Vandals have desecrated a Christian cemetery in the Kuantan District in Penang, Malaysia, knocking over crosses and breaking headstones. It is thought that the same religious extremists who recently attacked churches may be responsible. The attackers are believed to be angry at Christians who use the word “Allah” to refer to the God of the Christian Bible.
In other news, a huge boulder rolled down a mountain slope in the French Alps and hit a train, derailing it and killing two passengers.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JP, 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.
Prepare for Riots in Euro Collapse, Foreign Office Warns
British embassies in the eurozone have been told to draw up plans to help British expats through the collapse of the single currency, amid new fears for Italy and Spain.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Yield on 10-Year Italian Bond Drops to 8-Year Low
Spread close to 200 basis points
(ANSA) — Rome, February 7 — The yield of the 10-year BTP Italian State bond dropped to its lowest level in almost eight years on Friday. The yield on the 10-year bond fell below 3.7%, the lowest since March 2006. The spread between the 10-year BTP and the German equivalent, a key indicator of investor confidence, came down to almost 200 basis points. The spread went over 500 points with yields of above 7%, levels considered unsustainable in the long term, when Italy risked a Greek-style financial meltdown at the peak of the eurozone debt crisis in 2011.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Chief Says ‘Lone Wolves’ Biggest Terrorism Worry
In his first major speech, newly installed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Friday that self-radicalized “lone wolves” are the terrorist threat that he’s most worried about.
Mr. Johnson’s assessment echoes that of other U.S. law enforcement officials, who have spoken recently about the risks from people who don’t attend overseas terrorist training camps but are sympathetic to the ideology of groups like al Qaeda…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois Jury Acquits NATO Protesters of Breaking State Terrorism Law
A jury on Friday acquitted three Nato summit protesters of breaking Illinois’ rarely tested state terrorism law. The protesters were however convicted on lesser arson counts.
Prosecutors described the men — Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Vincent Betterly — as dangerous anarchists who were plotting to throw Molotov cocktails at President Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters and other Chicago sites during the 2012 Nato summit in the city. Undercover officers infiltrated the group and the men were arrested before the summit began…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish Groups Condemn New Presbyterian Study Guide on Zionism
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A study guide on Zionism published by an arm of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is drawing expressions of outrage from Jewish groups. The guide is “worthy of a hate group, not a prominent American church,” said Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for Jewish public policy groups…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Seek Dialogue in Hate Crime Aftermath
The designation of the vandalism against the Manteca Islamic Center as a “hate crime” can bring severe penalties for whoever is responsible.
For one, it brings the FBI into the equation. And it interjects mandatory sentencing enhancements that serve as a multiplier to whatever punishment gets doled out by a judge. And in California, additional Penal Code statutes are on the books that make the matter a state issue as well…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Silicon Valley Power-Grid Attack ‘Terrorism’: Ex-Regulator
LOS ANGELES — A former regulator says a 2013 shooting that nearly knocked out the power supply in California’s Silicon Valley was a terrorist attack, possibly testing for a bigger strike, but others cast doubt on the claim.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday it could not rule anything out, but that the attack on an electricity substation near San Jose, California, was more likely a criminal matter, rather than terrorism-related…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The author of a new handbook for imams says it provides a professional — and Canadian — protocol for Muslim leaders not available before. “The role of the imam has been constantly evolving in the West,” says Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Winnipeg-based Islamic Social Services Association. “At home (in Pakistan) it is just someone who leads the prayer. Here the role is more.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
2 Dead After Boulder Smashes Into Alps Tourist Train in France
An enormous boulder hurtled off a mountain and smashed into a tourist train in the French Alps on Saturday, derailing it on the mountainside and killing two passengers, officials said. Nine people were injured. The force of the boulder caved in the side of the train, which takes a leisurely three hours to travel about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Nice to Dignes-les-Bains.
“A rock the size of an automobile came off the mountainside and slammed into the first car of the train,” Jean Ballester, mayor of nearby Annot, told BFM television. “There are unfortunately two dead.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgian Supermarket Chain Recalls Nazi Prisoner Costume
(JTA) — A Belgian supermarket chain has recalled a costume which is meant to allow children to dress up as prisoners of a Nazi concentration camp. The recall was announced Friday by the Delhaize chain in a press release that it issued conjointly with the Belgian League against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
EU Moves to Block “Undesirable” Websites
By Fred Alan Medforth
European readers had better enjoy sites like this one while they can. As the EU continues to congeal into tyranny, “undesirable” areas of the Internet may soon be off limits:
“Gilles de Kerchove, the European Union’s counter-terrorism coordinator, has publicly stated that he wishes for the European super-state to be able to remove not just websites that promote illegal content, but also those which he calls “undesirable.”
