Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/23/2018

A French judge has refused a petition to release the renowned Swiss philosopher Tariq Ramadan on medical grounds. The lawyers for Mr. Ramadan, who is in custody on charges that he raped two women, contended that their client’s multiple sclerosis could not be adequately treated while he is in jail.

In other news, the Hungarian parliament passed a resolution supporting Poland against allegations by the EU that its reorganization of the judiciary had violated EU regulations.

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

Thanks to Anton, C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Charles Low, Diana West, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, TB, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

USA
» Former Police Officer Sentenced for Attempting to Support ISIS
» Nellie Ohr: Woman in the Middle
» ‘We Stuffed the Establishment!’ Farage Receives Ovation as Trump Fans Praise ‘Mr Brexit’
 
Canada
» Canada’s Trudeau Slammed for Using Taxpayer Money to Fly Celebrity Chef to India, Inviting Terrorist to Dinner
 
Europe and the EU
» Austria: Tyrol Votes for New Regional Assembly Sunday
» Austria: Woman Who Complained About Muslim Prayers Told to See a Psychologist
» Bulgaria to Invite Offers for Delivery of Fighter Jets
» Dutch Party Centre Bans Kids’ Cowboy Party Because “It’s Racist”
» France’s First Mixed-Race Joan of Arc Hit by Torrent of Racist Abuse
» France: Court Denies Ramadan’s Bid for Release on Health Grounds
» France to Seal Off 1,500 Radicalized Inmates in Prisons
» France to Charge Suspect in Spain Attacks That Killed 16
» French Court Refuses to Release Oxford Islamic Scholar Accused of Rape
» Hungary Adopts Resolution to Support Poland in Clash With EU
» Hungary’s ‘Stop Soros Act’ A ‘Matter of Sovereignty ‘ — Political Analyst
» Interview With Poland’s Prime Minister ‘Europe Has Run Out of Gas’
» Italian Election: ‘I’ll Take Back Control!’ Frontrunner Uses Brexit Slogan in Threat to EU
» Italy Election: Jean Claude Juncker: EU Worst-Case Scenario for Markets
» Italy: M5S Southern Soccer Club Owner Probed
» Italy: 6 Cops Hurt in Anti-Fascist Scuffles in Turin
» No Aid to Help Embraco Delocalise, Slovakia
» Norway: Drugs Seized in Tromsø Could be Linked to International Network: Police
» Norway to Spend $13 Million to Upgrade Doomsday Seed Vault
» Price Tag on Amsterdam Assassinations as Low as €3,000: Police Chief
» Spend More or Do Less: EU Leaders Discuss Post-Brexit Budget Hole
» Support for Sahel Up to 414 Mn Euros — Mogherini
» Team Work on EMA says PM as EP Says Temp Home OK
» UK: Newcastle Grooming Gangs Were Allowed to Abuse 700 Girls Because Police Blamed the Victims, Review Finds
» UK: Official Review: Newcastle Groomers Targeted Victims With ‘Arrogant Persistence’ As Authorities ‘Blamed the Victims’
» Watch: Alt-Left Antifa Attack Italian Police Ahead of March Election
 
Balkans
» 500,000th Unit of Fiat 500l Model Rolled Out in Serbia
» Corruption Perceptions Index, OSCE Warns Albania on Results
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Caroline Glick: Defending the Rule of Law
 
Middle East
» #MeToo in the Mosque
» 5 Italians Fighting With YPG, Says Returned Volunteer
» ENI Ship Blocked Off Cyprus Leaves for Other Work
» Saudi Arabia Begins Building First Opera Theater
 
South Asia
» ‘Somebody Needs to Remind Him He’s Prime Minister’: Justin Trudeau Dons Traditional Dress Again and Dances the Bhangra in India Hours Before Finally Meeting Modi Following ‘Snub’
 
Australia — Pacific
» Prosecutors Appeal Against ‘Soft’ Sentence Given to African Teenager Who Kicked a Police Officer in the Head at a Melbourne Shopping Centre But Was Spared Jail
» ‘Shut Up! That is Enough’: Furious Argument Between a Bisexual Muslim and a Niqab-Wearing Woman Exposes a Deep Divide in Australia’s Islamic Community
» Tennant Creek Fight Club: Videos Show Girls Bashing Each Other in the Streets Where a Toddler Was ‘Raped by a 24-Year-Old Man’ As Government Launches a $5.5m Tourism Boost for the Town
» Wife and Three-Year-Old Child of ‘Hardcore’ ISIS Terrorist Have Returned to Australia After the Jihadist Was Killed While Fighting in the Middle East in 2016
 
Latin America
» Ecuador Says Mediation With Britain Over Assange Has Failed
 
Immigration
» Amnesty International Say Italy ‘Steeped in Racism’
» Norwegian Emigration ‘Higher Than During Era of Migration to USA’
» Viktor Orbán Calls on EU to Reimburse Hungary for Border Security Costs
 
Culture Wars
» Illinois Bishop Bans Sen. Dick Durbin From Receiving Holy Communion Over His Pro-Abortion Stance
» Olympics Corrupted to Further Anti-God Agenda
» The Humanitarian Hoax of Multiple Realities
 

Former Police Officer Sentenced for Attempting to Support ISIS

A former police officer was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and obstruction of justice.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Nicholas Young, 38, of Fairfax, was formerly employed as a police officer with the Metro Transit Police Department. In late July 2016, Young attempted to provide material support and resources to ISIS by purchasing and sending gift card codes that he believed would allow ISIS recruiters to securely communicate with potential ISIS recruits.

