The news feed is light tonight for some reason. Perhaps all our tipsters are en route to Times Square for tomorrow night’s festivities…?
The big story of the day is the second terror attack in Volgograd within two days. A suicide bomber blew himself us in a tram car, killing at least fourteen people and bringing the death toll for the two attacks above thirty. President Vladimir Putin has tightened security measures all across Russia in response to the attacks.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Steen, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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Italy: Long-Term Job Contracts Down in 2013
Italian youth hit especially hard
(ANSA) — Rome, December 30 — The number of long-term job contracts was down in Italy in 2013, especially for the young. On the national level, long-term contracts dropped 1.3%, said a report from national statistics agency Istat. “The phenomenon especially regarded under-30s, with long-term contracts down 9.4% in their category,” said the report. Economists note that 2013 marked the last year of Italy’s worst postwar recession, the effects of which will still be felt in 2014.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Absolute Poverty Double Since 2005, Triple in North
Relative poverty at record high since 1997
(ANSA) — Rome, December 30 — The number of people in crisis-hit Italy living in absolute poverty has doubled between 2005 and 2012 and tripled in the industrial north, up to 6.4% from 2.5%, according to an annual report on social cohesion by national statistics bureau Istat released on Monday.
The report also highlighted that 12.7% of families and 15.8% of individuals living in Italy suffered from relative poverty in 2012, the highest level since 1997 when the bureau started recording poverty levels in the country.
Italy has seen the risk-of-poverty rate rise to almost 30% in 2012, according to the ‘Europe 2020’ report, the highest recorded in Europe after Greece, the report on social cohesion also noted.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Explosive Oil Train Collision Triggers Evacuation in North Dakota
A small town in North Dakota was being partially evacuated Monday evening after a train carrying crude oil collided with another train, setting off a large fire and explosions, according to the local sheriff’s department.
No injuries have been reported, Sgt. Tara Morris of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office told the Los Angeles Times.
Officials received a report at 2:12 p.m. of a train derailing about a mile west of Casselton, a city of 2,432 people about 20 miles west of Fargo, Morris said.
At some point, one train collided with another; one of the trains, belonging to the BNSF Railway, was carrying more than 100 cars loaded with crude oil, Morris said.
Steven Forsberg, a spokeswoman for BNSF, said the accident occurred when a grain train derailed on a track parallel to an eastbound crude oil train. The explosions and fire erupted after cars from the grain train struck some of the oil tank cars, he said.
“A fire ensued, and quickly a number of the cars became engulfed,” Morris said.
Local residents and media captured images of large explosions and a pillar of smoke coming out of the flaming wreckage.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Inside Tao: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit
The NSA’s TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency’s top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Mass Murderer Breivik Treated Better Than Pirate Bay Founder
An international media campaign is targeting the Danish legal system’s treatment of Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svarholm Warg by arguing that convicted Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik receives more humane conviction than the Swedish hacker.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Shots Fired at German Ambassador’s Residence in Athens, Nobody Injured
More than 20 shots were fired at the gate of the German ambassador’s residence in Halandri, northeastern Athens, in a pre-dawn attack on Monday. The raid took place at around 3.30 a.m. but did not cause any injuries or significant damage to the building on Ethnikis Antistaseos Street.
Police sources said that the guard at the residence of Ambassador Wolfgang Dold saw four people open fire at the gate using AK-47 assault rifles. Bullets were found embedded in the steel gate.
The Anti-terrorist squad is investigating the incident and has taken six people in for questioning. CCTV footage is also being examined.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek, German Gov’t Officials Condemn Shooting Outside Ambassador’s Home
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras telephoned German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday shortly after a pre-dawn shooting at the German ambassador’s residence in Halandri, northeastern Athens, an assault which German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described as “very serious.”
Steinmeier said Germany was taking the attack “very seriously.” “Nothing, nothing at all can justify an attack against a representative of our country,” he said. He expressed his satisfaction at the quick response by Greek authorities in investigating the incident, adding that the assailants would not succeed in harming Greek-German ties.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Islamization of Britain in 2013
by Soeren Kern
In May, new census data published by the British government showed that Islam is set to become the dominant religion in Britain within the next generation.
On being informed that the girl did not want to get married, Mohammed Shahid Akhtar, Imam of Birmingham’s Central Jamia Masjid Ghamkol Sharif Mosque, said, “She’s 14. By Sharia, grace of Allah, she’s legal to get married.”