What does “undesirable” mean?…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Dieudonne Acquitted Over ‘Anti-Semitic’ Video
French comedian’s lawyer successfully argued that no one could prove that it was Dieudonne who had posted the video.
French comic Dieudonne was acquitted on charges related to a video in which he calls for the release of a self-styled Islamist serving life for the kidnap and murder of a Jewish phone salesman…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland: Drilling Surprise Opens Door to Volcano-Powered Electricity
Can enormous heat deep in the earth be harnessed to provide energy for us on the surface? A promising report from a geothermal borehole project that accidentally struck magma — the same fiery, molten rock that spews from volcanoes — suggests it could.
The Icelandic Deep Drilling Project, IDDP, has been drilling shafts up to 5km deep in an attempt to harness the heat in the volcanic bedrock far below the surface of Iceland.
In Iceland, around 90% of homes are heated from geothermal sources.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Soccer: Roma End Stands Closed Over Anti-Neapolitano Chants
Measure to hit Serie A home matches against Sampdoria, Inter
(ANSA) — Rome, February 6 — Italian soccer’s sporting judge on Thursday ruled that the two end stands of Rome’s Stadio Olimpico should be closed for AS Roma’s next two home games due to anti-Neapolitan chants by fans.
The chants took place during Roma’s 3-2 win over Napoli in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
They incurred a suspended punishment following similar chants in Roma’s 2-0 home win over Napoli in Serie A in October.
The stands will be closed for Roma’s matches against Sampdoria on February 16 and against Inter Milan on March 2. Roma are second in Serie A, six points behind Inter Milan. The punishment is part of Italian soccer’s new regime of tough measures to stamp out racism, which has dogged the game here for many years, and so-called regional discrimination.
Followers of many clubs, including Napoli, have rebelled against the punishment of regional discrimination, saying it targets the leg-pulling that is a traditional part of Italian soccer.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Presents Plan for Cheaper, Weaker Upper House
Senate to be halved to 150 members, with no salaries
(By Christopher Livesay) (ANSA) — Rome, February 6 — The head of Italy’s largest party laid out his plan for a leaner and weaker Upper House on Thursday. Matteo Renzi, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said that the reformed Senate of Italy’s parliament will have 150 members, according to a draft reform drawn up after he reached a deal with centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi last month. The Senate is set to become a chamber of regions and be largely stripped of its lawmaking powers as part of reforms designed to make Italy easier to govern and reduce the cost of the country’s political apparatus. The Upper House currently has 315 elected members plus five life Senators. After reforms it would be made up of regional officials, including mayors and regional governers, as well as 21 prestigious members of civil society picked by the Italian president for one term only. Senators would no longer require a paycheck since they already receive salaries with their other titles. Renzi presented the draft reform at a meeting of PD bigwigs in Rome. “It will be made up of 150 people, including the 108 mayors of provincial capitals, 21 regional governors and 21 representatives of civil society,” Renzi said before heading into the meeting. Renzi, the energetic 39-year-old mayor of Florence, has been working hard to introduce much-needed institutional reforms since winning a PD leadership primary with a landslide in December. A bill for a new election law to replace the dysfunctional system that was declared unconstitutional last year is currently being examined by parliament after Renzi reached an agreement with three-time premier Berlusconi on this issue too.
“This is the year in which the problems need to be solved,” said Renzi, who is not part of the government led by his PD colleague, Premier Enrico Letta. “It’s no longer enough to stroke the problems. Time is up”.
At the PD meeting, he denied tensions with the premier, insisting the government should go on and has the PD’s “constant faith”. Renzi claimed credit for accelerating electoral reform, saying his deal with Berlusconi was not a problem for the government and should not spur a reshuffle. “The PD is giving the country a hand,” the Florence mayor told party brass. Issues including a possible remix to bring Renzi loyalists into government should be discussed “with our cards on the table,” he said. There has been talk of naming new cabinet members since Berlusconi lost his Senate seat on a tax-fraud conviction after failing to bring Letta down and sparking a split that led to the creation of the small New Centre Right. The talk intensified after Renzi won a landslide victory in PD primaries and started to up pressure on the government to deliver on reform pledges. Renzi said the electoral reform plan, which includes turning the Senate into a regional body so an election winner only needs the confidence of the House, “has the support of the main parties” and would go forward in parliament from February 15.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: More Mons. Scarano Property Seized
Ex-prelate under house arrest on suspicion of financial crimes
(ANSA) — Salerno, February 6 — Police on Thursday confiscated a further portion of the estate belonging to the disgraced former prelate monsignor Nunzio Scarano, under house arrest in connection with two separate probes into alleged financial crimes.
