidate. Polls said Friday the centre-right alliance would win but not get enough to form a majority.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Won’t Receive ‘Scum’ Anymore — Calenda on Embraco

Whirlpool unit part-time proposal ‘unacceptable’

(ANSA) — Rome, February 19 — Industry Minister Carlo Calenda called Embraco management “scum’ Monday in saying he would no longer meet with them because of their refusal to change plans to scale back their Italian workers. “Now I won’t receive these people…scum any more because honestly I’m really had it with them and their Italian labour consultants who are here,” said Calenda after the Whirlpool unit proposed what he called an “unacceptable” proposal to shift workers to part-time contracts.

“Embraco said No, and has confirmed an attitude of total irresponsibility,” said Calenda.

“Their explanation show a lack of attention to the value of people and the social responsibility of business”.

The Whirlpool unit recently confirmed 497 job losses at its plant at Riva di Chieri near Turin, which currently has 530 workers, trade unions said — prompting Calenda to called the firm’s stance “irresponsible, unacceptable and contrary to the commitments assumed at the various meetings at the ministry”.

He said he had “urgently reconvened the firm and said “I expect it to uphold the commitments it agreed”.

Embraco, which makes compressors for fridges, said it was effectively shutting down its Italy production with the closure of the plant.

There are no plans to keep the plant open, despite industry ministry proposals, trade unions said.

The firm recently met labour ministry officials to assess the possibility of using government redundancy funds.

The move comes three months after the company decided to cut production at Riva di Chieri, shifting it to other factories in the group.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Meridiana Becomes Air Italy, Challenges Alitalia

We will become new national carrier says Qatar-backed airline

(ANSA) — Milan, February 19 — Meridiana on Monday changed its name to Air Italy and, with the backing of new shareholder Qatar Airways, said it was set to become “the national carrier for Italy”, replacing Alitalia. “We will show that we are the star,” said Qatar Airways group CEO, Akbar Al Baker, presenting the airline’s development plans.

“In five years,” he said, “the fleet will grow to 50 planes and will carry 10 million passengers,” said Meridiana President Francesco Violante. The plan will enable Air Italy to hire “more than 1,5000 people”, Al Baker said.

Violante said “this is an ambitious plan for Air Italy, which opens up great prospects”.

He said 20% of profits would go to staff.

The airline will remained headquartered at Olbia in Sardinia.

However, Al baker added, Rome’s Fiumicino Airport “will soon become the second hub of Air Italy.” He said “already this year we will relaunch a network of chort and medium haul links”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

‘Military Arm’ Party of Remain Movement Launched to Stop Brexit

A leader of Renew Britain has described the new anti-Brexit party as the “military arm” of the Remain movement, which will “threaten” sitting MPs who back Brexit.

James Clarke, one of three “principals”, said plans to field candidates at the next general election would put pressure on sitting MPs to reconsider their position on Brexit.

“Some of the anti-Brexit pressure groups and movements are very, very much focused on asking people to pressure their local MP to have a second thought on Brexit,” Mr. Clarke said at the party’s launch on Monday morning.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Norway Road Authority Buys Reflective Vests for Tourists

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen, NPRA) has ordered 800 safety vests for supply to car rental companies in the Lofoten area, in the hope of improving the safety of tourists who stop in the road to take photographs.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Orban Opens Electoral Campaign, ‘Hungary First’

“We will protect ourselves from immigrants wanted by the EU”.

(ANSA) — BUDAPEST — “Hungary first: we will defend our nation against those who act in the EU and the UN, fulfilling the Soros plan, that is the reception of millions of Muslim immigrants”, said Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban on Monday, following Trump ‘s slogan (America first), in his 20th speech on the State of the Nation, opening the election campaign of his party, Fidesz, for the April 8 general election. According to Orban, the politicians in Brussels, Berlin and Paris favour immigration, putting “the European Christian civilization” at risk “much to the advantage of Islam”. The Western European countries are now invaded by migrants who “will soon come knocking on our door not only from the South, but also from the West”. Orban predicted the arrival of 60 million African immigrants in the coming years and against this risk, a fence along the southern border of the country would be the only defence tool. “It was a speech full of lies”, the opposition parties commented. “Orban, in order to scare voters, speaks about non-existent dangers, instead of dealing with health and education, which went bankrupt, and the country’s growing poverty”, said Gergely Karacsony, socialist leader.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Spain’s Supreme Court Sets €60,000 Bail for Catalan Secession Leader

Spain’s Supreme Court has set bail of €60,000 for a Catalan politician under investigation for the illegal secession attempt of late October.