The Muslim population of Britain topped 3.3 million by the end of 2013 to become around 5.2% of the overall population of 63 million, according to figures extrapolated from a recent study on the growth of the Muslim population in Europe.
At the same time, opinion surveys consistently show that voters in Britain view Islam and the question of Muslim immigration as a top-ranked public concern. The British public, it seems, is increasingly worried about the establishment of a parallel Muslim society there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cooperation: Qatar-Morocco Sign USD 1.25 Bln Aid Deal
(ANSAmed) — RABAT — Qatar and Morocco have signed an aid deal worth USD 1.25 billion, part of a five-year package of financial assistance extended by wealthy Gulf states to the North African kingdom to help it weather ‘Arab Spring’ protests. As World Bulletin website reports, four Gulf states — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates — agreed in 2012 to provide aid worth a total USD 5 billion to Morocco in the period 2012-2017 to build up its infrastructure, strengthen its economy and foster tourism. Each of the four countries has committed USD 1.25 billion to Morocco for the whole five year period. The aid is very welcome to King Mohamed — who signed the accord late on Friday with the visiting emir of Qatar — as he seeks to quell the kind of social discontent that helped to oust rulers elsewhere in North Africa, including Tunisia and Egypt. Morocco is under heavy pressure from international lenders to reduce its budget deficit after spending heavily on food and energy subsidies and higher public sector salaries in 2011 and 2012 to help defuse social tensions.
Morocco has budgeted to receive a total USD 1 billion in aid from the Gulf states for 2014. It hopes to cut its budget deficit to 4.9% of gross domestic product next year from an estimated 5.5% in 2013. Qatar was the last of the four Gulf states to sign the aid accord with Morocco. It was not immediately clear whether Qatar would disburse the aid installments for both 2012 and 2013, each worth USD 250 million, together. The Gulf states have agreed a similar package of aid, also worth a total USD 5 billion over a five-year period, for Jordan.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Three Al Jazeera Journalists, Cameraman Under Arrest
On charges of threatening national security
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 30 — Egyptian police on Sunday night arrested four Al Jazeera journalists in Cairo on charges of compromising “national security”, the interior ministry said in a note Monday. Correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy are accused of broadcasting illegally from a hotel suite together with a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government has declared a terrorist organization.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: US-Libyan Forces Capture Ansar Al-Sharia Chief
Jihadist allegedly plotted 2012 attack on US embassy in Tunis
(ANSAmed) — ROME, — The leader of Tunisian jihadist organization Ansar al-Sharia, Abou Iyadh, was arrested Monday in Libya during a joint US-Libyan special forces operation, Tunisian website Business News reported. Several fellow jihadists were also arrested during the operation, which took place at dawn in the city of Misrata. Abou Iyadh, whose real name is Saifallah Benahssine, allegedly planned a September 14, 2012 attack on the US embassy in Tunis during a demonstration by hundreds of protesters against an anti-Islamic film produced in the US and released on the Internet.
Four assailants died and dozens of protesters were wounded in that incident.
A trial for that assault ended in May with suspended two-year sentences against 20 defendants. Ansar al-Sharia is the jihadist component of Tunisian Salafism.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Political Islam’s “Night of St. Bartholomew”
The government upheaval and police charges against political figures stem from opposition of once allied followers of Prime Minister Erdogan and those of Imam Gulen , the founder of the Hizmet Islamic community. A critical political phase with dangerous and unpredictable consequences.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) — A Night of St. Bartholomew has erupted within Turkish political Islam and pits the followers of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and those of the founder of the community Hizmet ( Offer ) , Imam Fethullah Gulen against each other.
The former stem from Milli Gorus (religious nationalists) now known as Necmetin Erbakan. In 1969 Erbakan founded Pasrtisi Milli Nizam ( National Order Party), then Refah Partisi ( the Welfare Party ), Virtue Partisi ( Virtue Party ), through whose ranks Erdogan rose, before founding together with the current President of the Republic, Abdullah Gul and the current Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc , the AKP Party. Headed by Erdogan and in power since 2002, it has succeeded in freezing out the successors of Kemal Ataturk.
The latter are concentrated around Fehullah Gulen , a man without any special preparation, considered the successor to Said Nursi (1878-1960) as an expression of a more liberal Islam and culture.
The Islamic community Hizmet is characterized by great economic and cultural strength and is supported by Turkish businessmen and influences a large number of Muslims. It has founded and maintains schools and universities in dozens of countries and has established a network of institutions for access to universities and vocational schools for disadvantaged students. There are about 500 of these schools in Turkey alone and a strong presence in the Islamic Balkans and also in Asia and Africa. The organization offers scholarships, housing, and moral guidance to students who come from rural areas . Hizmet supports the synergy of science and technology with the teachings of Islam and convoked the Olympics of Turkish culture for the Turkic speaking peoples around the world.