The latest sequestration — involving two properties in Scarano’s home city of Salerno in the southern Campania region, two vehicles and company assets — followed a similar operation on January 21, when the former head of analytic accounts at the Holy See’s asset-management agency APSA was also issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of laundering vast sums of money through accounts at the powerful Institute of Religious Works (IOR), the Vatican Bank. The money, much of which investigators say came from offshore companies controlled by rich ship-builder friends, was allegedly used to buy property, set up companies and pay off a mortgage.
Scarano was already under house arrest at the time after being detained in June on suspicion of planning to elude customs with 20 million euros in cash for the D’Amico family.
He has denied charges that he conspired with a former Italian spy and a financial broker in a failed bid to bring the money from Switzerland to Italy.
On January 21 IOR announced it had frozen all accounts linked to Scarano on the orders of a Vatican tribunal last July.
The two probes are part of a wider investigation into alleged shady transactions at IOR, in which former president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and his former No.2 were placed under investigation in connection with suspected money laundering.
Meanwhile, the bank has made a series of moves to show greater transparency since Argentinian Jesuit bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis last March, succeeding Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to voluntarily abdicate in 700 years.
Francis is reportedly keen to remove stains from IOR’s reputation and get it onto the ‘white list’ of countries with strong credentials on combatting financial crime.
In December the Council of Europe’s Moneyval agency, a monitoring group of financial experts, praised the Vatican’s progress, but it also stressed that more work needed to be done.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Legionaries of Christ Express ‘Deep Sorrow’ For Scandal
Group in special meetings at Vatican over sexual abuse history
(ANSA) — Rome, February 6 — A scandal-rocked Catholic movement close to Pope John Paul II, which was founded by a child sex abuser, expressed “deep sorrow” Thursday for the abuse inflicted on its victims.
The Legionaries of Christ were put under Vatican oversight in 2010 after its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel, was removed from leadership for inflicting decades of sexual abuse on boys and fathering several children, two of whom he also abused. Church probes have since confirmed nine other priests in the organization sexually abused children and at least 10 more are still under investigation.
The scandal tainted the pontificate of John Paul, a friend of the charismatic founder who publicly endorsed the Legionaries, sparking accusations of ignoring public reports as early as the 1990s of abuse that began in the 1980s.
The group has been in reform meetings at the Vatican, its first since it was put under the Vatican’s oversight.
“We want to express our deep sorrow for the abuse of seminarians, minors, immoral acts committed on men and women, the arbitrary use of its authority and property, for the enormous consumption of drugs,” the general chapter of the Legionaries of Christ said in a statement with reference to its founder, who died in 2008.
The group said it rejects his immorality and expressed “deep sadness” at the initial refusal to accept the testimony of Maciel’s victims. “We ask forgiveness for these deficiencies that have increased the pain and bewilderment of many,” they said, adding their thanks that former pope Benedict XVI saved the organization.
Maciel was stripped of his leadership role and ordered to a life of prayer and penitence by John Paul’s successor Benedict XVI in 2006.
Known to encourage recruitment of priests and new followers, the Legionaries count over 950 priests and 70,000 lay members worldwide, primarily in Latin America, the home of Argentine Pope Francis.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bonino Thanks Germany for Support in Marines Row With India
Two Italians possibly face death penalty in New Delhi
(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, February 7 — Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Friday thanked Germany for pressing India to “rapidly resolve” the case of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012.
“We very much appreciated” when — during German President Joachim Gauck’s visit to India — the German ambassador to New Delhi asked for the impartial examination of the case and warned that relations with Europe were at stake, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said after meeting her German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Rome on Friday.
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of killing two Indian fishermen after allegedly mistaking them for pirates and opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala in February 2012.
The Indian interior ministry has reaffirmed its intention not to request the death penalty, according to press reports Friday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Oldest Human Footprints Outside Africa Found in UK
Footprints left by five prehistoric humans between 850,000 and 950,000 years ago have been discovered on a beach in Norfolk, UK — the oldest such prints found outside Africa.
