Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/15/2014

Tunisia’s new constitution has come into effect. It is the most secular such document in the Arab world. Although it recognizes the influence of religion, it does not set up Islam as the state religion or make sharia the source of legislation. It guarantees freedom of religion, forbids accusations of apostasy, and gives women full equality with men.

In other news, a car bomb that blew up in front of a mosque yesterday in southern Syria claimed 48 lives, with 150 wounded. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has agreed to supply the Syrian rebels with mobile antiaircraft missiles.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, RR, 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
» Balanced Budget Amendments (BBA) Gut Our Constitution and Don’t Reduce Spending
» Exposing What Lies Beneath the Bodies of Dead Bankers and What Lies Ahead for US
» Portugal: Army and Police Protest Against Austerity
 
USA
» “I Didn’t Join to be Sacrificed.” — American Soldier
» A Southern Black History Month Tribute
» Ain’t That Amerika?
» Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Was Found Guilty on 20 of 21 Corruption Counts
» Iowa Jury: Imam Not Guilty of Sexual Abuse
» Mistrial on First-Degree Murder Charge as Jury Reaches Partial Verdict in Florida Killing
» Police Shoot, Kill 80-Year-Old Man in His Own Bed, Don’t Find the Drugs They Were Looking for
» Vigil Protests Anti-Semitic Messages Targeting New Mexico Deli
» We’re Number 46
 
Europe and the EU
» France: Killer of Ilan Halimi Attacks Guard
» Germany: Merkel Coalition Hit by Resignation
» Italy: ‘International Arbitration’ On Marines Mulled
» Italy: Parliamentarians Spend €7 Million a Year on Paper
» Italy: 50 Candidates for Renzi’s 12-Strong Lean Team
» Italy: Berlusconi: “I Was the Last PM Elected by the People”
» UK: Couple Let Neighbour Sleep on Sofa — Then He Crept Upstairs to Butcher Their Son, Four… Before Curling Up Beside Mother’s Bed
» UK: Conservative Backbenchers Ready to Rebel Over European Warrants
» UK: Campus Extremism in 2013
» UK: Hamza Tzortzis and IERA’s Dawah Training Workshops
» UK: Outrage at Hate Threat to ‘Burn’ Planned Cambridge Mosque as City Shows Its Support for the £17m Project
» UK: Sack All Cabinet Climate Change Sceptics, Say the Greens in ‘Quasi-Fascist’ Policy
» UK: Three Middlesbrough Men Jailed for Grooming Underage Girls for Sex
 
North Africa
» 92 Prisoners Escape in Western Libyan Jailbreak
» Child Killed in Clashes Between Egypt Security Forces, Pro-Morsi Protesters
» Egypt: Prosecution Refers 170 Brotherhood Supporters to Criminal Court
» Morocco: Christian Convert From Islam Exonerated From Charges of Proselytising
» Tunis: Arab World’s Most Modern Constitution Comes Into Effect
» Tunisia: Mount Chaambi Shelled Again
» Tunisia Pursues Mosque Neutrality
 
Middle East
» Bahrain Protest Attracts Tens of Thousands, No Clashes
» Car Bomb in Southern Syria Kills 48 and Injures 150
» Dubai Air Passenger Traffic Grows at Hong Kong’s Expense But Service Remains Poor
» Iraq: 17 Soldiers, Policemen Killed by Gunmen in Attacks Across Iraq
» Middle Earth as the Middle East
» Policeman Dies of Injures in Bahrain Terror Blast
» Saudi Lovers Defy Police, Celebrate Valentine Day
» Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles
» Syria: Car Bomb Carnage Outside Mosque
» Turkish Legislators Brawl Over Disputed Bill
 
Russia
» Russian Praises Veterans of War in Afghanistan
» Russian Proton Rocket Carrying Turkish Satellite Blasts Off From Baikonur
» U.S. Defeats Russia, 3-2, In Olympic Men’s Hockey
 
South Asia
» 2 Afghan Civilians Killed in Suicide Bomb Attack
» Marines Expected Back in Italy, Even Though the Affair Not Likely “Resolved Before India’s Elections” In May
» Valentine’s Day Banned in Kyrgyzstani Schools
 
Far East
» China Says 11 ‘Terrorists’ Killed in New Xinjiang Unrest
» China Plans the World’s Longest Undersea Tunnel
 
Australia — Pacific
» China’s Military is on the March and Canberra Must Take Note
» Threats of Reprisal as Racial Tensions Rise in Aftermath of Rape
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Mali: UN Experts Find ‘Serious Damage’ By Armed Extremists to Cultural Sites in Gao
» Nigeria: Residents of Calabar Resort to Jungle Justice
» Nigeria: Missing U.S.$20 Billion — Senate, Okonjo-Iweala Can’t Vouch for NNPC Documents, Opt for Forensic Examination
 
Latin America
» Venezuelan Forces Break Up Anti-Government Protests With Water Tanks, Tear Gas
 
Immigration
» Almost 400 Immigrants Rescued Off Lampedusa on Saturday
» Americans Must Stop Amnesty in Any Form
» Christoph Blocher, The Swiss Billionaire Behind the Referendum: Q & A
» Spain Admits Firing Rubber Bullets at Migrants Swimming to Enclave
» Spain Closes Enclave to Avert Syrian Migrant Rush
 
Culture Wars
» Swiss Tackle Homophobia in Sport
» The “Agenda for the 21st Century” Is the Root of Your Fight
 

Balanced Budget Amendments (BBA) Gut Our Constitution and Don’t Reduce Spending

Q: Doesn’t our Constitution already provide for controlling federal spending?

A: Yes. It lists the purposes for which Congress may spend money. Spending is limited by the “enumerated powers” listed in the Constitution:

a) If it’s on the list of powers delegated to Congress or the President, Congress may lawfully appropriate funds for it. Read the Constitution and highlight the delegated powers — then you will know what Congress may lawfully spend money on.

b) If it’s not listed, Congress may not lawfully spend money on it.

Q: What is the connection between the Oath of office (Art. VI, cl. 3) and federal spending?

A: All federal and State officials take an Oath to support the federal Constitution. The Constitution lists what Congress may lawfully spend money on. When people in Congress spend money on objects not listed in the Constitution; and when State officials accept federal funds for objects not listed (race to the top, common core, etc.) they violate their Oath to support the Constitution.

[…]

Q: Would s BBA fundamentally transform our Constitution?

A: Yes. All versions of the BBA amend out the enumerated powers limitations on the federal government and transform the federal government into one of general & unlimited powers where the feds may spend money on whatever they want as long as they don’t exceed the spending limits “imposed” by the BBA.

Q: So a BBA changes the constitutional criterion for spending?