Marta Rovira, the secretary general of the pro-independence party Catalan Republican Left (ERC), answered questions for two hours in connection with an ongoing probe into rebellion, secession and misuse of public funds against former officials of the Catalan government. The entire governing team was fired by central authorities in Madrid following the unilateral independence declaration, and the region has been under central control since then.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Teen in Sweden Beat Sister With Baseball Bat for Refusing to Wear Islamic Veil

A 19-year-old man in Sweden has been charged with abuse after he beat his 14-year-old sister with a baseball bat because she refused to wear an Islamic veil.

The young man, who lives in the municipality of Karlskrona, was brought before the Blekinge District Court last week on charges of abuse and assault. He is alleged to have struck his younger sister with a baseball bat several times while yelling at her “wear a veil”, 24Blekinge reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Windows Blown Out in Explosion at Home in Southern Sweden

A blast at the home of an emergency services worker in southern Sweden was designed to ‘harm or intimidate’, police believe.

The explosion happened in Staffanstorp, Skåne at around midnight on Sunday, taking place at the home of the man who works for the emergency services in the region according to public broadcaster SVT. No one was injured as a result.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

British Tourists Return to Tunisia

First charter flight in three years for historic tour operator

(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 14 — Two flights carrying a total of 440 British tourists landed at Enfidha-Hammamet international airport on Tuesday in a landmark return to Tunisia by the veteran tour operator Thomas Cook after an absence of three years.

The company suspended its services in the north African country following the terrorist attack in Sousse-El Kantaoui in June 2015 in which 30 British holidaymakers died. The group of tourists were met by Nabeul governor Saloua Khiari in a festive atmosphere. The return of Thomas Cook, which is operating three weekly flights to Enfidha-Hammamet, marks a significant moment for Tunisian tourism as January figures show considerable improvement with respect to the same month last year.

Following a meeting with Britain’s minister for security Ben Wallace, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said British tour operators would include Tunisia among their main summer holiday destinations in light of clear improvements in the security situation in the country.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Israel to Export 15-Bln-USD Worth of Gas to Egypt

Accord to strengthen our economy and security, Netanyahu

TEL AVIV — The Israeli company Delek-Kiduhim announced Monday that it had signed a 15-billion-dollar agreement with Egypt’s Dolfinos for natural gas exports from the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields located off the Israeli coast.

Reports were from the economic daily Globes. The Noble Energy company will take part in the supply as well, for a ten-year period. Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu called the agreement “historic”, saying that “we will receive billions that will be invested in education, healthcare and the social wellbeing of Israeli citizens”.

He added that the agreement would “strengthen our security, our economy and our regional relations. First and foremost, it will strengthen Israeli citizens. This is a day of celebration”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Erdogan Vows to Putin to Continue Advancing on Afrin

‘Consequences if Syrian regime supports Kurdish militias’

(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, FEBRUARY — Turkey will continue advancing towards Afrin with determination, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a phone call on Monday, according to sources at the president’s office quoted by Hurriyet. If pro-Assad forces support the YPG militias, Erdogan reportedly added, “there will be consequences”. Putin was said to have replied that he was not at the moment in a position to confirm any agreement between the Kurdish militias and Damascus, which was announced during the day on Syrian state TV.

The Kremlin reportedly nevertheless said that it “understood” Turkey’s concerns about its border security.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Iraqi Archbishop: Muslim ‘Slow-Motion Genocide’ Of Christians Began 1400 Years Ago

The violent Muslim persecution of Christians in the Middle East did not begin with the Islamic State’s rise to power in 2014, said Iraqi Archishop Bashar Warda, but rather many centuries ago.