Homo antecessor, dubbed “pioneer man”, probably died out about 600,000 years ago in Europe. It was replaced by Homo heidelbergensis, often seen as the direct ancestor of both the Neanderthals and our species.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Benedict Settles for the Quiet Life
Those who have seen Benedict XVI since he retired agree: the former pontiff appears to have got a weight off his mind, leaving the complexities of Vatican politics behind for a simple life of prayer and piano.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Princess ‘Evasive’ In Fraud Hearing
Spain’s princess Cristina tried to distance herself from unprecedented fraud accusations Saturday, telling a judge she had simply trusted her husband, one of the lawyers in the courtroom said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Princess Cristina in Court Over Corruption Case
Spain’s Princess Cristina is being questioned in court in connection with a corruption scandal involving her husband’s business dealings. It is the first time in history that a member of Spain’s royal family has appeared in court as the subject of a criminal investigation.
Her husband Inaki Urdangarin is alleged to have defrauded regional governments of millions of euros of public money. The princess and her husband deny any wrongdoing, and have not been charged.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Top Chef to Launch R+D Restaurant
Spanish chef Ferran Adrià has announced a September start date for work on elBulli1846, ‘the world’s first Culinary Innovation, Research and Development Centre’ in Catalonia, which will also see his El Bulli resturant re-open in a different guise, with 50 percent of guests getting tickets via a free prize draw.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Building Relationships in the Community
Local organisations are strengthening relationships with the South Asian and other minority communities in Rochdale.
NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS HMR CCG) was happy to participate in a multi-agency visit to the Central Mosque Rochdale, facilitated by BME Health Matters. The purpose of the visit was to start a two way exchange between the Mosque and local groups. Other local groups in attendance included Healthwatch Rochdale, Link4Life, Rochdale Circle and Groundwork…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: First Chinese Corner Set Up in London’s Library
LONDON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — The first Chinese corner was established in a public library on Friday in the heart of London, for promoting the learning of Chinese and cultural communication between the two countries.
Located at the City of Westminster, the Charing Cross Library has more than 70 years’ history, but with no Chinese books until 1980s. Started from a few Chinese books and several shelves, the library now has become the biggest public Chinese library in Britain with more than 70,000 Chinese books and over 100 kinds of periodicals…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour MP Condemned for Gaza-Holocaust Comparison
The Holocaust Educational Trust has condemned a Labour MP who compared the situation in Gaza to the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust. During a Parliamentary debate on the humanitarian situation facing Palestinians on Wednesday, Yasmin Qureshi drew parallels with the Shoah…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: On the Road With UKIP in the ‘Common Sense’ Battle Bus
by Isabel Hardman
Ukip’s campaigning team has been working so hard to make it into second place in Wythenshawe and Sale East that when I arrived at their very purple shop in Sale town centre yesterday, the big panic was not so much a shortage of leaflets as a shortage of clean pants…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rain-Lashed Penguins at Scarborough Sanctuary Given Antidepressants
Penguins native to South America prescribed pick-me-ups to try to raise spirits after weeks of relentless wind and rain
Penguins in a British sanctuary are so fed up with the miserable winter weather they are being given antidepressants. Wild Humboldt penguins are used to withstanding inhospitable weather in the coastal areas of South America, but those living in captivity in Scarborough are struggling with the constant wind and rain lashing the country.
Staff at the Sea Life Centre there have become so concerned they have started to administer the medication as a pick-me-up.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Swing Voters Haven’t Stopped Swinging — They’re Just Doing it Differently
Once upon a time, most people voted at general elections and nearly everyone that did voted Conservative or Labour. And thus the key swing vote was born: those persuadable voters in marginal constituencies. Win them and you win the election. Then it became far more complicated…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tommy Robinson ‘Attacked’ In Prison, MoJ Urged to Re-Think Ex- EDL Chief’s Incarceration
The ex-leader of the EDL has reportedly been attacked in prison, with Tommy Robinson’s Twitter page describing his “black eyes, bloody nose, sore neck”.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is serving 18 months at Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes, after he was convicted of mortgage fraud.
He was allegedly attacked in the holding bay of the prison, following a legal visit, according to letters sent to the Ministry of Justice…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Troubled Muslim Free School to Close
Al-Madinah free school in Derby to stop teaching secondary pupils from this summer after Ofsted report warns school is in “chaos”
The troubled Al-Madinah free school is to stop teaching secondary pupils from this summer. The Government has stepped in after an Ofsted report warned that the school was in chaos, with concerns over teaching quality and the curriculum…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Weimar Triangle Experts Advise EU to Adjust Industrial Policy
WARSAW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — With the end of the economic crisis almost in sight, Europe needs to redefine its industrial policy to gain a competitive edge on the global market, according to participants of the Economic Weimar Triangle that ended in Krakow on Friday.