A: Yes! All versions of the BBA change the criterion from:

a) WHAT Congress spends money on (it must be an enumerated power), to

b) A LIMIT on total spending where Congress can spend money on whatever they want.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Exposing What Lies Beneath the Bodies of Dead Bankers and What Lies Ahead for US

Banker Suicides: The JPMorgan-CIA-NYPD connection

I feel that this is one of the most important investigations I’ve ever done. If my findings are correct, each of us might soon experience a severe, if not crippling blow to our personal finances, the confiscation of any wealth some of us have been able to accumulate over our lifetimes, and the end of the financial world as we once knew it. The evidence to support my findings exists in the trail of dead bodies of financial executives across the globe and a missing Wall Street Journal Reporter who was working at the Dow Jones news room at the time of his disappearance.

If the bodies were dots on a piece of paper, connecting them results in a sinister picture being drawn that involves global criminal activity in the financial world the likes of which is almost without precedent. It should serve as a warning that we are at the precipice of something so big, it will shake the financial world as we know it to its core. It seems to illustrate the complicity of big banks and governments, the intelligence community, and the media.

Although the trail of mysterious and bizarre deaths detailed below begin in late January, 2014, there are others. Not only that, there will be more, according to sources within the financial world. Based on my findings, these are not mere random, tragic cases of suicide, but of the methodical silencing of individuals who had the ability to expose financial fraud at the highest levels, and the complicity of certain governmental agencies and individuals who are engaged in the greatest theft of wealth the world has ever seen.

[…]

The missing and the dead: a timeline

The following is provided as a chronological list of those who have gone missing or been found dead under mysterious circumstances. It is important to note that this list consists of names of the most recent incidents. There are more that extend back through 2012 and beyond.

[…]

One must look back far enough to understand the enormity of the lie and the criminality of bankers and governments alike. We must understand the legal restraints that were severed during the Clinton years and the congress that changed the rules regarding financial institutions. We must understand that the criminal acts were bold and bipartisan, and were designed to consolidate wealth through the destruction of the middle class. All of this is part of a much larger plan to establish a one world economy by “killing” the U.S. dollar and consequently, eradicating the middle class by a cabal of globalists that existed and continue to exist within all sectors of our government. The results will be crippling to not just the United States, but the entire Western world.

[Comment: Read it all.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Portugal: Army and Police Protest Against Austerity

Demonstration in Lisbon against government measures

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, FEBRUARY 14 — Portugal’s police forces will stage a demonstration on March 5 in Lisbon against the austerity policies of Pedro Passos Coelho’s government and to ask that measures adopted under the 2014 Budget be scrapped.

For the same reason, 200 military personnel with the three main associations on Thursday demonstrated peacefully, complaining about constant cuts to the army’s budget which they say “debase the role of the military”.

The army has been particularly targeted by cuts and registered the highest level of early retirements among public employees — 8.2% — with 21,000 early retirees. Among unpopular budget measures approved solely with the votes of the conservative majority coalition are salary cuts for public workers and an increase of five work hours a week; the retirement age was also raised to 66 and spouse’s pensions were blocked if a couple’s pensions exceeded together 2,000 euros a month.

The budget is worth 3.9 billion (2.3% of GDP) to respect parameters imposed by the Troika (EU, ECB and IMF) when it granted 78 billion in 2011, with a 4% deficit forecast for 2014.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

“I Didn’t Join to be Sacrificed.” — American Soldier

Army Ranger who recently left the military: “I had to get out. I have a family who needs me. I didn’t join to be sacrificed. I joined to fight.” From an article of mine:

Our altruistic concern for the future and well being of the Muslim world has come at the expense of American lives and treasure. We’ve placed the well being of “The Muslim World” above our own self-defense. We’ve placed today’s Big Lie, “Islam means peace”, above the truth we need to act on…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

A Southern Black History Month Tribute

Did you know that Black units were segregated in the Union army but Black soldiers were integrated in the Confederate Army?

“If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.” — Karl Marx

February is Black History Month and America will not forget her past!

This Black History Month tribute is dedicated in memory of Atlanta, Georgia native and friend Eddie Brown Page, 111. Eddie was a Black Historian who loved American history “not political correctness” and knew the true stories about the men and women who bravely carried the United States and Confederate flags into battle.

Black Americans today like: Mr. H.K. Edgerton from North Carolina, Mr. Nelson Winbush from Florida and Professor Edward Smith from Washington, D.C. teach the true history of the South and the USA. Mr. Winbush’s Maternal Confederate Grandfather Louis Napoleon Nelson fought with General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Winbush and Edgerton are both members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Mr. Edgerton is also past president of a North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP. Read more about Mr. Edgerton here:

Black Confederate Soldiers included men like: Amos Rucker who fought alongside his Southern Comrades and upon his death in 1905 was buried with full honors with his Confederate gray uniform and casket draped with the Confederate Battle flag. His long missing grave marker at Atlanta’s Southview Cemetery was remarked in 2006 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The 1989 movie “Glory” educated us about the Black men who fought in the Union Army during the War Between the States…But, where are the movies about the Black men who served the Southern Confederacy? Did you know that Black units were segregated in the Union army but Black soldiers were integrated in the Confederate Army?

Mr. Ed Bearss, who served as Chief Historian of the National Park Service from 1981 to 1994 said:

“I don’t want to call it a conspiracy to ignore the role of Blacks both above and below the Mason-Dixon Line, but it was definitely a tendency that began around 1910.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ain’t That Amerika?

A paramilitary team operated by North Carolina’s Wilson County Sheriff’s Office recently executed what was described as a “high risk search warrant” on a narcotics suspect. The members of the “Emergency Response Team,” clad in black armor, bucket helmets, and balaclavas, found what “nearly a pound of marijuana” — which could be the yield from a single healthy plant — and a single handgun.

A photograph taken by an embedded correspondent for the Wilson Times newspaper showed two of the masked SWAT operators in full military regalia. One of them bore, ‘mid snow and ice, a tactical shield inscribed with a strange device — “Defender.”

To those not of an Orwellian cast of mind, it’s not clear what or whom the stormtroopers were defending. Peace officers don’t dress that way, nor do they conduct military-style raids to arrest people suspected of non-violent offenses. Perhaps most importantly, peace officers don’t wear masks to hide their identity from the people they are supposedly protecting.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Was Found Guilty on 20 of 21 Corruption Counts

This week, in an overwhelming victory for federal prosecutors, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was found guilty on 20 of 21 corruption counts. A jury convicted Nagin of bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns. The former Mayor could face decades in prison and will be sentenced on June 11.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Iowa Jury: Imam Not Guilty of Sexual Abuse

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A prayer leader at an Islamic cultural center in Des Moines has been found not guilty of sexual abuse charges…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Mistrial on First-Degree Murder Charge as Jury Reaches Partial Verdict in Florida Killing

After four days of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Michael Dunn, a Florida man who shot a teenager to death in a parking lot during a dispute over loud music, said it could not agree on whether Mr. Dunn had acted in self-defense or was guilty of murder.

The jurors did find Mr. Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted murder for getting out of his car, and firing several times at the Durango sport utility vehicle in which Jordan Davis, 17, was killed but three other teenagers survived. Mr. Dunn continued to fire at the car even as it pulled away. For that crime, Mr. Dunn he could be sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison.