The group owns two newspapers in Turkey, Zaman ( The Times ) in Turkish language and Today’s Zaman in English, as well as several other media.
Active since the mid- 1980s , the organization has succeeded in placing its men in the civil service, police and judiciary, but has failed to place its men in the army. For this reason, in 1999 it was accused by the military of trying to overthrow the secular state. Gulen was acquitted in 2008 and since March 1999 lives in Pennsylvania and is considered the father of the community.
Gulen and Erdogan found themselves allied in the common attempt to overthrow the “secular” Kemalist regome. According to several Turkish analysts, the alliance was dependent on the AKP’s reliance on the experience of members of Hizmet , well infiltrated in the police , the judiciary and civil service, once the Party came to power. This in order not to become prey to Kemalists. In turn the community was living in fear of being suppressed and had no other choice but to cooperate with the AKP ..
With an end to the domination of the army and judiciary, the two pillars of Kemalism, Erdogan — on the back of three successive victories policies (2002, 2007, and 2011) , reaching 50% and more than 58% obtained in the referendum of 2010 for the change of the Turkish constitution — decided to build his own system no longer willing to share power.
This in turn pushed Gulen to distance thimself from the AKP leader, also because of his positions against Israel, following the Israeli attack on the “Mavi Marmara” ..
Gulen, a combination of Muslim piety and classic Turkish nationalism , is , among other things, deeply anti-Arab and strongly pro-Western. And when the riots broke out in the so-called “Arab Spring” and the Turkish prime minister began to declare Turkey the protector of Arabs , Gulen was further annoyed. The final blow was the war in Syria and Erdogan’s support of Islamic extremists.
But the Gezi Park protests were also fuel for criticism from Gulen against Erdogan accused of failing to perceive the voice of Turkish society that is changing.
And Erdogan’s project, the conquest of the Presidency of the Republic in the summer of 2014 , is seen as a confirmation of the dangerous dictatorial tendencies of the prime minister, who according to whispers in Turkey’s diplomatic circles, will not listen to anyone and considers himself a victim of international conspiracies .
Erdogan responded to Gulen’s attack by deciding to suspend, by 2015, all institutions and schools that are part of Hizmet, thus aiming at the heart of the organization.
The following is the news reports as they emerged the day before yesterday : December 17th the police carried out a series of arrests, including the children of three important ministers; the Ministers for the Interior , Economy and Environment Muamar Guler, Zafer Caglajan and Erdogan Rahvali, all charged with bribery, embezzlement , abuse of power . And as of yesterday the news emerged that Erdogan’s son is being investigated.
In short, the police, controlled by Gulen , who helped Erdogan to dismantle the Kemalists, is targeting Erdogan. The die is cast, and it is unknown whether the radical reshuffle made Erdogan will prevent his political collapse. Turkey is entering a critical political phase with dangerous and unpredictable consequences.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Woman Detained for Protesting Erdogan With Shoebox
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, DECEMBER 30 — Turkish police detained a woman in the western province of Manisa yesterday after she protested against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a shoebox, in a reference to money found in shoeboxes during a major corruption operation, as Cihan News Agency reported.
Police seized USD 4.5 million in cash in shoeboxes during the bribery raid in the house of Suleyman Aslan on December 18, the general manager of the state-run lender Halkbank. The woman, identified as Nurhan Gul, reportedly showed a shoebox from her balcony while Erdogan was addressing his supporters during a rally in Manisa’s Akhisar district. Shortly after Gul’s protest, police and bodyguards of the prime minister came and detained the woman. Gul has been released pending trial after she was taken to the police station and questioned for two hours. “I waved the empty shoebox and sat at my balcony. I did not use any word or verbal expression. Bodyguards and police came to my house after one or two minutes. They asked who waved that box. I was detained after saying it was me,” Gul said in her testimony.
Gul added that she wanted to protest her 690-lira (233 euro) retirement salary because she thought the reason of her low salary was due to investigations into the police and prosecutors instead of defrauder and thieves.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
2nd Deadly Blast Hits Russian City of Volgograd Ahead of 2014 Sochi Olympics
(CNN) — Another deadly blast has struck the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing at least 14 people and further highlighting Russia’s security challenges as it readies to host the Winter Olympics in less than six weeks.