The two-day meeting on EU industrial policy brought together politicians, business people and scientists from the Weimar Triangle countries: Poland, Germany and France, said local media reports…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
2 Dead as Ethnic Tensions Rise in Algerian Desert City Beset by Poverty
Two men are dead in an Algerian desert city best by ethnic tensions and poverty, and local elders say the area is reaching a breaking point.
The city is divided between Algeria’s Mozabites, members of North Africa’s original Berber inhabitants and followers of the rare Ibadi sect of Islam on one hand, and Sunni Muslim Arab migrants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: -29: 9% Italian Tourists in 2013
Egyptian tourism agency, we will return to have 1 mln Italians
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Egypt in 2013 welcomed 504,110 Italian tourists, down 29.9% from the previous year, the Egyptian tourism agency said. Though the number of Italian tourists has plunged it nevertheless confirms ‘the great attraction Egypt continues to have on visitors from the peninsula’, the tourism agency said, adding that ‘it is with extreme confidence that Egyptian authorities are now looking at the future’.
The Italian foreign ministry has recently re-confirmed its position on travelling to the country, maintaining its green light on all main tourism resort: the Red Sea, all the most important resorts on the Mediterranean coast (Marsa Matrouh and El Alamein) and all of Upper Egypt, including Luxor and Aswan, as well as cruises on the Nile.
‘The objective is to return to the great numbers of the 2008-2010 period, when Italian arrivals constantly exceeded the one million threshold’, said the Egyptian tourism agency. ‘Such a target can be attained by the country of the Pharaohs, as shown by the success of the last Christmas holidays, when most Italian tour operators were forced to use additional flights and widen their offers on Egypt to confront a demand which exceeded all expectations’.
Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou will be in Milan at the upcoming Bit fair to meet Italian tour operators in order to evaluate the best strategies to boost tourism and investments.
Tourism is a key sector for Egypt.
Egyptian authorities are continuing to stress that the country is a ‘safe destination, able to welcome tourists with great hospitality and cordiality. The country is relentlessly working to maintain security and stability, conscious of the fact that security is the most important pillar for tourism and economic development’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Reports Highlight Alleged Morsi-Al-Qaida Cooperation
Ousted Egyptian presidents’ Brotherhood purportedly established communications network using US company to communicate with terror group, according to reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Former Prosecutor General Assassinated in Eastern City
A Libyan security official says the former prosecutor general has been gunned down in his hometown eastern Libya. The official says Abdel-Aziz al-Hassadi was assassinated in Darna late Saturday by unidentified gunmen.
The eastern region, hub of extremist Islamic militias, has witnessed series of attacks, assassinations and bombings over the past months targeting officials, judges, activists and clerics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Forces Raid Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israeli forces use stun grenades and worshippers throw stones during clashes at the mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Clashes have erupted between Israeli forces and worshippers at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem after noon prayers. Israeli forces raided the mosque compound and fired stun grenades on Friday, while dozens of worshipers threw stones and chanted: “We sacrifice our blood and souls for you Aqsa”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
4 Yemeni Soldiers Killed in Clashes Near Oil Pipeline
SANAA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — At least four Yemeni soldiers were killed and several others wounded in clashes with armed tribesmen blocking the operation of an oil pipeline in the country’s southeast province of Hadramout on Friday, an interior ministry official told Xinhua…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan Says No Internet Censorship in Turkey
Turkey’s prime minister hit back at suggestions that new Internet regulations will limit freedom of expression, ahead of a planned demonstration in Istanbul against the curbs on Saturday. “These regulations do not impose any censorship at all on the Internet … On the contrary, they make it safer and freer,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Sending War Ships Close to US Border
A senior Iranian naval commander says his country has sent several warships to the Atlantic Ocean, close to U.S. maritime borders for the first time. The commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Saturday that the vessels have already begun the journey to the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Among the Top 10 Healthcare Destinations Globally
According to advisory firm Deloitte’s 2014 Global Life Outlook
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, FEBRUARY 5 — High quality treatment options offered by Turkish medical facilities at reasonable prices continue to attract hundreds of thousands of foreign healthcare seekers, as daily Yeni Safak reports. The rapid growth observed in Turkey’s medical tourism in recent years has placed the country among the top 10 healthcare destinations globally, according to advisory firm Deloitte’s 2014 Global Life Sciences Outlook. Assessing healthcare and pharmaceutical markets by country, the report also foresees a growth of 8.8% in pharma sales in Turkey between 2013 and 2017, reaching a volume of USD 19 billion. The report also advises healthcare providers in Turkey to pursue long-term strategies and not focus on maximizing short-term profits given the fast-changing market conditions. According to earlier reports, Turkey welcomed 250,000 medical tourists in 2012, a remarkable increase from the 74,000 patients in 2008. Turkey is running a multi-pronged health tourism strategy to attract more foreign visitors, including medical, spa and healthcare for elderly and disabled people. Foreigners are also seeking medical care in dentistry, optometry, orthopedics, plastic surgery and many other branches.