The judge declared a mistrial on the count of first-degree murder. The jury also failed to reach agreement on lesser charges that are automatically included in jury instructions.Those were second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors are free to move ahead with a new trial on the murder charge, if they wish.

[Return to headlines]
 

Police Shoot, Kill 80-Year-Old Man in His Own Bed, Don’t Find the Drugs They Were Looking for

In the early morning hours of June 27, 2013, a team of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies pulled up to the home of Eugene Mallory, an 80-year-old retired engineer living in the rural outskirts of Los Angeles county with his wife Tonya Pate and stepson Adrian Lamos.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Vigil Protests Anti-Semitic Messages Targeting New Mexico Deli

(JTA) — A vigil was held to show support for a New Mexico deli targeted with anti-Semitic messages. The Thursday night vigil took place outside Albuquerque’s Nosh deli, which has had mailing labels scrawled with anti-Semitic messages left on its front door in two separate incidents. The vigil drew more than 100 people, according to the Albuquerque Journal…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

We’re Number 46

It goes without saying that a free press is one of the building blocks, one of the cornerstones, of freedom and democracy and that freedom and democracy cannot possibly exist if freedom of the press doesn’t exist as well. Freedom of the press is absolutely essential to freedom and democracy and freedom and democracy cannot exist, or survive, without it. The freedom that Americans enjoyed over the years, and to a certain extent still enjoy, was built on the foundation of freedom of the press. When freedom of the press disappears freedom disappears along with it and that is exactly what is happening in the United States today…freedom of the press in the U.S. is disappearing and so is freedom in general.

Think that’s an exaggeration do you? Pick any major issue of the day, ObamaCare, the economy, Iran’s threatening behavior, the Islamization of the country and its institutions, including the military, Syria, the Middle East in general, immigration, race relations, crime, gun control, gay rights, Obama’s usurping more and more power unto himself and his generally lawless activities, anything, and try finding anything but the party line in any of the national press or mainstream media, or most of the local press or local media either. You won’t, and the reasons why are the reasons why America is ranked number 46. And slipping.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France: Killer of Ilan Halimi Attacks Guard

(JTA) — The man serving a life sentence in France for the brutal murder of a Parisian Jew attacked a prison guard with a sharp object. Youssouf Fofana used a sharpened toothbrush to attack a guard accompanying him to a public phone booth earlier this week at the Conde-sur-Sarthe prison, 155 miles from Paris, according to Le Parisien. The report did not say whether the guard was wounded or how badly…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Merkel Coalition Hit by Resignation

New tensions in German grand coalition as minister resigns

A senior German minister resigned on Friday amid accusations he leaked confidential information about another politician suspected of possessing child pornography, dealing a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel and her two-month old government…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘International Arbitration’ On Marines Mulled

Issue of where shooting took place key says Mauro

(ANSA) — Rome, February 14 — The Italian government’s task force on two marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen two years ago on Friday considered putting the case to international arbitration because of a dispute over where the February 2012 incident took place, Defence Minister Mario Mauro said.

“We explored the hypothesis of (international) arbitration,” Mauro told reporters on his way out of the meeting.

The ship from which marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone fired the shots was in international waters, Italy contends.

India invoked a tough anti-piracy law that allows the extension of territorial waters in certain cases.

However, the Indian government is reportedly considering dropping the SUA Act provisions and trying the pair under ordinary penal code.

Latorre and Girone face up to 10 years in jail for allegedly murdering fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after mistaking their trawler for a pirate ship.

International pressure, from the United Nations, NATO and the European Union, is mounting on India to concede ground to Italy in the case.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Parliamentarians Spend €7 Million a Year on Paper

Single largest item is printing parliamentary proceedings Every year, paper copies of laws, decrees and amendments made available to deputies cost of more than €5 million

Eighty-eight thousand six hundred euros is how much the Chamber of Deputies spent in 2013 on newspapers and magazines for the college of quaestors. There must be a lot of quaestors, you might think, but in fact there are just three: Stefano Dambruoso from Civic Choice (SC), Paolo Fontanelli of the Democratic Party (PD) and Forza Italia’s (FI).Gregorio Fontana. That comes to €29,500 each every year, or €82 a day, for newspapers and periodicals alone. The three quaestors must have seen the figure written down somewhere since they have to draft the accounts for the Chamber of Deputies and check there haven’t been any silly expenses. It comes as no surprise, then, to find that they didn’t notice how much is spent every year on reading material for their colleagues. And taxpayers foot the €165,000 bill for newspapers and magazines that end up on the other deputies’ desks. Is parliamentary productivity as low as it is because deputies are reading the papers all day?

But even this figure pales in comparison with the amount the Chamber of Deputies spends each year on paper. Totting up all the relevant items in the 2013 accounts, you get a total of €6 million, including €388,000 for assorted types of paper and other stationery, as well as €30,000 just for consultancy on printing and binding. The single largest item is printing parliamentary proceedings. Every year, paper copies of laws, decrees and amendments are made available to deputies at a cost of more than €5 million. Yet Parliament has allocated a fund so that senators and deputies can purchase tablets, computers and similar IT equipment in order to encourage the use of digital documents and cut the number of paper copies. Every deputy has €2,500 available each legislature, and senators have €4,000, making a total of €2.7 million.

However, parliamentarians can’t be all that familiar with technology. The PD’s Stefano Fassino says he is unable to work without pen and paper. “I’m not convinced they’re entirely interchangeable because sometimes you have to write on the documents themselves. When I’m scrutinising a law’s provisions, I take notes, write things on it down and insert my amendments. It’s just not the same thing”. In effect, jotting a note or an amendment down on a tablet is not the same thing: you have to know how to use a tablet…

English translation by Giles Watson www.watson.it

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

Italy: 50 Candidates for Renzi’s 12-Strong Lean Team

Alfano to stay deputy PM. Technocrat possibles include Colao. List ready in seven days. Flick in line for justice ministry and Emiliano for transport

ROME — More than fifty names are being bandied about for Matteo Renzi’s new government so if it is true that he wants a lean team of twelve or thirteen, most are destined to be disappointed. But they will have to wait until the very last moment to find out, as was the case when the Democratic Party (PD) secretariat was being formed. When he has to, Matteo Renzi changes his mind as quickly as he can take a decision. There are precious few fixed points from which to sketch the government team Mr Renzi is preparing, with help from Graziano Delrio. PD sources say the list will be ready in seven days.

DEPUTY PREMIER CONFIRMED — The first item is the delicate matter of the deputy premiership. Mr Renzi has always said he dislikes deputies but the latest indications are that Angelino Alfano will be confirmed as deputy prime minister without portfolio. Candidates for the equally delicate post of junior minister for the Prime Minister’s Office include PD spokesman Lorenzo Guerini and current minister, Graziano Delrio, who is also regarded as the favourite for the interior. Ministries will have to be discussed with the PD’s allies. The PD is said to be taking five with one for Civic Choice (SC) and the People’s Party for Italy (PPI), and two for the New Centre-right (NCD). The rest will go to technocrats or other non-political figures.