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

Nellie Ohr: Woman in the Middle

by Diana West

Gotta hand it to Special Counsel Robert Mueller: He knows how to set off a stick of dynamite. I refer, of course, to his office’s recent indictment of thirteen Russians in Russia, which we are now to chase after, yelling “Pearl Harbor!” on the Left and “No collusion!” on the Right, forgetting all about the coalescing revelations of corruption and conspiracy and, yes, Russian influence, to elect Hillary Clinton in 2016, and, failing that, to destroy the Trump presidency.

The key is still in the “dossier” spying scandal.

Nellie Ohr is the “dossier” spying scandal’s woman in the middle.

To one side of Ohr, there is the Fusion GPS team, including fellow contractor Christopher Steele. To the other, there is husband Bruce Ohr, who, until his “dossier”-related demotion, was No. 4 man at the Department of Justice, and a key contact there for Steele.

As central as Nellie Ohr’s placement is, her role in the creation of the “dossier” remains undefined. For example, the House Intelligence Committee memo on related matters vaguely tells us that Nellie Ohr was “employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump”; the memo adds that Bruce Ohr “later provided the FBI with all of his wife’s opposition research.” Senator Lindsey Graham more sensationally told Fox News that Nellie Ohr “did the research for Mr. Steele,” but details remain scarce…

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
 

‘We Stuffed the Establishment!’ Farage Receives Ovation as Trump Fans Praise ‘Mr Brexit’

Nigel Farage praised Donald Trump and drew cheers from the crowd after boasting voters in America and Britain had “stuffed the establishment”.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Mr Farage brought the house down with a triumphant speech after Mr Trump had taken to the stage earlier in the day.

Mr Farage opened his CPAC address, after being introduced as ‘Mr Brexit’, by praising the audience for helping Mr Trump get elected as US president in 2016.

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

Canada’s Trudeau Slammed for Using Taxpayer Money to Fly Celebrity Chef to India, Inviting Terrorist to Dinner

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official trip to India has been a subject of controversy yet again after it was revealed he flew out a celebrity chef with taxpayer money and invited a known terrorist to dinner.

Trudeau’s trip, which has seen the Canadian leader snubbed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who declined to greet him when he landed, has come under new controversy after reports emerged that he used taxpayer funds to fly celebrity chef and Liberal Party supporter Vikram Vij to India, Canadian broadcaster CTV reports.

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

Austria: Tyrol Votes for New Regional Assembly Sunday

537,273 voters going to the polls

(ANSA) — BOZEN — 537,273 Tyroleans will go to the polls on Sunday — February 25 — to vote for the new regional assembly (diet) of the Austrian land, currently led by OEVP Governor Guenther Platter with the Greens. A second term is not certain.

The Greens want to stay in the governing majority only if this is strongly desired by the voters, or only if they were to win at least 10% of the vote.

The second hypothesis is a copy on a smaller scale of the national government between Oevp and Fpoe. The liberal-nationals may grow, following the example of Vienna, and they may be part of the governing majority in Tyrol. A grosse Koalition with the Social Democrats is not ruled out, even if it is not probable.

NEOS liberals, hoping to enter the Landtag for the first time, run in the general election too.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Woman Who Complained About Muslim Prayers Told to See a Psychologist

A woman who complained about loud prayers in her hospital room was told to see a psychologist. The Croatian woman, who lives in Austria for 40 years, was put in a twin room with a Muslim patient in St. Georgen im Attergau.

The 68-year-old Nadia C. from Vienna was recovering from a stroke and a neck injury in the healthcare facility, when tensions arose about the behaviour of her Muslim roommate.

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

Bulgaria to Invite Offers for Delivery of Fighter Jets

Defence Minister to launch procedures by end of March

(ANSA) — SOFIA — Bulgaria will launch procedures for the procurement of fighter jets and wheeled armoured vehicles by the end of March, Defence minister Krassimir Karakachanov said as Novinite.com reports. “We will seek offers for delivery of new fighter jets as well as used ones. We may also extend invitations to a larger number of participants,” Karakachanov said in an interview with public TV channel BNT. According to Novinite.com press agency, in 2016, Bulgaria launched the procedure for acquisition of a new type of combat aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets. However, in September 2017, an ad-hoc parliamentary commitee, set up to supervise the selection process, recommended to relaunch the procedure, saying one of the participants in the tender had been unfairly disqualified from the race.

Karakachanov also noted that the expenditure of 680 million levs ($429.5 million/347.6 million euro) earmarked for acquisition of new patrol ships for the Bulgarian Navy is rather insufficient for the purchase of fully equipped vessels and the ministry plans to upgrade the existing frigates.

In June 2017, the Defence ministry said it plans to spend 3.54 billion levs on rearmament programmes between 2017 and 2029.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch Party Centre Bans Kids’ Cowboy Party Because “It’s Racist”

After complaints of leftist activists, Dutch party centre TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, will no longer organise ‘Wild West’ parties for children, their spokesman said.