There are over 1,600 thermal springs in the country known for their healing and revitalizing effects for those who seek alternative methods of treatment.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Circassian Activists Call Sochi 2014 the ‘Genocide Olympics’
WASHINGTON — Of the myriad controversies surrounding the upcoming Olympics, one that’s gotten relatively little attention — at least outside Russia — is the ongoing campaign against the games by the global Circassian community. The choice of Sochi as a venue has highlighted a tragic but largely forgotten chapter in the region’s history. “The Circassian Genocide,” a book published last year by Occidental College historian Walter Richmond, makes a compelling case that Sochi was the site of modern Europe’s first genocide, a crime against humanity that presaged many of the worst atrocities of the 20th century…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
6 Policemen Killed, Several Injured in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — Six policemen were killed and several others injured in separate terrorist incidents in central Pakistan on Friday, local media and police said. On Friday night, two policemen were killed while three others injured when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden vehicle during a security check in Khanewal area, a district in the country’s eastern Punjab province…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Civilian Deaths Up in 2013 as War Intensifies — UN
(Reuters) — War took an increasing toll on Afghanistan’s civilians in 2013 as fighting intensified between the government and insurgents, the United Nations said in a report on Saturday, with total casualties rising 14 percent.
The gradual withdrawal of foreign troops has left Afghan government forces more vulnerable to attack by insurgents, and the resulting battles helped account for last year’s rise in casualties, according to the report…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Blast Kills 1, Wounds 8 in E. Afghan Town of Jalalabad
JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) — A powerful blast rocked Jalabad city in east Afghanistan leaving at least one person dead and injuring eight others, a local official said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Burma: EU Delegation Calls on Rakhine State to “Break the Vicious Cycle”
The European Union ambassador to Myanmar has called for an end to mobility restrictions for Muslim residents and improved security for NGOs following a visit to Rakhine State.
Ambassador Roland Kobia visited Aung Mingalar ward in Sittwe — home to a large Muslim IDP camp — and Du Chee Yar Tan village in Maungdaw township, the site of an alleged fatal clash between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya that left up to 40 of the Muslim group dead. He also travelled to Mrauk-U and Myebon townships…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India: Andhra Pradesh: Rising Anti-Christian Violence by Radical Hindus
Sajan George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), sounds the alarm bells. Fundamentalist group Hindu Vahini is of particular concern. In mid-January, one of its members stabbed to death an evangelical clergyman. According to the GCIC leader, anti-Christian violence is likely to become “more brutal” as India’s general elections approach.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “Attacks against Christian clergymen in Andhra Pradesh are on the rise and a source of concern,” said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). “These acts of violence are unmotivated. With the excuse of ‘stopping conversions,’ they target this community,” he told AsiaNews
For the Christian leader, both state and the Union governments, as well as the National Commission for Human Rights should monitor Hindu Vahini, a Hindu fundamentalist group, which has been responsible for several attacks in recent months.
On 20 January, police in the Indian state arrested three of its members, thought to be responsible for the murder of an evangelical pastor in Nalgonda, Rev Sanjeevulu.
In recent weeks, extremists also attacked other Protestant leaders. In January, Rev Christopher Talla was assaulted in the village of Munugode, and Rev Gajjala Neeladri Pal suffered the same fate in Ipparthi.
In December 2013, a group of extremists attacked a Baptist church in Narketpally, accusing without any evidence its pastor, Rev Nama Moses, of conducting forced conversions.