“Having faced for 1,400 years the slow-motion genocide that began long before the ongoing ISIS genocide today, the time for excusing this inhuman behavior and its causes is long since past,” said the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil in a forceful speech last week at Georgetown University.

According to the archbishop, Islamic persecution of Christians in the Middle East began with the founding of Islam itself in the 7th century, and thus is a permanent fixture of Islam that was present from the very beginning.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Letter From Lebanon: The Phoenician Phoenix

by Srdja Trifkovic

“For thousands of years, the land that carried the mountains of Lebanon and hugged the Mediterranean Sea was restless,” says painter Antoine G. Faddoul of his Phoenix as a metaphor for his native land. “Those who inhabited the very first civilized cities suffered numerous invasions destroying their cities time and again [but] the survivors always rose from the ruins and rebuilt their homeland in a manner even more magnificent than it used to be, while the invaders left, no matter how long they captured the land for.”

After five years’ absence I am back in the Middle East, and in Lebanon for the first time since the end of the civil war in 1990. Faddoul is partly right: Beirut’s reconstructed downtown and brand new seafront do look magnificent; but the scene is far from impressive elsewhere. There has been a lot of rebuilding and even more new construction, apparently with little planning and certainly with wanton disregard of aesthetics and habitat. Power outages are a daily nuisance even in the prosperous Maronite community of Nahr Ibrahim overlooking the Mediterranean just south of Byblos, where I am renting a studio until the end of the month. The once-pristine hills from here to Jounieh have been permanently ruined by urban sprawl. The traffic is chaotic and the approaches to Beirut congested most of the time. Driving here is a nerve-racking experience even for a seasoned veteran of Italian, Spanish and Balkan roads.

More problematic is Faddoul’s reference to “invaders” as the main source of Lebanon’s woes. In the century since the end of the Great War, the only period of foreign rule was that of the French mandate. It ended in 1943, and it is etched in the collective memory of many Lebanese as a period of enlightened and civilized governance. The destruction which turned cities into ruins between 1975 and 1990 was not caused by any invaders. It was the result of accumulated unsettled scores among Lebanon’s many ethno-religious communities…

           — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabian Women Can Open Business Without Men’s Consent

Important step for freedom from male ‘protection’

ROME — Women in Saudi Arabia can now open their own businesses without a male relative’s authorisation, in an additional step forward towards freedom from male “protection”, as reported by pan-Arab broadcaster Al Arabiya.

A statement on the website of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Business and Investments said, “Women can now inaugurate their business and receive the benefits of government services without having to show a guardian’s consent”.

According to the system in place until now, for any bureaucratic procedure, travel, or enrolment in educational courses or lessons, women were required to present proof of consent, generally from a father, husband or brother.

The decision aims to facilitate development in the private sector, where a strong expansion in female labour is expected.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Pro-Govt Forces to Enter Afrin ‘In Coming Hours’

Ankara says it will react if pro-Assad forces defend Kurds

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 19 — Syrian pro-government forces are set to enter the Kurdish enclave of Afrin “in the coming hours”, according to Syrian state television.

The broadcaster confirmed that an agreement was reached between the Syrian government and the main Kurdish-Syrian militias for control of the Kurdish enclave that has been the target of a Turkish military offensive since January 20. The agreement could push Turkey to pull its forces out of the area and end its air and ground offensive.

Syrian government media confirmed that auxiliary pro-regime militias are headed to Afrin to support “locals’ resistance” against “Turkish aggression”.

This was the government media’s first official statement regarding government forces’ involvement alongside the local wing of the Kurdish PKK against the Turkish offensive.

On Monday morning, Kurdish-Syrian military sources cited by the BBC said they had reached an agreement with Damascus on government intervention in the Kurdish enclave.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusgolu provided Turkey’s first statement following the news of the imminent entry of pro-Assad forces into Afrin. “No one can stop Turkish forces if the Syrian regime enters Afrin to protect the YPG,” Cavusgolu said, referring to what Turkey considers the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

“If the regime enters Afrin to eliminate the YPG, there’s no problem,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Threatens to Invade Greece

Turkey’s ruling party, and even much of the opposition, seem intent on, if not obsessed with, invading and conquering these Greek islands, on the grounds that they are actually Turkish territory.