The far-left action group “De Grauwe Eeuw” filed a police report against the organisation behind the festival. According to them, the feast for children between 2 and 12 years old uses ‘racist stereotypes’.

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

France’s First Mixed-Race Joan of Arc Hit by Torrent of Racist Abuse

The teenage girl of African and Polish origin chosen to be this year’s Joan of Arc at the city of Orleans’ annual celebration of the French icon has come under attack from outraged far-Right trolls on social media.

Mathilde Edey Gamassou will be at the centre of the week-long event that starts late April, during which she will parade through the town on horseback, kitted out in medieval armour and brandishing a sword.

The French have for the past 600 years feted the peasant girl-turned-war commander as a national heroine for helping drive the English out of France.

But Joan of Arc is particularly venerated by the French far-Right as a symbol of national resistance, and every year Front National leaders place a wreath at her statue in Paris at the start of their traditional May Day parade.

The announcement earlier this week that Ms Gamassou, whose father is from Benin and whose mother is Polish, from among 250 girls in Orleans to depict Joan of Arc was met with a flurry of angry posts on Twitter and on far-right websites.

“Next year, she (Joan of Arc) will be in a burqa,” was the headline of an article on anti-Muslim site Résistance Républicaine…

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]
 

France: Court Denies Ramadan’s Bid for Release on Health Grounds

A French court on Thursday dismissed a bid by Swiss citizen Tariq Ramadan, the prominent Islamic scholar detained on rape charges, to be released on health grounds, legal sources said.

Ramadan’s lawyers had pushed for his release since he was detained on February 2nd, arguing his multiple sclerosis and nerve damage could not be adequately treated behind bars.

           — Hat tip: Anton [Return to headlines]
 

France to Seal Off 1,500 Radicalized Inmates in Prisons

The French government said on Friday said it would seal off extremists within prisons and open new centres to reintegrate returning jihadists into society as part of a new plan to halt the spread of radical Islam.

France is experimenting with various ways of ending the drift towards extremism of young people growing up on the margins of society, in predominantly immigrant suburbs where organisations like the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda recruit.

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

France to Charge Suspect in Spain Attacks That Killed 16

The French prosecutor’s office says an unnamed person detained in France in connection with the August extremist attacks in Spain will be handed preliminary charges.

The prosecutor’s office said Friday that the suspect is being held as part of an inquiry into “attempted murder as part of a terrorist enterprise” and “criminal terrorist association.”

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

French Court Refuses to Release Oxford Islamic Scholar Accused of Rape

A French court refused to grant the release request of an Oxford Islamic scholar accused of multiple rapes and sexual assault.

Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss national and prominent scholar of Islam at Oxford University, requested release from French prison on medical grounds after his recent hospitalization, but French authorities said his condition was not dire enough to merit release, according to The Associated Press. French authorities arrested Ramadan in January in relation to accusations from two women who say Ramadan forced himself on them in French hotels.

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

Hungary Adopts Resolution to Support Poland in Clash With EU

The Hungarian parliament has adopted a resolution which supports Poland in their clash which the European Union. Earlier the European Commission triggered the Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland because of Poland’s new judiciary law.

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

Hungary’s ‘Stop Soros Act’ A ‘Matter of Sovereignty ‘ — Political Analyst

The Hungarian prime minister has accused George Soros of using his funds to buy influence in Brussels and the UN. His accusation comes after the so-called Stop Soros bill was submitted to the Hungarian Parliament. The proposed bill would enable banning non-government organizations that encourage migration and pose a risk to national security.

Sputnik discussed the bill with Levente Bánk Boros, a political analyst and CEO of Medianezo Ltd.

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

Interview With Poland’s Prime Minister ‘Europe Has Run Out of Gas’

In an interview, new Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki discusses his country’s reputation problems, EU proceedings against Warsaw, Poland’s controversial refugee policy and the heated debate over history.

DER SPIEGEL: Mr. Prime Minister, since your party, Law and Justice (PiS), has been in power in Warsaw, Poland has suffered from a bad image. It used to be the model pupil among the new European Union member states, but now it is considered un-democratic, nationalistic and quick-tempered. What happened?

Morawiecki: Those are opinions and not facts. Poland is a democratic nation-state like all the other countries of Europe. And we are pragmatic. We have a problem with a part of the European political elite and with journalists, but not with the normal people. For example, 97 percent of all foreign investors would come to us again. You are right, though, that we need to make a greater effort to explain our policies. We are facing major changes in Poland. Now, we would like to see the majority of our population benefit from our economic growth. Just because foreign observers used to praise Poland does not mean that the policies of the time were also good for the majority of the population.

DER SPIEGEL: But Poland isn’t being criticized for its social policies or its administrative reforms. It is being criticized because your judicial reform, in the EU’s view, violates the principle of the rule of law. That’s why your country is facing EU proceedings that could end with the loss of voting rights in Brussels.

Morawiecki: We consider this allegation to be false. According to polls, three-quarters of Poles consider the judiciary to be “bad” or “very bad.” We are now improving our communication and have revived the dialogue with the European Commission. We have already achieved improvements and Brussels is now acting more as a partner and less as a schoolmaster. We will also attempt to address the concerns point by point and clarify our position.