An explosion hit a trolleybus near a busy market during the morning rush hour Monday, taking place the day after a blast at Volgograd’s main train station killed 17 people and wounded at least 35 others.
Like Sunday’s attack, the blast Monday was a terrorist act, Vladmir Markin, a spokesman for the country’s federal investigation agency, told the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosions. But they come several months after the leader of a Chechen separatist group pledged violence to disrupt the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism in Volgograd: At Least 26 Dead in 24 Hours
This morning , during rush hour, an explosion destroyed a tram and killed 10 passengers. Yesterday, a female suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded 35 . The suicide bomber came from the North Caucasus and had been married to two Islamists, both killed in battle. Terrorist attacks spread over the Caucasus and aim to stop the Sochi Olympics.
Moscow (AsiaNews / Agencies ) — At least 26 dead in 24 hours: This is the provisional toll from two explosions, which are considered “acts of terrorism” that occurred within 24 hours in Volgograd, less than six weeks from the Winter Olympics Sochi ..
This morning at 8.10, during rush hour traffic, an explosion killed 10 people and wounded 15 , destroying the tram they were travelling on. Yesterday, a suicide bomber killed at least 16 people in an attack at one o’clock in the afternoon in the city’s railway station . The explosion took place in front of the metal detector, away from the mass of waiting passengers, but also resulted in 35 injuries.
The attacks occur while Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February, in Sochi, about 700 km from Volgograd. President Vladimir Putin has already decreed a step up in security measures, especially in airports and train stations.
Last October, again in Volgograd, a female suicide bomber killed six people in a bus. According to the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the woman had arrived from Dagestan an hour before the attack.
Initial reports reveal that yesterday’s attack at the train station was also carried out by a woman. According to the website lifenews.ru , which published a photo of what is apparently a woman’s head, she is Oksana Aslanova , twice married to two Islamist killed in battle against the armed forces in the North Caucasus ..
In Dagestan and Chechnya there is a continuous war between Islamic militants and security forces linked to Moscow. The fundamentalists want to establish an Islamist state all over the Caucasus . Their leader, Doku Umarov , has ordered offensives against civilians outside the Caucasus and targeting the Sochi Olympics .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vladimir Putin Issues New Security Measures in Russia After Volgograd Bombings
Security has been stepped up in Moscow and throughout Russia, following the deadly explosions in Volgograd. President Vladimir Putin has reportedly issued a series of new measures to Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee in an effort to “strengthen security Russia-wide and specifically in the Volgograd region.”
The blasts have heightened fears about public safety throughout the country. “It’s very painful and scary”, said one passenger in a train station in Moscow. Extra officers are being deployed to railway stations and airports nationwide.
Reports suggest Sunday’s train station bomber is from Dagestan, the province adjacent to Chechnya and the centre of a long-running Islamist insurgency. The insurgency is rooted in two post-Soviet separatist wars in Chechnya, the second of which was launched by Putin during his time as Prime Minister. It succeeded in driving separatists from power.
Some experts had already predicted further attacks in southern Russia before the start of the Winter Olympics in February.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Despite two favourable Supreme Court rulings and two years of waiting, Protestant Christians in West Java still cannot use their place of worship after it was sealed off under pressure from fundamentalists. Christmas services are held under the protection of more than 300 police and security agents. Underground religious activities show what “freedom for minorities” means in “modern and democratic” Indonesia, Christian leader says.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Members of the Yasmin Church in Bogor, West Java, celebrated Christmas in a temporary shelter, clinging to the hope that one day their church can reopen.
Two years ago, district authorities seized the church used by the Protestant Christian community for weekend services and major holidays.
They took the building for alleged irregularities in its construction permits, following pressures from local Islamic extremists, who are bent on denying equality rights and freedom of worship to the city’s small but significant religious minority.
Their pressures have proved stronger than two rulings by the Indonesian Supreme Court in favour of the Yasmin Church, ordering the building’s return to the community and its reopening.
In fact, local authorities have refused to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in order to appease the demands of fundamentalist movements.
“We have been forced to hide for some time now,” going “from one place to another,” said Dori Susanto, 60. Until “our rightful place of worship” is not returned, “we shall continue to do so,” she added.
In 2006, district authorities granted the community all the building permits required by the law, only to cancel them under pressure from the Muslim majority, stirred up by extremist Islamic groups.
For this reason, members of the GKI Yasmin Church celebrated another Christmas at a location far from their church, whose doors remain are still sealed by order of the Bogor Municipality.