ECONOMY QUANDARY — The most difficult seat to fill is at the ministry of the economy. Fabrizio Saccomani, one of the most criticised ministers in the Letta cabinet, is certain to leave. He could be replaced by Lucrezia Reichlin, a candidate for the deputy governorship of the Bank of England, but there are many others in line, including Tito Boeri, Pier Carlo Padoan and Fabrizio Barca, not to mention Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, president of Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi. Another key ministry is employment. Here two very different contenders are vying for office: former PD and CGIL union federation secretary Guglielmo Epifani and the youthful Marianna Madia, whose parliamentary career began several years ago thanks to Walter Veltroni. Fabrizio Barca, again, is a possible number three. There is insistent talk of the justice ministry going to centrist Michele Vietti but the emeritus president of the Constitutional Court, Giovanni Maria Flick, is also in the running. Maria Elena Boschi is a racing certainty for the cabinet. The reform portfolio is her likely destination but the game of government musical chairs could see her end up at the culture ministry, where Gianni Cuperlo and Matteo Orfini are also in contention, or at relations with parliament, where Dario Franceschini could be confirmed or hand over to Roberto Giachetti. The PD might also take over Maurizio Lupi’s infrastructure ministry, for which the mayor of Bari, Michele Emiliano, is in the running with his fellow-mayor from Salerno, Vincenzo De Luca, although Mr De Luca appears merely to have nominated himself in yesterday’s speech to the party executive. Emanuele Fiano is linked with the defence ministry…

English translation by Giles Watson www.watson.it

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

Italy: Berlusconi: “I Was the Last PM Elected by the People”

(AGI) Rome, Feb 14 — Silvio Berlusconi spoke to supporters at a Forza Italia rally on Friday, commenting on the current political situation in Italy. “I was the last prime minister who was elected by the people”, he said.

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

UK: Couple Let Neighbour Sleep on Sofa — Then He Crept Upstairs to Butcher Their Son, Four… Before Curling Up Beside Mother’s Bed

Anwar Rosser, 33, was given a whole-life tariff today at Bradford Crown Court after stabbing little Riley Turner (pictured) 30 times as he slept in his own bed.

Sharon Smith and her partner Guy Earwaker had thought psychopath Anwar Daniel Rosser was a harmless neighbour and allowed him to stay at their house when he asked after turning up after a night out.

In the early hours, the 33-year-old sneaked upstairs armed with four knives and stabbed Riley Turner to death.

He then crept into another bedroom where the boy’s mother and her partner were sleeping and curled up to sleep on the floor…

In the morning, following the attack, the mother-of-three, 26, was shocked to find Rosser curled up in a ball on the floor next to her, and ordered him to leave.

Moments later her partner, Guy Earwaker, noticed Riley’s light on and went to check his room — only to find it covered in blood and the boy semi-naked and dead on the bed with his throat cut.

Riley had been strangled, repeatedly stabbed and attacked in a sexual manner. Chillingly, Rosser had waited downstairs to hear the anguished screams. He escaped, but was arrested later by police.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Conservative Backbenchers Ready to Rebel Over European Warrants

Scores of MPs plan to defy the Government over the European Arrest Warrant and more than 30 other European Union justice rules

Senior Conservatives are threatening a major rebellion over Europe. Scores of MPs plan to defy the Government over the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Conservative whips have warned Downing St that up to 60 back-bench MPs are prepared to vote against the decision to remain part of the EAW scheme and more than 30 other European Union justice rules…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Campus Extremism in 2013

In January 2013 Student Rights detailed the extent to which extremist material or events were promoted to students via social media at UK universities in an info-graphic like the one below. A year on, we have collated the figures for 2013, which are outlined below…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Hamza Tzortzis and IERA’s Dawah Training Workshops

Across the UK today many students will be attending Valentine’s Day themed events held by student societies or unions. At the Queen Mary University School of Medicine and Dentistry however the Islamic Education and Research Academy’s (IERA) Hamza Tzortzis will be speaking on Islam and science.

Barred from operating at University College London (UCL) in March 2013 after attempts to segregate the audience by gender, members of IERA have excused domestic violence and supported the return of execution for ‘fornication’. Tzortzis himself has been criticised for declaring of apostates “if someone’s going to fight against the community they should be killed”, and that beheading is painless…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Outrage at Hate Threat to ‘Burn’ Planned Cambridge Mosque as City Shows Its Support for the £17m Project

Outraged anti-fascists have hit back at a threat to “burn” a planned mosque in Cambridge’s Mill Road. Cambridge Unite Against Fascism (CUAF) was reacting to a 1,600-signature petition against the £17.5 million mosque in another attack by the English Defence League (EDL)…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Sack All Cabinet Climate Change Sceptics, Say the Greens in ‘Quasi-Fascist’ Policy

CLIMATE change sceptics in the Cabinet should be sacked to show the Government is serious about tackling extreme weather events such as the recent flooding, the Greens said today.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett singled out Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, Chancellor George Osborne and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles as prime contenders for David Cameron’s axe. Her comments, which have been branded “quasi-fascist” by opponents, came as the Party announced a 10-point plan to improve the UK’s flood resilience…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Three Middlesbrough Men Jailed for Grooming Underage Girls for Sex

FIVE girls groomed on the streets of a North-East town are still being “tortured” by supporters of the men who abused them, their families said tonight. The mother of one of the teenage victims spoke out after two men and a 17-year-old youth were jailed for a total of 19 years for sexually exploiting the girls in Middlesbrough.

Passing sentence Judge John Walford told Shakil Munir, 32, 19-year-old Sakib Ahmed and Ateeq Latif, 17, that they had regarded the girls — all aged between 13 and 15 — as objects for their own sexual pleasure…

[JP note: See also this recent news report on Operation Sanctuary in nearby Tyneside: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-26086142 ]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

92 Prisoners Escape in Western Libyan Jailbreak

TRIPOLI, Libya — A Libyan local official says 92 prisoners have escaped from a prison in a western town due to weak security. Hassan bin Sophia, who is spokesman of the Zliten local council, said only four guards were watching 220 criminal and political detainees at the prison on Friday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Child Killed in Clashes Between Egypt Security Forces, Pro-Morsi Protesters

CAIRO — A ten-year-old child was killed on Friday during clashes between Egyptian security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya, eyewitnesses said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Prosecution Refers 170 Brotherhood Supporters to Criminal Court

Cairo — The South Assiut Prosecution has referred 170 Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Assiut to a criminal court on charges of damaging and torching a prosecutor’s office, a court, a police station, and a registration office.