DER SPIEGEL: The fact that your country has become the first in the history of the European Union to be subjected to such proceedings is not just due to communications shortcomings. The accusation is that your party wants to control the staffing of the courts…

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

Italian Election: ‘I’ll Take Back Control!’ Frontrunner Uses Brexit Slogan in Threat to EU

ITALIAN election frontrunner Matteo Salvini struck once again with a stern warning to the EU calling on Brussels to change its core policies and to stop damaging Italian farmers and fishermen.

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

Italy Election: Jean Claude Juncker: EU Worst-Case Scenario for Markets

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned Thursday that financial markets could face turbulence after Italian elections next month, saying Brussels was prepared for a worst-case scenario.

Italians vote on March 4th amid uncertainty, with polls indicating a coalition between the centre-right opposition Forza Italia party and far-right, anti-immigrant groups could end up in government.

Juncker said it would be a “very important week in the European Union” because the result of a membership ballot of Germany’s Social Democrats on whether to join a coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s is due on the same day.”

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: M5S Southern Soccer Club Owner Probed

Potenza president Salvatore Caiata probed on Siena bars, eatery

(ANSA) — Potenza, February 23 — The president of the lower-tier Potenza Calcio soccer club, a general-election candidate for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), has been placed under investigation in a Siena probe into suspected money laundering, three Italian dailies reported Friday.

Salvatore Caiata, an M5S candidate in Basilicata, owns several assets including bars and the noted Campo eatery in the Tuscan city, Corriere della Sera, La Stampa and Il Messaggero reported.

The probe regards cash paid on contracts on the bars and restaurants, the dailies said.

“If the accusations against Caiata are confirmed then we won’t make any exceptions” in ejecting him, the M5S said on Facebook.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: 6 Cops Hurt in Anti-Fascist Scuffles in Turin

Protest agst CasaPound candidate

(ANSA) — Turin, February 23 — Six police were hurt in scuffles with anti-Fascists trying to reach a far-right CasaPound rally in Turin Thursday night.

The anti-Fascists threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at police who were trying to keep them away from a demo in support of CasaPound premier candidate Simone Di Stefano. Interior ministry sources said Friday the incidents in Turin had been “very serious”.

They said the protesters “intended to hurt” the police officers.

“We will not make an exception for anyone,” the sources stressed.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

No Aid to Help Embraco Delocalise, Slovakia

We will respond to the European Commission’s letter

(ANSA) — Brussels — Slovakia said Friday it had not used any State aid to help Embraco delocalise from Italy.

A Slovakian diplomat told ANSA “we will respond to the European Commission’s letter with the documentation that proves we did not furnish any direct or indirect aid for Embraco’s decision to delocalise its production”.

Italy has appealed to the EC over Embraco’s moving almost 500 jobs from its plant near Turin to Slovakia, and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has promised to be “intransigent” on the case.

Embraco is a Brazilian company that makes fridge compressors for its parent, US multinational Whirlpool.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Drugs Seized in Tromsø Could be Linked to International Network: Police

Police in Norway are cooperating with law enforcement in Germany after a record amount of amphetamine was seized.

A man in his forties has been arrested in connection with the investigation, reports newspaper VG.

           — Hat tip: Anton [Return to headlines]
 

Norway to Spend $13 Million to Upgrade Doomsday Seed Vault

Norway is pushing 100 million kroner ($13 million) more to upgrade the Svalbard Global Seed Vault after 10 years of operations.

The measures are part of a long-term plan to enhance the performance and extend the viability of the seed vault. The vault, also called the doomsday vault, stores seeds from around the world to ensure conservation and protect genetic material important for food and agriculture.

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

Price Tag on Amsterdam Assassinations as Low as €3,000: Police Chief

By Janene Pieters

The Amsterdam police are very concerned about the type of perpetrators involved in assassinations in the city. They often involve young amateurs, who will kill someone for as little as 3 thousand euros, Amsterdam police chief Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said to local broadcaster AT5 while discussing a recent shooting in which 17-year-old Mohammed Bouchikhi was killed at a community center on Grote Wittenburgerstraat.

“In the 80’s and 90’s, professional hitmen from abroad came here for 50 thousand euros. In recent years we see young boys from Amsterdam. And that could well be the case in this case.” the police chief said. “We sometimes now hear amounts of between 3 thousand euros and 5 thousand euros for an assassination. And with that, the amateurism, the uncontrollability and the brutality of the violence are a new concern for us.”

According to Aalbersberg, there is a pattern among the perpetrators: “disadvantaged, little prospects, little conscience awareness. And that is a dangerous mix to be tempted into this kind of business.” He could not say how many such young perpetrators are on the loose in Amsterdam. “We often see boys who were not yet known to us. And sometimes also from the Top 600 [most wanted perpetrators], for example…

           — Hat tip: Anton [Return to headlines]
 

Spend More or Do Less: EU Leaders Discuss Post-Brexit Budget Hole

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of European Union nations — minus Britain’s prime minister — met Friday to discuss how the bloc will cope with a multibillion-euro hole in its budget caused by Brexit.

The summit in Brussels will gauge the European Union’s ambitions as it sets a multiyear budget for the post-Brexit era, said Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, a former EU budget commissioner.