“Immediate action is needed,” said Sajan George, “especially in view of the general elections. These groups could conduct even more brutal attacks against Christian communities in order to polarise Hindu voters. Such unprovoked attacks threaten India’s moral authority and secular nature.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kalashnikov to Start Weapon Factory in India
NEW DELHI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) — Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian firm producing the iconic Kalashnikov rifles, may soon open a weapon factory in India, media reports said Saturday. “India is a very promising market, and the best way to enter it is to set up production there. We will begin to set up production this year,” Alexei Krivoruchko, the chief executive of Kalashnikov Concern, was quoted as saying Friday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Unknown Vandals Desecrate Eight Graves in a Christian Cemetery in Kuantan
A cemetery worker made the discovery this morning. Some gravestones were destroyed, crosses were broken, and stone pieces smashed. At present, nothing is known about those responsible for the incident, which could be connected to a spate of recent church attacks. Sources tell AsiaNews that the goal now is to contain tensions and restore calm.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) — Person or persons unknown desecrated eight gravestones in a Christian cemetery in Tanjung Api, near Kuantan, capital of Kuantan District, in Malaysia’s Pahang State.
The attack was discovered this morning, when a cemetery employee found some damaged graves (pictured).
It is likely to fuel sectarian tensions in the Asian country, where Catholics and Muslims are already at loggerheads over the use of the word Allah for the Christian God, something that is currently before the courts.
Local witnesses said that some gravestones were completely smashed, and some crosses were broken. Flowerpots and other stone markers were also broken. It seems that perpetrators used a heavy tool to do the damage.
A cemetery administrator, who reported the incident to the police, now hopes the vandals will be brought to justice.
Tanjung Api cemetery covers an area of €‹€‹1.5 acres state land and has been used by 36 Christian communities in Kuantan since 1997.
Although there is no actual evidence, sources told AsiaNews that the incident is probably linked to anti-Church banners and firebombs in late January.
“The area is accessible to everyone, all day, through a small door,” said Kuantan Tanjung Api Christian Cemetery Committee chairperson Datuk Jack How. “In all these years, we have never had any problems of this kind. Our guess is this occurred recently.”
The cemetery attack is the latest in a series of incidents against the Catholic community in Malaysia, where religious tensions have been on the rise.
Tensions are due to a confrontation between a Catholic weekly, the Malaysia Herald, its director Fr Andrew Lawrence, and the government over the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims.
In October, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Catholic weekly could not use the word Allah for the Christian God. The paper’s director appealed the decision, and a hearing is scheduled for 5 March.
“The priority today is to contain tensions,” said local senior Church leaders, who asked to remain anonymous. Things should become calm and quiet again, they insisted. “There is still much to do,” they added, given how delicate the situation is.
On the one hand, the goal is to protect the rights of the minority in court; on the other hand, everyone wants peaceful coexistence between the country’s various ethnic groups.
The nation of over 28 million people has a Muslim majority (60 per cent). Christians are the third largest religious group after Buddhists, with more than 2.6 million members
A Malay-Latin dictionary published 400 years ago shows that the term ‘Allah’ was used in the local language to refer to the Biblical God centuries ago.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Muslims Break Crosses, Desecrate Graves in Christian Cemetery
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) — Person or persons unknown desecrated eight gravestones in a Christian cemetery in Tanjung Api, near Kuantan, capital of Kuantan District, in Malaysia’s Pahang State. The attack was discovered this morning, when a cemetery employee found some damaged graves.
It is likely to fuel sectarian tensions in the Asian country, where Catholics and Muslims are already at loggerheads over the use of the word Allah for the Christian God, something that is currently before the courts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Father of Three Fired Because a Christian
The victim is 39 year old Naveed Maqsood. Thanks to the quotas reserved for minorities he had obtained a job as a driver in a government school. The Muslim principle, however, was not happy “because he is a member of a minority” and has never paid him. After he took to case to court, the judges ordered his dismissal.
Gujrat (AsiaNews) — Fired from his job for being a Christian. This is what happens in Pakistan, in the city of Gujrat (Punjab province), where Naveed Maqsood has been waging a legal battle for over a year to put an end to the ongoing discrimination he has suffered at the hands of his boss, a Muslim woman, the principal of a state school. The man, aged 39, is the father of three young children and was employed as a driver.
The episode dates to August 16, 2012 when, thanks to government quotas reserved for minorities, Naveed was employed by the Government Special Education Center Sara-e-Alamgeer in Gujrat. Nargis Parveen, the principal of the institute, harbored a personal grudge against the Christian, and from December 2012 to September 2013 blocked — illegally — payment of his salary.