Among those referred to the court are head of the Brotherhood’s administrative office, Galal Abdel Sadek, and a number of the Brotherhood and al-Gamaa al-Islamiya and leading figures, judicial sources told Aswat Masriya on Thursday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Morocco: Christian Convert From Islam Exonerated From Charges of Proselytising

Appeal Court rules there is no evidence against the defendant whose legal troubles were caused by a relative opposed to his conversion to Christianity. In Morocco, converts can live in peace, but evangelisation (not just proselytising) is tightly monitored. Dozens of Evangelical Christians have been expelled over the years.

Rabat (AsiaNews/Morning Star) — An Appeal Court in Fez overturned a conviction against a Christian convert from Islam because of lack of evidence. He had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for alleged proselytising. The ruling was issued last Thursday and the file should be closed next Thursday.

Mohamed El Baladi, 31, was arrested on 28 August in the town of Ain €‹€‹Aicha (Taounate province), about 80 km from Fez, on charges of proselytising after he was accused of trying to push two young Muslims to convert.

Police raided his home, where they seized several Christian CDs, books and magazines. During the raid, they insulted El Baladi for leaving Islam and tried to force him to reveal names of other converts to Christianity.

Later, it was revealed that the accusation of proselytising had come from El Baladi’s uncle, who was opposed to his conversion to Christianity.

On 3 September, a court in Taounate sentenced El Baladi to 30 months in prison and a fine of 1,500 Moroccan dirhams (about US$ 182).

Human rights groups slammed the ruling because the accused was denied legal counsel and received a fine that exceeded the maximum allowed by law. The penalty for violating Morocco’s penal code is six months to three years in prison and fines of up to 500 dirhams.

El Baladi was eventually able to show that his talk with two young Muslims was not designed to convert them, but to explain his reasons for conversion.

Under Morocco’s penal code, it is illegal for anyone to employ “incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion;” however, just talking about one’s faith is not generally considered proselytising.

Several Muslim countries impose the death penalty for apostasy and condemn proselytising. However, this is not the case of Morocco.

According to the Morning Star News, a US-based evangelical news service, “a quiet Christian convert is unlikely to run into problems other than from family”.

However, if more zealous converts try to tell others about their faith they might be monitored by police, especially in rural areas or small cities.

Such a liberal interpretation of Islamic law is rather rare in the Islamic world, but it tends to cause negative reactions among fundamentalists.

In 2012, Morocco’s Ulema (Islamic scholars) High Council issued a fatwa calling for the execution of converts from Islam.

For now, the fatwa has not been followed up. But in recent years, the government has expelled dozens of Evangelical Christians from the country after accusing them of proselytising.

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

Tunis: Arab World’s Most Modern Constitution Comes Into Effect

The new charter does not recognise Islam as state religion nor Sharia as a source of legislation. It guarantees religious freedom, especially freedom of conscience (including the possibility of converting from one religion to another). Although it protects the sacred, it bans apostasy. Every citizen, man or woman, is equal under the law. Reconciling the country’s secular tradition and Arab-Islamic heritage was not easy.

Tunis (AsiaNews) — Tunisia’s new constitution came into effect yesterday after it was adopted in late January, nearly three years after the events that led to the Arab Spring and the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

For two years, the Constituent Assembly worked on the new charter, one of the most modern in the Arab world.

Tunisia’s new dispensation tries to reconcile its long-established secular tradition with its Arab- Islamic heritage.

Copies of the charter were printed by the state publisher, and have been available in bookshops as an elegant red booklet as of Monday evening.

The compromise between secularism and Islam was hard to work out, especially in the preamble and in some articles.

In the preamble, Tunisia claims both the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Arab-Islamic tradition as its inspiration.

One important fact in a country where 98 per cent of the population is Muslim is that Islam is not declared state religion, nor is Sharia considered a source of legislation.

Significantly, Article 6 states that “The state protects religion. It guarantees freedom of conscience, of faith and of worship”.

This means not only that religious worship and practice are protected, as they previously were, but that people can now change their religion.

This is a major step forward made possible by the Arab spring in an Arab country with a Muslim majority.

In addition, Article 6 goes on to say that the state “protects the sacred” but at the same time “The accusation of apostasy and the call for violence are forbidden”.

The constitution guarantees all citizens the same rights and responsibilities and establishes perfect equality between men and women.

To prevent graft and corruption, like under Ben Ali, the new constitution requires that all political leaders publicly declare their assets and possessions (Article 11).

According to some analysts, the synthesis of Islamic and secular elements contains internal contradictions that will eventually emerge in society.

The new constitution was drafted bit by bit in a sometimes acrimonious debate that saw violence break out between the secularist opposition and Islamists from the ruling Ennahda party.

Overall, Tunisians appear happy with the result. For the past few days, neighbourhood celebrations have been held to hail the new constitution.

Both Muslim fundamentalists and secularists have come together, united by their “unique Tunisian identity.”

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

Tunisia: Mount Chaambi Shelled Again

Tunis — Heavy artillery has been shelling again Mount Chaambi (governorate of kasserine) in the night of Thursday to Friday, after detecting suspicious movements there, National Defence Ministry Spokesman Taoufik Rahmouni told TAP news agency on Friday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Tunisia Pursues Mosque Neutrality

Tunisia’s new non-partisan government wants mosques to take a neutral stance with regard to political activities. “Political leaders are going to be prevented from making political speeches in mosques,” Religious Affairs Minister Mounir Tlili said Monday (February 10th).

The ministry’s press officer, Najet Hammami, told Magharebia that authorities were “going to address the issue of mosques and see how to implement the guidelines of the roadmap, especially through reviewing the appointment of some imams”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Bahrain Protest Attracts Tens of Thousands, No Clashes

(Reuters) — Tens of thousands of Bahrainis joined a peaceful demonstration on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of an abortive pro-democracy uprising led by majority Shi’ite Muslims. The rally organized by the kingdom’s main opposition al-Wefaq movement was one of the biggest staged since 2011.

Vast crowds of men, women and children took to the streets of the small Gulf Arab nation calling for democracy, political reform and the release of political prisoners, witnesses said. “We will not stop until we achieve our demands,” protesters shouted. “Shi’ites and Sunnis, we all love this country.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Car Bomb in Southern Syria Kills 48 and Injures 150

(AGI) Nicosia, Feb 15 — The death toll from a car bomb which exploded outside a mosque in southern Syria on Friday has risen to 48, according to the UK-based opposition group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 150 people were injured in the blast in al-Yaduda, a village in Deraa province that was the starting point of the uprising against the regime of President Bashar Al Assad three years ago. The device was detonated as worshippers were leaving the mosque after Friday prayers.

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

Dubai Air Passenger Traffic Grows at Hong Kong’s Expense But Service Remains Poor

Dubai, the world’s third busiest airport for passenger traffic, has become an important stopover between Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Kangaroo route prefers Dubai, but passengers transiting through the Emirates complain about poor infrastructure, rude staff, and bad connecting schedules.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — Dubai International Airport is increasingly becoming more important for intercontinental flights between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. This has penalised Hong Kong. However, when it comes to quality of service Dubai is not even among the top ten. Hong Kong instead is in fourth place.