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

Support for Sahel Up to 414 Mn Euros — Mogherini

‘Beyond our best expectations’

(ANSA) — Brussels, February 23 — European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said after a conference on security and development in the Sahel Friday that the EU and other partners were putting a total of 414 million euros into the African area. “Today we announced a supplementary support for the joint force of the Sahel of 50 million euros extra which will be added to the 50 already put in,” she said.

“The total support for this region is 414 million euros thanks to investments not only by the EU but akso by other partners,” said Mogherini.

She said the commitment “goes beyond our best expectations”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Team Work on EMA says PM as EP Says Temp Home OK

‘Will meet deadlines’ says De Jonge

(ANSA) — Amsterdam, February 22 — Premier Paolo Gentiloni called for team work on getting the European Medicines Agency back to Milan from Amsterdam as a European Parliament delegation led by an Italian said the temporary home for the agency was OK and the Dutch government said it would be up and running on schedule Thursday.

The temporary home of the EMA in Amsterdam is OK and just needs to be refurbished, the head of a European Parliament delegation, Giovanni La Via, said Thursday. “Palazzo Spark is a good building., the real issue is the necessary timeframe for the refurbishments…but there are no great needs,” said La Via.

“Inside there is a well-equipped facility and all the fundamental parts of the network installations are there.

“They just have to put in the beams and obviously bring the supplies for the desks but that, having nine months ahead to make everything complete, is viable”.

Milan city council said its appeal against Amsterdam getting the EMA was well-founded. “It is well-founded and receivable, as the EU court itself recently recognised,” the council lawyer who filed the appeal told ANSA, responding to rumours that the EU Council had judged the appeal not to be valid. The EU Council, he said, “has not rejected anything because it does not have the power to do so, just as it does not have any power to declare it unreceivable”.

Milan’s bid to get the EMA back from Amsterdam is “more open than ever”, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said after the European Council reportedly judged the bid “irreceivable”. “I had been expecting this opinion from the European Council,” he said, “but they can’t decide whether an appeal is receivable or not”. He said “the game is more open than ever, and I will raise the stakes today.” Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday the government and Milan city council would work as a team on the appeal to bring back the EMA from Amsterdam to Milan. “I was in Milan yesterday and we agreed to work together, without propaganda soundbites but working on its seriously,” he said.

The Netherlands said it was ready to host the agency saying “yes we can”. “We will meet the deadlines, we will ensure it is operational,” said Deputy Premier Hugo De Jonge at a press conference. “We welcomed a delegation of MEPs here to Amsterdam today and we can assure you that the Netherlands is ready to welcome the EMA”, he said. “We will meet the deadlines and ensure the operational needs of the agency, yes we can, yes we will,” said De Jonge.

Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni, meanwhile, called for “more incisive action” by the Italian government.

“I expect more incisive action form the government which must ask for the urgent convocation of the European Council, which is the body that decided the appeal was unreceivable and which can reverse its decision,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Newcastle Grooming Gangs Were Allowed to Abuse 700 Girls Because Police Blamed the Victims, Review Finds

Grooming gangs that preyed on 700 vulnerable girls and women in and around Newcastle developed an “arrogant persistence” because the authorities locked up the victims rather than the offenders, a Serious Case Review has found.

Operation Sanctuary, which was launched in 2014, resulted in 112 offenders being jailed for a total of almost 500 years for abuse carried out against more than 270 victims.

But a shocking report has revealed that the actual number of those targeted was at least 700, as gangs of men from a range of backgrounds plied victims with drugs before raping and forcing them into prostitution.

According to the review, the abusers were mainly “not white but came from a diverse range of backgrounds including Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Iranian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Turkish, Albanian and Eastern European”.

In some cases the victims of the gangs were placed in secure accommodation because of what was seen as their poor behaviour, while the offenders were seen to be innocent and went unpunished.

Efforts to find out why the perpetrators thought they could abuse vulnerable women and girls have been rebuffed, with only one defendant agreeing to help the inquiry, and he denied guilt, blaming a government cover up…

           — Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Official Review: Newcastle Groomers Targeted Victims With ‘Arrogant Persistence’ As Authorities ‘Blamed the Victims’

Authorities have apologised after mostly Muslim grooming gangs in Newcastle were allowed to target around 700 vulnerable women and girls with “arrogant persistence” because allegations were “not investigated”.

As in other grooming cases, the attackers — of mainly Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian background, and including an asylum seeker — plied their victims with drugs and alcohol.

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

Watch: Alt-Left Antifa Attack Italian Police Ahead of March Election

ROME (AP) — Anti-fascist demonstrators have clashed with police in the northern Italian city of Turin as another night of violence has erupted in the waning days of Italy’s divisive election campaign.

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

500,000th Unit of Fiat 500l Model Rolled Out in Serbia

Production record at Kragujevac plant, restructured in 2012

BELGRADE — The 500,000th Fiat 500L left Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ (FCA) Kragujevac plant in central Serbia on Thursday, in testament to the success of the model launched in 2012. The vehicle that marked the important objective was an orange 500L Cross 1.6 Multijet 120 HP with a black roof, FCA Serbia said in a statement.

The 500L has for five years been firmly at the top of its segment in Europe, and the absolute leader in Italy and Spain.