“The things we have done so far [pale in comparison to the] even greater attempts and attacks [we are planning for] the coming days, inshallah [Allah willing].” — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, February 12, 2018.

The head of the state-funded Directorate of Religious Affairs, the Diyanet, has openly described Turkey’s recent military invasion of Afrin as “jihad.” This designation makes sense when one considers that Muslim Turks owe their demographic majority in Asia Minor to centuries of Turkish persecution and discrimination against the Christian, Yazidi and Jewish inhabitants of the area.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Bird Flu From Chinese Poultry Infects Humans for the First Time: Dangerous Human/Bird Flu Virus Hybrids Possible

The flu virus is evolving in unpredictable ways in Chinese poultry. For the first time, the avian flu has mutated and infected a human being.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

So Now She Gets Up: Burqa-Wearing Terrorist’s Wife Charged With ‘Failing to Rise for a Judge’ Decides to Stand for a Magistrate After She Said ‘She Only Rises for Allah’

The first person in New South Wales to be charged over refusing to stand before a judge on religious grounds has stood for a Sydney magistrate.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

“Christianity is Europe’s Last Hope” — Hungary’s Orban Calls for Global Anti-Migrant Alliance

Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán called yesterday (18 February) for a global alliance against migration as his right-wing populist Fidesz party began campaigning for an 8 April election in which it is expected to win a third consecutive landslide victory.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Appeals Court Acquits Man Over Norway Asylum Centre Arson

A court has acquitted a man accused by police of being behind an arson attack against an asylum centre.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

German Taxpayer Finances Sharia Loving Refugee Who Has Two Wives and Six Children

A documentary about a Syrian family on Germany’s Spiegel TV has caused controversy in the country.

The 32-year-old Ahmad A. lives with his two wives and six children in the district of Pinneberg. His second wife was only thirteen years old when Ahmad married her in Syria.

While polygamy is banned in Germany, Ahmad was allowed to bring his second wife to Germany. The decision was based on the fact that she is the mother of four of his children.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany’s Crisis: Now Anti-Migrant AfD Become Second Largest Party in Shock Poll

GERMANY’S anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has overtaken the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) for the first time in a national poll to become the second-strongest party, an Insa survey.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Invasion: They’re Here to Conquer, And They All Know it

Germany: Israeli journalist forges Syrian passport and poses as refugee, concludes most migrants don’t intend to integrate

Here’s the key sentence (read it all, of course):

The Muslims whom he spoke with in Europe were very open about striving for a Caliphate and Sharia-state.

History is repeating itself because we refuse to learn from it: The Barbarians Who Sacked Rome Came Into the Empire as Refugees:…

           — Hat tip: DH [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Nigerians Convicted of Pimping Women With Voodoo Rites

In Palermo

(ANSA) — Palermo, February 19 — Four Nigerians were convicted of forcing Nigerian women into prostitution using voodoo rites in Palermo Monday.

The men came over on migrant boats, as did the women.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Election 2018: Two Things Will Decide Result — Immigration and Italy’s Weak Economy

ITALY’S struggling economy and growing immigration headache are set to dominate the agenda of the Italian election as voters prepare to go the polls in just two weeks time.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/19/2018

  1. “More problematic is Faddoul’s reference to the” invaders “as the main source of Lebanon’s problems”
    “Palestinian Refugees” were the actual invaders … expelled from Jordan, after attempting to liquidate the Achemites, destroyed the ethnic-religious balance that maintained peace in Lebanon.