In 2013, Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok Island handled 60 million passengers, an increase of 6 per cent. Dubai International handled instead 66 million, a jump of 15.2 per cent. Since last year, it is the third busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic.

Dubai and other UAE airports (Abu Dhabi and Doha) have become important stopovers on the long routes between the Pacific and Europe. This has negatively impacted Hong Kong and Singapore.

Kangaroo route passengers making a hop in Dubai increased 37.5 per cent year on year; by contrast, the number of passengers on that route via Hong Kong slumped 17 per cent year.

Likewise, the number of passengers on direct flights from Hong Kong to the ten top European destinations dropped 3.2 per cent, whilst the number of passengers who made a stop-over in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha increased by 2 per cent.

However, fast growth also brought more passenger complaints over Dubai International’s escalators, elevators, smoking lounge, staff and connecting flights.

Despite being the world’s third busiest airport last year, Dubai is not in the top ten favourite airports according to passengers.

Singapore’s Changi Airport comes in first with Hong Kong in fourth position in terms of luggage handling, staff friendliness, shopping experience and . . . working escalators and elevators.

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

Iraq: 17 Soldiers, Policemen Killed by Gunmen in Attacks Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — Seventeen soldiers and policemen were killed and 12 others wounded in separate overnight attacks targeting the security forces across Iraq, police said on Saturday.

Clashes and bomb attacks between gunmen and Iraqi security forces erupted in Jurf al-Sakhar area in south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving five soldiers killed and seven others wounded, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Middle Earth as the Middle East

by Timothy Furnish

Turkey’s Islamist leader is Saruman. Benjamin Netanyahu is Boromir. Who is Frodo?

Controversial Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been described as the savior of the Islamic world and as a new Ottoman sultan. But likening him to the wizard Saruman from The Lord of the Rings is novel — as was done earlier this week by a leader in the Turkish opposition party…

[JP note: Interesting decision to cast Prince Charles as Gollum.]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Policeman Dies of Injures in Bahrain Terror Blast

MANAMA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — A Bahraini policeman died of his injuries in a bus explosion on Saturday, Bahrain police said. The policeman was among the two people who sustained injuries in a terror blast in Daih village, as anti-government protestors clashed with security forces in several parts of the country on Friday to mark the third anniversary since protests broke out in February 2011…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Lovers Defy Police, Celebrate Valentine Day

Anti-Valentine police target anything red or heart-shaped

RIYADH: Red roses lurk hidden in flower shop back rooms and heart-shaped chocolates are sold under the counter, but Saudis still manage to buy Valentine’s gifts and defy the religious police. Florist Hussein came up with a simple solution to a ban on red tokens of love: he filled his window with white roses, orange irises and violet hydrangeas. “I’ve hidden everything red in the shop, so when a religious police patrol comes along, they find nothing to complain about,” he said.

Anti-Valentine’s Day patrols by the Muttawa religious police-formally known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice-started on Wednesday. They began entering premises stocking chocolates, flowers and souvenirs to warn proprietors against selling anything red or heart-shaped and linked to the annual “infidel celebration” of matters romantic. Saudi Arabia applies a rigorous interpretation of Islam under which the sexes are strictly segregated and any public display of affection is completely taboo.

It is also the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. Hussein’s shop window may be blooming with white, orange and violet, but he still has the real thing-red roses-out the back. “I’ve sold at least 350 red roses at 20 riyals ($5, 3.90 euros) a pop,” he said. “Many women call us on the

phone to order roses, because they fear the religious police.” Kumar, another florist, was persuaded by a Muttawa visit not even to consider flouting the Valentine’s Day ban, however. “We’re going to sell these to a chocolate shop,” he said, pointing to bouquets of red flowers in a back room of his store. Confectioners do have chocolate hearts for discreet sale, but only to the right people. “Of course we have them, but the religious police came by and warned us against selling them,” said one chocolate shop owner who asked not to be identified.

‘It’s only chocolate!’

“We hid them because we don’t want any problems,” he added, smiling, indicating that an illicit transaction involving the chocolate contraband would be more than acceptable. In another shop in a commercial district of the capital, an Egyptian employee said the religious police had told them not to sell heart-shaped chocolate or sweets wrapped in red paper. One man browsing in the shop was clearly unhappy: “Why are they forbidden? It’s only chocolate!” he complained.

Another customer-an older man-shot him a dark look. Only a liberal fringe of Saudis actually celebrates Valentine’s Day in an ultra-conservative society in which clerics and their pronouncements are widely respected. One of the most popular, Mohammed Al-Oreifi, this year took to Twitter where he has hundreds of thousands of followers, decreeing that those in the kingdom who celebrate Valentine’s Day “want to copy the infidels”. However, not everywhere in Saudi Arabia is the ban strictly enforced. In the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the country’s commercial capital in the west, a more liberal attitude towards the lovers’ festival can be noted.

This year, some florists have been openly selling red roses, and are unafraid to give their names. “The religious police didn’t come. We’re doing nothing wrong anyway,” said Abu Zakaria, who runs a flower shop in the north of the city. Another man, Thamer Hussein, said some people with romantic yearnings marked the Valentine’s festival a day in advance, to ensure the experience was hassle-free.

“Some young people celebrated St Valentine’s Day on Wednesday evening, with small parties and exchanges of gifts,” he said. In this way they managed to avoid the attentions of the Muttawa, who are expected to perform their duties religiously on Friday, ensuring that for unmarried couples a quick canoodle is definitely unacceptable.- AFP

           — Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]
 

Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles

U.S. Also Giving Fighters Millions of Dollars for Salaries

AMMAN, Jordan — Washington’s Arab allies, disappointed with Syria peace talks, have agreed to provide rebels there with more sophisticated weaponry, including shoulder-fired missiles that can take down jets, according to Western and Arab diplomats and opposition figures.

Saudi Arabia has offered to give the opposition for the first time Chinese man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, and antitank guided missiles from Russia, according to an Arab diplomat and several opposition figures with knowledge of the efforts. Saudi officials couldn’t be reached to comment…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: Car Bomb Carnage Outside Mosque

A car bomb has exploded outside a mosque in a rebel-held village in southern Syria as worshippers left after Friday prayers, killing dozens, activists said, and filling clinics and hospitals with the wounded…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish Legislators Brawl Over Disputed Bill

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill that would tighten the government’s grip on a judicial body after a tense, all-night session that sparked a brawl in which two legislators were injured…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Praises Veterans of War in Afghanistan

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s defense minister has praised veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan as “true patriots” on the 25th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal. Sergei Shoigu said in a statement marking Saturday’s anniversary that Soviet soldiers’ heroism in the war was part “of the best combat traditions of the Motherland.” He added that the experience has proven useful for counter-terrorism and peacekeeping duties…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Proton Rocket Carrying Turkish Satellite Blasts Off From Baikonur

MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) — A Proton rocket carrying a Turkish satellite lifted off early Saturday in the first launch of Russia’s largest rocket this year, the space agency told RIA Novosti. The five-metric-ton telecommunications satellite was successfully stationed in a geosynchronous orbit through successive burns of the Russian Briz-M upper stage on Saturday morning…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Defeats Russia, 3-2, In Olympic Men’s Hockey

The United States defeated Russia, 3-2, in a dramatic shootout in men’s hockey at the Sochi Olympics on Saturday.