In 2017 the Fiat 500L reached a market share of nearly 22% in Europe and of over 52% in Italy.

The new Cross and City Cross models, launched last year, have contributed to the results by accentuating the model’s crossover appeal. Sales in early 2018 have also been positive, with 5% year-on-year growth in Europe. It is no accident that the new production record has been established at the Kragujevac plant, which was given a 1-billion-dollar renovation precisely in order to produce the 500L and reopened in April 2012. Today it is one of the most modern FCA plants in the world, FCA Serbia said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Corruption Perceptions Index, OSCE Warns Albania on Results

Tirana drops to 91st among 180 countries.’Still serious concern’

(ANSA) — TIRANA — Transparency International published the results of its Corruption Perceptions Index 2017, ranking Albania the 91st among 180 countries and territories included in the index, a drop of eight places since 2016. Albania scored 38 out of 100 points, as Ibna press agency reports. In South-Eastern Europe, areas such the judiciary, law enforcement, freedom of press and civil society are the most affected. “The phenomenon of corruption in the country continues to be of serious concern,” said OSCE Head of Presence Bernd Borchardt. “We call on public institutions and the rule of law agencies in Albania to proceed with the implementation of justice and anti-corruption reforms in line with international recommendations and obligations of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.” Borchardt added that public institutions need to be more accountable for their work and officials must be more transparent in their decision-making. “Citizens must play their part, too, by refusing to tolerate or sustain the problem.” “The result of this year’s Index demands our intensified efforts to fight this phenomenon. The OSCE Presence in Albania regrets that the positive trend since 2013 (taking Albania from a low of 31 points to 39) was reversed in 2017 and remains committed to supporting Albania in its fight against corruption,” concluded Borchardt.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: Defending the Rule of Law

Israel’s system of democracy has been under assault for more than two decades. Since the early 1990s, elected officials have fought a losing battle to maintain their power. The legal fraternity and the police, acting with the enthusiastic support and often at the urging of the politically biased media, have seized politicians’ governing prerogatives and powers one by one. These actions have all been justified in the name of the rule of law.

Today, Israel’s democracy — that is, the ability of the nation to determine its course through the election of representatives that share their convictions — is threatened as never before.

Almost exactly 21 years ago, elected officials lost their most important battle to date. On January 10, 1997, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first government approved the appointment of Ronnie Bar-On to serve as attorney-general. Bar-On was a private attorney in Jerusalem. He chaired the Beitar soccer organization in the capital and his was a close friend and former mentor of then-justice minister Tzachi Hanegbi who did his legal clerkship in Bar-On’s office.

The government’s announcement that Bar-On would serve as attorney-general was viciously criticized by the media and Israel’s legal elite. Much of the criticism was rank snobbery. Bar-On was not a member of the club. He had not served as a prosecutor. He was not a law professor. He was just a good lawyer with friendly ties to Hanegbi. How dare the government appoint him?…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

#MeToo in the Mosque

“While the brave Iranian women protested against hijab laws, Western feminists celebrated hijab”. — Rita Panahi, Herald Sun, Australia.

Instead of a celebration of Islamist discrimination against women, the West should promote a #MeToo in the mosque, the idea of an Egyptian, Mona Eltahawi. She would like to raise the issue of rape and sexual abuse suffered by Muslim women during the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Will Western advocates of women’s rights also stand for the rights of Muslim women, or, in the name of “multiculturalism”, the will they keep appeasing those who persecute them instead?

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

5 Italians Fighting With YPG, Says Returned Volunteer

Kurds fought against ISIS, now under attack from Turkey

(ANSAmed) — Rome, February 23 — Five Italian nationals are currently fighting in Syria in the Syrian Kurdish Popular protection units (YPG) in its battle against ISIS, a returned Italian “internationalist volunteer” has told ANSA.

Three fighters are at the front in Afrin, one in Deir Ez Zor and the fifth, a woman, in Rojava, according to 30-year-old ‘Gabar Carlo’ from Puglia.

He returned to Italy in mid-January after spending approximately 6 months in Syria and taking part in the liberation of Raqqa on the night of October 13-14. In all 250 international volunteers have fought on the various fronts since the start of the revolution in Rojava, according to Gabar.

“However, now much fewer are left and it is difficult to quantify exactly how many there are,” he added. “for a month now civilians and Kurdish rebels have been under attack from Turkey and its Islamist rebel allies,” Gabar told ANSA. “The Turkish government is trying to eliminate those who founght against Daesh and for an egalitarian and anti-sexist society, with its army, the second largest military force in NATO, our ally.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

ENI Ship Blocked Off Cyprus Leaves for Other Work

Will drill elsewhere says Cypriot minister

(ANSA) — Istanbul, February 23 — An ENI drilling ship blocked by the Turkish navy off the southern coast of Cyprus for two weeks is leaving to carry out “other activities” for the Italian energy giant, Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said Friday. The Saipem 12000 ship leased by ENI is now off the Cypriot port of Limassol for refuelling and will shortly leave for other drilling work, he told a local TV station.

On Tuesday the Turkish navy extended through March 10 its Navtex notice of military activity off Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, which has been blocking passage of the Saipem 12000, Cypriot media said.

The block has been preventing the ship from reaching the area planned for exploration through a license granted by the government in Nicosia.