The Protestant community held the services in a makeshift shelter, which had a roof but was otherwise open to the weather, surrounded by at least 300 police and security officers. Not far away, Islamists and members of radical Muslim groups stood by watching the scene.
Still, the faithful were not intimidated and tried instead to participate in the various events. “We’re doing the right thing,” some of them said, “and we are not afraid.”
Their leader and spokesperson Bona Sigalingging backed their stance, saying that church members are determined and resolute to continue the celebrations out in the open or at emergency sites, until their place of worship is not returned.
“Underground religious activities are a clear signal to the government,” he added. “In an ostensibly democratic country, there is still the discriminatory practice of sealing off their places of worship.”
A prominent local Muslim leader named Turmudi, joined in Christmas celebrations at the Yasmin Church, stressing that it is the duty of Muslims to “maintain ties with others “, including religious minorities.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has seen a rise in the number of attacks or acts of intolerance against minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi Muslims and others.
Aceh is the only Indonesian province that enforces Sharia (Islamic law), following a peace deal between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM); however, in many other parts of the country, people are subjected to more radical and extreme visions of Islam.
In addition, certain rules such as the notorious building permit (Ijin Mendirikan Bangunan or IBM in Indonesian) are used to prevent construction or seal off places worship, like the Yasmin Church in West Java.
Indonesia’s constitution does recognise freedom of religion, but Christians have become the victims of acts of violence and abuse in the recent past.
In December alone, at least five Christian places of worship had to close their doors because of pressure from Islamists, local sources report.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant War on British Streets: Secret Home Office Report Warns of Violence
A NEW flood of Eastern European migrants could spark racial clashes on our streets, a secret Government report has warned.
Romanians and Bulgarians will be allowed free entry into the UK from Wednesday.
But a hush-hush study says the impact could be devastating.
No-one knows how many migrants will arrive, but the report says it could be far more than the 50,000 forecast.
It predicts tension between the new migrants and those already living here if they undercut the wages of Polish workers as well as Brits.
Serious conflicts could flare in what is described as a breakdown in “social cohesion”.
Former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett, 66, has predicted an “explosion” in his home city of Sheffield if the local Roma community do not do more to fit in.
The report was commissioned by the Home Office and produced by academics from Reading University.
Dr Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MPIgor Kaminski, who runs a Polish building firm in London, said: “There’s a lot of fear the cheaper end of the market will collapse under pressure from Bulgarians and Romanian workers who, for a short time, will accept any prices.”
Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said: “Our population is already rising faster than any other country in Europe, with one third the result of immigration. The pressures on infrastructure and employment can no longer be ignored.
“It is also right that Prime Minister David Cameron should concern himself with deteriorating community relations in places like Sheffield, and right that he considers the consequences of doing nothing. He must grasp the nettle.”
An ICM poll yesterday found that 72% of Brits think restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian migrants should be kept in place.
And another survey by Ipsos MORI found two thirds of people would only welcome newcomers if they work, pay taxes and learn English.
Among those planning to come is jobless Romanian Toni Samdu, 40, wife Mia, 38, their four children, aged six to 14, and gran Elena Moise, 64, who live in poverty in Barbulesti.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Ref. the muslim killers in Russia, I wonder if Mr Putin is planning any response to that Bandar character from Saudi Arabia; he sounds like a very bad man.
One for the next news round up
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25563233
“It is not an unfamiliar story. In the US too, a section of the Afro-American population – represented by the Nation of Islam movement – has shown varying degrees of hostility towards Jews.”
Note the contention that it is the BLACK who is hostile to the Jew – rather than the MUSLIM who is hostile to the Jew….
Goes far beyond Islam in the AA community. We’re talking decades of Cultural Marxism indoctrination where “blame whitey” and ‘the white man as cancer upon the world’ has been a dominant stream of thought. So Jews get lumped in with whites by virtue of their skin pigmentation.
In the most recent case of “knockout or Polar Bear hunting” in NYC. Hasidic Jews were targeted and clobbered by local AA youth merely because they were moving into their neighborhoods. Pure racism.
Funny how the ADL and SPLC won’t say anything about such behavior.
And remember how Sharpton got his start by agitating the local AA population in NYC against several Jewish owned businesses to the point the blacks rioted and burned down one. He so terrified the NYC elite they bought him off by making him a national spokesperson for the AA community among other things.
The last para of Hugh Schofield’s BBC Mag article refers to French Jews’ “co-religionists in Palestine”. Is this an error, or a Freudian slip betraying the BBC’s denial of Israel’s status?