The most anticipated hockey game of the Olympics so far was as close as expected. Pavel Datsyuk scored twice for Russia, once to give the host country a 1-0 lead and then to tie the score in the third period. Russia appeared to score the go-ahead goal late in the third period, but it was waved off because the net was slightly off its moorings.

After a five-minute overtime failed to produce a winner, the game went to a shootout, where it became the T.J. Oshie Show. He took six of the Americans’ eight shots, scoring on four of them, and the United States capitalized on great stops by Jonathan Quick for the win.

[Return to headlines]
 

2 Afghan Civilians Killed in Suicide Bomb Attack

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — Two Afghan civilians were killed while five others wounded in a suicide bombing that targeted a police convoy in the country’s northern province of Kunduz on Saturday, authorities said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Marines Expected Back in Italy, Even Though the Affair Not Likely “Resolved Before India’s Elections” In May

Anonymous for security reasons, a source talks to AsiaNews. The Supreme Court is set to hear petition on 18 February. The prosecution wants to try the defendants under India’s anti-Terrorism legislation, invoking a clause that would impose a maximum penalty of 10 years. So far, “there have been no major reactions” in the country. Even though India’s “International relations are also at stake,” proceedings are going at their “own pace”.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) — “The case of the Italian marines will not be resolved before the general elections in India” in May, said a local source. Speaking to AsiaNews anonymously for security reasons, he is said, “The case is following a normal pace.”

The case in question involves Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, two marines from Italy’s San Marco Regiment, who are on trial in India over the death of two fishermen in February 2012.

The trail is proceeding “neither too fast nor too slow,” the source said. “Had it been over quickly, it would have caused emotional reactions, and any verdict would have been deemed ‘hasty’. However, the issue must be settled, and it will.”

This morning, the Supreme Court of India agreed to hear on 18 February petitions filed by the Italian Government against the Indian Government’s decision to invoke anti-piracy and anti-terrorism legislation against the two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast.

Section 3(1) A of Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platform on Continental Shelf Act (SUA) provides for a maximum punishment of 10 years for acts of violence against any person on a ship or fixed platform.

Previously, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the federal agency investigating the case, had invoked Section 3(1) G of the same Act, which provides for mandatory death penalty in cases causing death.

In Italy, India’s decision sparked an intense debate. Italian authorities accused India of not living up to its pledge that it would not apply the death penalty on its two marines.

In India, “there is no debate over the issue,” the source told AsiaNews. “After an initial emotional phase, fuelled by rhetoric and national pride, reactions were muted. The affair is no longer front-page news, nor is it being discussed. Even reports that the authorities would ask for ten years rather than the death penalty did not cause any anger.”

Even though India’s “International relations are also at stake,” in the end, “India’s judiciary is going at it at its own pace,” the source explained.

The upcoming election is another factor. In May, the country will go to the poll, and voters will have to choose between the secular democratic Congress Party, led by Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu ultra-nationalist party.

“Whatever the verdict, the parties could use the affair to divide the population and gain sympathy. Thus, a conclusion is not likely before the election.”

“I think they [the two Italian marines] will be convicted, but will receive a light sentence,” the source said. “I also think they will purge it in Italy, not India”.

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

Valentine’s Day Banned in Kyrgyzstani Schools

MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti) — Officials in the Kyrgyzstani city of Osh have banned Valentine’s Day celebrations in local schools. “This holiday has never been celebrated in Kyrgyzstan’s history,” the city’s education department head Kushtarbek Kimsanov was quoted as saying by the 24.kg news agency. “The holiday of love is a bad influence on children’s morality.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

China Says 11 ‘Terrorists’ Killed in New Xinjiang Unrest

(Reuters) — Eleven “terrorists” were killed during an attack in China’s far western region of Xinjiang on Friday, state news agency Xinhua said, in the latest violence to hit a part of the country with a large Muslim population. A leading member of the ethnic Turkic Uighur community in exile said such attacks were a response to heavy-handed Chinese rule in the region and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Beijing, expressed concern over the state of human rights in Xinjiang, to the annoyance of his hosts.

Eight were killed by police and three died “by their own suicide bomb”, Xinhua said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China Plans the World’s Longest Undersea Tunnel

China is planning another engineering marvel: a tunnel more than twice the length of the Channel Tunnel underneath Bohai Bay

At more than twice the length of the Channel Tunnel, China’s latest mega project is not short of ambition. A 76-mile-long tunnel will run between the northern city of Dalian with Yantai, on the east coast.

“Work could begin as early as 2015 or 2016,” said Wang Mengshu, an expert at the Chinese academy of Engineering, to the China Daily. He added that the new tunnel will knock 800 miles off the current route between the two cities. It will also form a vital link in a high-speed rail line from China’s frozen north to the tropical island of Hainan, in the south…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

China’s Military is on the March and Canberra Must Take Note

by David Wroe

A muscled-up Chinese military is going where it wants when it wants and defence planners should take note.

Through a stretch of water where Australians’ attention is usually fixated on asylum-seeker boats, a flotilla of very different ocean vessels passed largely unremarked early this month. Three Chinese warships on an exercise that included combat simulations sailed through the Sunda Strait, turned east, passed by Christmas Island before skirting the southern edge of Java and turning north again. Never before has a Chinese naval drill come so close to Australia…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Threats of Reprisal as Racial Tensions Rise in Aftermath of Rape

In a tiny Doonside cul-de-sac, beneath the shade of a large tree in one of the parched front yards, four women sit talking in low voices, their chairs pulled into a tight circle. A cat sprawls on a discarded tyre; children play in a cubbyhouse across the road. Outwardly, it is a peaceful scene. But there is anguish here, as the women wrestle with the aftermath of the alleged gang rape of the family’s 14-year-old daughter, assaulted in a park a few hundred metres away late last Saturday night…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Mali: UN Experts Find ‘Serious Damage’ By Armed Extremists to Cultural Sites in Gao

Some 90 per cent of the 11th century archaeological site of Gao Saneye in northern Mali was pillaged by Islamic extremists during their seizure of the region in 2012, traditional musical instruments and costumes were destroyed, and a World Heritage site mosque needs urgent repairs, United Nations cultural officials reported today…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Residents of Calabar Resort to Jungle Justice

Calabar — Since the beginning of 2014, criminals have been on the onslaught in Cross River State especially in Calabar, the state capital, attacking and dispossessing residents of money and valuables.