Nicosia has denounced the presence of the Turkish Navy in its “exclusive economic zone” as a violation of international law.

Turkey, however, does not recognise the exclusive sovereignty of Cyprus and insists on the right of the Turkish-Cypriot community to divide the island’s natural resources.

In recent days, government sources in Nicosia said the Saipem 12000 wouldn’t be able to remain waiting in the area if the Turkish naval block were to be extended, because it is committed to other activities planned off the coast of Morocco in the month of March.

Based on estimates by industry professionals, costs to rent the drilling ship can reach a half-million euros per day.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia Begins Building First Opera Theater

As part of reforms after concerts banned for 20 years

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has begun building its first opera theater after a ban on concerts and music in restaurants for the past twenty years. The announcement was made on Thursday by the head of the General Authority for Entertainment Activities, Ahmad bin Aqil al-Khatib, and is part of a series of economic and social reforms set in motion by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Al-Khatib said that Riyadh would be investing 64 billion dollars in the entertainment industry over the next decade. The country recently announced that cinemas would be reopening next month after a ban on them for 35 years.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

‘Somebody Needs to Remind Him He’s Prime Minister’: Justin Trudeau Dons Traditional Dress Again and Dances the Bhangra in India Hours Before Finally Meeting Modi Following ‘Snub’

The Canadian Prime Minister made quite and entrance at the dinner in New Delhi on Thursday night, walking out on to a stage to the sound of drums before breaking out his dance moves.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Prosecutors Appeal Against ‘Soft’ Sentence Given to African Teenager Who Kicked a Police Officer in the Head at a Melbourne Shopping Centre But Was Spared Jail

Victoria’s prosecutions authority has appealed against the non-conviction sentence given to a teenager who kicked a policeman in the head at a Melbourne shopping centre on Boxing Day.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

‘Shut Up! That is Enough’: Furious Argument Between a Bisexual Muslim and a Niqab-Wearing Woman Exposes a Deep Divide in Australia’s Islamic Community

This is the tense moment two Australian Muslim women in Sydney clash and expose a deep divide in the Islamic community. A liberal Sufi has enough of a religious conservative who covers her face.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Tennant Creek Fight Club: Videos Show Girls Bashing Each Other in the Streets Where a Toddler Was ‘Raped by a 24-Year-Old Man’ As Government Launches a $5.5m Tourism Boost for the Town

Videos of vicious fist fights between girls on the streets of Tennant Creek show how violence has become a way of life in the tiny Northern Territory town where a girl, 2, was allegedly raped last week.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Wife and Three-Year-Old Child of ‘Hardcore’ ISIS Terrorist Have Returned to Australia After the Jihadist Was Killed While Fighting in the Middle East in 2016

The mother and child fled ISIS-held territory in 2016 after the ‘hard-core fighter’ was killed near Mosul in Iraq, flying to Sydney from Turkey mid last year after being assessed by ASIO and the AFP.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Ecuador Says Mediation With Britain Over Assange Has Failed

QUITO (REUTERS) — Ecuador blamed Britain on Friday for upending its efforts to mediate a solution for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has lived in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition.

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said Ecuador had hoped to forge an agreement with Britain on Australian-born Assange, who entered the embassy to avoid being sent to Sweden to face allegations of sex crimes, which he has denied.

“This has not prospered because to mediate, two parties are needed. Ecuador is willing but the other party is not,” she told reporters.

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

Amnesty International Say Italy ‘Steeped in Racism’

League leads in hate speech with 50%, FdI 27%, FI 18%

(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Amnesty International said Wednesday Italy was steeped in racism and rightwing parties were at fault for stoking anti-foreigner sentiment.

Amnesty said Italy was “steeped in hatred, racism and xenophobia, and unjustified fear of the other”.

It said 95% of discriminatory, racist, and hate speech on the Internet came from the centre right, The anti-migrant League led by firebrand leader Matteo Salvini led the way at 50% of such speech, Amnesty said in its report.

It was followed by the nationalist, neo-Fascist Brothers of Italy (FdI) led by Giorgia Meloni at 27%, the Amnesty report said. In third place came Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) at 18%. Anti-migrant League leader Salvini on Thursday said he wanted to meet Amnesty International over the report. “I want to restore tranquility to Italy, respect for the rules and dignity of work,” Salvini said. “No violence, no xenophobia, no racism.

“Limited and controlled immigration will guarantee serene and peaceful co-existence.

“That is why I have asked to meet representatives of Amnesty International to explain to them what the League is and does where it governs to guarantee everyone’s rights “I hope to have this meeting in the coming hours”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Norwegian Emigration ‘Higher Than During Era of Migration to USA’

Immigration to Norway is falling while emigration out of the country is higher now than during the era of large-scale migration to the United States in the 1800s.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Viktor Orbán Calls on EU to Reimburse Hungary for Border Security Costs

Viktor Orbán on Friday called on Brussels to reimburse Hungary for part of the money it spent to secure its borders during the migration crisis.

“We’ve spent over €1 billion on border protection. We’re not only protecting ourselves, but Europe as well. At least half of this sum should be reimbursed,” the Hungarian prime minister said in a video posted to his Facebook page on Friday, ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.