  2. St. Petersburg is the “cultural” capital of Russia.
    https://moika78.ru/news/2018-02-20/15718-prodavtsy-magazina-v-peterburge-ustroili-draku-s-pokupatelyami/
    In St. Petersburg, there was a fight between the sellers and buyers of the store, and the instigators were exactly the seller-migrants.
    The conflict began with the boorish behavior of sellers – male migrants from Central Asia in one of the shops of the SPAR network. According to witnesses, the migrants raised skirts to female buyers and recorded these actions on video.
    Two buyer-men stood up for women, making a remark to sellers, but they reacted to it aggressively. Migrants tried to attack shoppers in the store, then the conflict “spilled over” into the street. Near the entrance to the store, five men from Central Asia attacked two customers, and a fight broke out. Now the scene of the incident is the police.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EoZQvUBL5g&feature=youtu.be

  3. http://handofmoscow.com/2018/02/19/russian-pensioner-stabbed-three-migrants-in-germany/

    Retired with citizenship of Russia and Germany was stabbed three migrants during the fight in the German Heilbronn (Baden-württemberg in the South-West of the country). About the incident said the publication Stimme.

    The incident occurred on the evening of February 17. According to the police, very drunk 70-year-old man without warning pulled out a knife and attacked three migrants, standing opposite the Church of St Kilian. A fight ensued, the result is seriously injured was a 17-year-old Afghan, were slightly injured 25-year-old citizen of Iraq and a 19-year-old Syrian.

  4. Re: “Bird ‘Flu from Chinese poultry”. I’m no epidemiologist (not even sure I spelt it right), but I believe the reason for epidemics such as “Asian ‘Flu”, “Hong Kong ‘Flu” etc, is that peasants (can I say that?) in SE China live in close proximity with their fauna. The bug crosses from wildfowl to chickens to pigs to humans; the only novel feature is that it’s apparently taken a short cut.

    I probably shouldn’t take this too lightly, I guess; I take immunosuppressants for a medical condition which meant that last time I had ‘flu I was in an isolation ward for a week.

  5. A few days ago, I promised to submit something about the relations between Adolph Hitler regime and Islamic clerics in Iran , mainly in a reply to Elena. I found a brief conversation between Menashe Amir (Israel) and Amir Taheri (Iran) which covers a little bit of what I wanted to say:
    https://database-aryana-encyclopaedia.blogspot.de/2018/01/anti-jewish-03.html

    I must just add a few notes of my own. Furthermore, maybe you can contact Menashe Amir to find out if he has a complete transcript of the interview.

    * Google translation has been embedded in the left ribbon of the page, in case you don’t use chrome. However, apparently, electronic translation tends to omit the parts it cannot translate.

    * Please notice how Hitler, and his Iranian [sic] Muslim disciples, wanted to kill all the Jews in Iran and how government tricked them and saved the Jews.

    * Hitler disciples, the clerics and the bad boys in Tehran bazaar who wanted the Jews killed, do have a KNOWN background. Amir Taheri correctly mentions that anti-semitism in Iran started with Safavid but fails to explain the relations between Tehran bazaar and Safavid. That’s it: During Safavid a group of migrants mainly from Lebanon were imported into Iran to further Islamise the country. Furious civil war: A lot converted to Islam by force and 3 million Zoraostrian who didn’t want to convert were murdered – a few managed to escape to India, Mombai. A lot of Jews and Christians murdered too, but death toll is not known. This group of Lebanese resided in Isfahan and took control of the market and later moved to Tehran when the village expanded into a metropolis and became the capital. They are the shadow government in Iran, they have retained their Lebanese identity, and they have been the main force behind most changes in this country in the last two centuries. They pull the strings of Islamic Republic today, together with Iraqis who came later.

    * There’s a brief referral to Emperor Wilhelm in the interview. Apparently he was also in love with Muslims and Muslims loved him too and wrote myriads of poems in his glory. Seyed Hassan Modarres, the spiritual father of Khomeini, and one of the most dangerous Muslims backed by the aforementioned Lebanese group, has admitted that their “government in exile” (1916) was funded by Germany.

    For more details I need to go to libraries and start a research, and conducting that kind of detailed research is not what I have been trained for. But at least, I hope this little piece of info can shed a little bit of light on the hidden line that connects Emperor Wilhelm II, Adolph Hitler and Angela Merkel policies, at least from the angle I see the events.

Comments are closed.