Reports of nocturnal visits by criminals particularly, in Calabar South neighbourhoods have become a recurring decimal. As a result of this ugly development, many residents have been forced to form vigilante groups to take over the security of their streets and neighbourhood…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Missing U.S.$20 Billion — Senate, Okonjo-Iweala Can’t Vouch for NNPC Documents, Opt for Forensic Examination

The Nigerian Senate on Thursday ordered a forensic review of documents presented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, purporting to show how a huge chunk of alleged missing $20 billion oil money was spent. The Senate’s directive was made after finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, declined to vouch for the documents’ validity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Venezuelan Forces Break Up Anti-Government Protests With Water Tanks, Tear Gas

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan security forces backed by water tanks and tear gas dispersed student protesters from Caracas’ main highway Friday in the third straight night of anti-government demonstrations. Some 500 protesters choked off traffic for several hours earlier in the day to demand justice for two students who were killed Wednesday during clashes with police and armed pro-government militias…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Almost 400 Immigrants Rescued Off Lampedusa on Saturday

(AGI) Palermo, Feb 15 — Italian boats rescued 393 immigrants in the Strait of Sicily on Saturday. The Aliseo ship rescued 198 migrants, of which 15 were minors, and the Espero ship saved another 195. Added to the 79 people rescued by the Espero on Friday, the total has now reached 472. The Aliseo is currently on another rescue mission, after the Coast Guard’s general command reported a rubber dinghy with 110 immigrants south-east of Lampedusa; the sighting was confirmed by the MSC Maria and then by one of the Aliseo’s choppers, which found three more dinghies between 120 and 140 miles from Lampedusa.

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

Americans Must Stop Amnesty in Any Form

If Americans allow the federal government to legalize illegal immigration again, they will lose their country forever.

71% of Americans have a very favorable view of “legal” immigrants and “legal” immigration — even though our federal government no longer expects immigrants to adhere to American laws and traditions, or even speak the American language.

So, the issue of immigration has nothing to do with “racist” views towards immigrants, in the most diverse nation on earth. However, when asked about “illegal” immigrants, Americans who grew up respecting the Rule of Law have a very different view, one also having no connection to issues of race.

When asked about “illegal” immigrants, over 60% of Americans want their government to enforce existing immigration laws much more stringently, including deportation. Over half of Americans now believe that it is their government that encourages illegal immigration. Only 5% of Americans believe that the government will enforce our borders even after they pass amnesty for 20-30 million illegal invaders.

Proving the vast majority of Americans right is the fact that Comprehensive Immigration Reform was passed in 1986, and it has not been enforced since. Twenty-eight years ago, congress passed Comprehensive Immigration Reform covering pretty much everything being proposed by both Democrats and Republicans in congress today…

In October of 2006, I released a column titled When 51-49 becomes 49-51. In 2008 and 2012, we experienced that reality in our elections, marking what could in the end turn out to be the point of no return for America.

Imagine what happens once our government grants voting rights to 20-30 million illegal aliens, whose legal family members consistently vote 71% democrat in every election? The communist left won’t even need to steal elections anymore, and pro-constitution Americans will be forever outnumbered by global leftist immigrants.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Christoph Blocher, The Swiss Billionaire Behind the Referendum: Q & A

A Q & A with Christoph Blocher, the Swiss billionaire who financed last week’s referendum that led to the country voting to end free immigration from the rest of Europe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spain Admits Firing Rubber Bullets at Migrants Swimming to Enclave

Row breaks out after Spain admits it fired rubber bullets into the sea as migrants attempted to swim into Spanish territory from Morocco

Spain’s government has admitted firing rubber bullets at migrants as they attempted to swim from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta during an incident last week in which at least 12 people are thought to have drowned…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Spain Closes Enclave to Avert Syrian Migrant Rush

Spanish police closed a border crossing between its North African enclave of Melilla and Morocco after Moroccan authorities warned that a large number of Syrian migrants were going to try to push across, officials said Friday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss Tackle Homophobia in Sport

Swiss sports bodies have taken up the challenge of combatting sexual discrimination in sport. swissinfo.ch looks at a new campaign and hears the views of two openly gay Swiss athletes, one of whom is medal-hunting in Sochi this weekend.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The “Agenda for the 21st Century” Is the Root of Your Fight

Keep your eye on the ball!

You and I have been fighting it for years. We’ve made progress, but not enough. That lack of progress is enough to discourage many activists to leave our fight and try to fight something else — perhaps an easier victory. But, as an associate of mine used to say, “Saving America is not a 9:00 to 5:00 job.” It’s never easy. But this fight MUST be won. Agenda 21 is at the root of nearly every other issue we fight. Leave the Agenda 21 fight now and America’s precious Republic will never be restored. We must renew this fight with a spirit and energy like never before. Our battle cry must be to crush Agenda 21 in 2014.

I know it’s a hard issue to understand, and even harder to explain to our friends and neighbors. We’re told it’s just an environmental issue; a land conservation policy; a sensible development policy. Sustainable…what’s wrong with that? As usual, the problem is in the details. Are we hearing the truth? What are the consequences of the policy? Can it really be so dangerous? Or, as proponents claim, is our opposition to it really just a silly, overblown conspiracy theory?…

The Sustainablists use such innocent sounding descriptions of their plans for us. Then they deny they are even doing it, and anyone who calls them on it is labeled a fringe nut.

But there is another way to say it, a much older description of Sustainable Development that explains the motivation behind the policy in a much more direct manner: “From each according to his ability. To each according to his need.” If you recognize that quote, then you fully understand the true nature of Sustainable Development.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/15/2014

  1. Regarding Mr. Ed Bearss comment on “tendency” to ignore role of blacks in the Confederate army: Much of that tendency came from the South, as most white and black Confederate soldiers were dead, and a white generation that knew only fear, and not respect, of blacks were in political and economic power. The children of those whites were my grandparents, and they passed to my parents the undisputed idea that blacks were good only for field and farm, that no black man ever made contribution to American science or mechanics, and the only role Southern blacks served in the Civil War was as servants to white officers. Northern historians assumed the same ideas. Those who call themselves historians but who ignore unpleasant ideas are nothing but propagandists.

    • My upbringing in the South was less colored by the things you experienced. The nuns who taught us also taught in the black Catholic school across town. My mother, being from Dublin, was more class conscious than race conscious, but that class consciousness was deep in her marrow. Long before “Black History Month” became the cynical nightmare it is today, I was taught to admire achievers – the American black heroes & the American Catholic heroes of my childhood were those who lived creative lives “in spite of”. Those who are currently written off as Uncle Toms – Booker T. Washington, for instance- will eventually enjoy a renaissance, but it will be after the current crowd who make millions by selling divisiveness and distrust.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington

      That middle name, “Taliaferro” is likely only pronounced correctly here in Virginia. Maybe in Britain, too.

  2. Quote:
    Although it recognizes the influence of religion, it does not set up Islam as the state religion or make sharia the source of legislation. I
    end

    Brave Tunisia! First in the Arab Spring. Always in the Arab Spring. Hopefully never to be trapped by tyranny.

  3. Re Agenda 21: We shouldn’t let our justified outrage blind us to the obligation to leave some resources for our descendants.

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