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

Illinois Bishop Bans Sen. Dick Durbin From Receiving Holy Communion Over His Pro-Abortion Stance

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, says that Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is “cooperating in evil” and persisting in “manifest grave sin” because of his abortion advocacy and must therefore “not be admitted to Holy Communion until he repents of his sin.”

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

Olympics Corrupted to Further Anti-God Agenda

Watching the Olympics was a big deal when I was a kid, a pleasurable family affair. I tuned in the 2018 Olympics expecting to enjoy extraordinary performances. Instead, the announcer began introducing the next performer as a hero for the LGBT community. I immediately turned the channel. Folks, I am so sick of Leftists corrupting everything; usurping every opportunity to promote its anti-God and anti-America agendas. When will We the People just say, “No!”

A U.S. Olympic team homosexual skater, in essence, gave Vice President Pence his middle finger; refusing to meet Pence. Leftists hate Pence for blocking attacks on religious liberty; stopping Christian businesses from being forced to service homosexual weddings against their faith.

Leftists have taken the pleasure out of watching NFL football; coaches, players and management protesting our country and police. Leftists celebrated mentally ill Bruce Jenner pretending to be a woman. Bruce is considering reversing his surgery back to a man.

Other than turning off your TV, it is impossible to escape Leftists’ relentless promotion of sexual deviance, anti-Trump-ism and anti-Americanism.

Even watching HGTV home remodeling shows has become politicized; bombarding us with same sex couples. Same sex couples are a very small minority. And yet, they are disproportionately represented on HGTV.

Folks, the daily relentless slapping us in the face with homosexuality is a part of a well orchestrated plan to desensitize us, normalize and force what God clearly calls sin down our throats.

At a 1988 summit in Warrenton Virginia, homosexual leaders mapped out their game plan to make Americans embrace homosexuality and hostile to all opposing it. “After the Ball” by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen is the manual homosexuals used to brainwash Americans; market homosexuality to the mainstream. The funny warmhearted homosexual neighbor in sitcoms has become a cliche.

Kirk and Madsen instructed homosexual activists to use tried and true marketing and brainwashing techniques; transforming Americans into having “warm regard — whether they like it or not.”

Step one was to desensitize straights by relentlessly talking about homosexuality in the straight world. “The main thing is talk about gayness until the issue becomes thoroughly tiresome.”

Kirk and Madsen admitted it would be tough to convince Americans that homosexuality is a “good” thing. “But if you can get them to think it is just “another” thing meriting no more than a shrug of the shoulders — then the battle for legal and social rights is virtually won.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Humanitarian Hoax of Multiple Realities

The Humanitarian Hoax is a deliberate and deceitful tactic of presenting a destructive policy as altruistic. The humanitarian huckster presents himself as a compassionate advocate when in fact he is the disguised enemy.

The ideological strivings of our Founding Fathers were rooted in freedom, liberty, limited government, and the separation of church and state. They sought to create a more perfect union — a society of individuals cooperating by mutual consent. Psychiatrist Lyle Rossiter’s stunning book The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness details America’s extraordinary achievement of ordered liberty, how its infrastructure complements the nature of man, and how the collectivist liberal narrative is pathologically antithetical to ordered liberty.

The ideological moorings of ordered liberty require consensus on what is real. This is no small thing. Language is based on consensus of what is real. Laws are based on consensus of what is real. Without agreement on what is real there is no societal order only chaos.

Senator Patrick Moynihan famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts.” Well said. Opinions are based in the subjective reality of feelings, facts are based in the objective reality of actuality. Feelings are not facts.

This is worth repeating — objective reality is defined by facts and subjective reality is defined by feelings. The Leftist Culture War on America is attacking the ideological strivings and ideological moorings of ordered liberty by attacking its most basic requirement — consensus on what is real. The left-wing liberal attack strategy seeks to replace factual objective reality with subjective multiple realities based on feelings. This is how it works.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/23/2018

  1. I already saw several articles about a Muslim show “Muslims Like Us ” in Australia.
    I think that the love of the TV show will play a cruel joke with the Australians: a dialogue with Islam makes it legitimate. This should not be. It’s time to throw popcorn.

  2. “In other news, the Hungarian parliament passed a resolution supporting Poland against allegations by the EU that its reorganization of the judiciary had violated EU regulations.”

    Oh dear, the EU really is a walking dead isn’t it?

  3. Did you write about this film in the “cultural wars” section?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Fade
    Good migrants and bad Nazis.
    Probably, this is a sick topic for German society – a German wife and a Muslim husband, if “heavy artillery” went to play – Diana Kruger. Official Trailer:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyjnzhXJlHU
    In Russia, such women were given a humiliating nickname – “inkpot”.
    https://cs.pikabu.ru/post_img/2013/06/22/12/1371929623_1475948919.jpg

    • There are also other sick mixed marriage such as a Catholic woman from Kosovo who married a Muslim Turk man and then incredibly found acceptance in Britain. It would have been more appropriate for them to start their family life in Turkey instead of in Britain. That is how those Muslim using various sick method to infect a Western society, i.e. using Gullible European women to spread pro-Islamic agenda.

      • My friend “conspirator” decoded this movie this way:
        The film is encouraging because of the appearance of white extremism.
        A child from a mixed marriage dies, which means that multiculturalism has no future.

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