The man approached her to ask her to let him do his work on a regular basis, but the principal explained that the place assigned to him was “destined” for an acquaintance of hers and that she “did not like him because he is a member of a minority”. Failing to resolve the dispute, Naveed requested and was granted a transfer to Faisalabad, where he began working for the National Special Education Center. Meanwhile, the government ordered he be paid the wages he was due, but Nargis Parveen never put the man on the payroll.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) brought a case before a Lahore court on behalf of Naveed Maqsood. The court sent two subpoenas to the principal, but the woman never appeared before the judges. In January 2014 Naveed was called to testify in the presence of school authorities and the result was his dismissal.
For Bunny Edward, lawyer and coordinator of the NCJP legal aid program, Pakistan “is fast becoming an intolerant society. In Naveed Maqsood’s case, we filed an appeal at the High Court of Lahore, so he may regain his place of employment and the wages owed him”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
How Japan’s ‘BBC’ Is Rewriting Its Role in the Second World War
Naoki Hyakuta says Japan was lured into the Second World War by America while liberating Asia from white colonialism. He denies war crimes such as the 1937 Nanjing massacre, when Japanese troops killed thousands of Chinese civilians.
Such views are common among revisionists in Japan. Mr Hyakuta, however, sits on the board of the nation’s public service broadcaster. NHK has annual revenue of more than $6bn (£3.7bn), putting it close to the BBC.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Married Muslim Woman Had Sex With a Man From Her Local Mosque Before Having Him Charged With Rape
A MARRIED Muslim woman tasked with finding a wife for a single male from her local mosque instead had sex with him several times before having him charged with rape. The Shi’ite mother of two and the Alawite man would regularly have sex in her car after attending prayer sessions, with naked pictures of the woman ending up on his mobile phone…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mourners Farewell Afghanistan Veteran Captain Paul McKay
A LARGE crowd of mourners has farewelled an Afghanistan war veteran who died on a remote mountain in the United States last month. Captain Paul McKay, whose family was from Adelaide, was found dead on a rocky outcrop near a hiking trail in upstate New York three weeks ago…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Central African Republic: Muslim Killed by Mob in Car
A mob has attacked and killed a Muslim man who was part of a large convoy of Muslims who were trying to flee unrest in the capital of the Central African Republic. Witnesses say Christians took part in the attack in Bangui on Friday, which took place after the man fell off of a truck carrying Muslims out of the city. Witnesses say the attackers mutilated the man’s body…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Terrorists Won’t be Bred in Places of Worship — Uhuru
Nairobi — President Uhuru Kenyatta has categorically stated that no religious institutions will be allowed to serve as centres of recruiting terrorists or radicalisation of youths. He said the country will not tolerate any group causing insecurity in the country…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Muslim Family — Let Your Home Reflect Your Faith — Imam Abojututu
As a microcosm of the society, the family is an important institution that must be well managed and protected in line with the guidelines set by the creator. Facing the Kaaba in a chat with Imam Abdul Hafeez Abojututu dissects the conundrum of an ideal Muslim family and offer tips on how to make the union sustainable…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
German Tourist, 76, Shot Dead in Venezuela
An elderly German man was shot dead Friday on Venezuela’s tourist island of Margarita, underlining the country’s reputation as one of the most dangerous in the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Watches Swiss Immigration Vote
Swiss voters are going to the polls on Sunday in a nationwide referendum on immigration which is being watched closely right across Europe. The proposal, from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, calls on Switzerland to abandon its free movement of people treaty with the European Union and introduce strict quotas on immigration.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has adopted large sections of EU policy, including free movement and the Schengen open-borders agreement, in order to have access to Europe’s single market. Brussels has always insisted that the Swiss will not be allowed to cherry-pick only the aspects of EU policy they like.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian President Calls for Shorter Migrant Detentions
Letter responding to lip-sewing protesters at Rome Cie center
(ANSA) — Rome, February 7 — Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called for shorter detentions at the CIE migrant centre on the outskirts of Rome, which has been at the center of controversy since a group of North Africans held there sewed their lips together to protest their lengthy detention. “An in-depth evaluation of the residency time-frame of the CIE center is both useful and opportune”, Napolitano said in a letter that was made public by a member of Premier Enrico Letta’s center-left Partito Democratico (PD) party. The letter was sent by the head of State in response to one sent to him by the immigrant inmates of the refugee center of January 1.
The men had used a thread from a blanket and a small needle to sew their mouths closed a the Ponte Galeria facility two months ago. The guarded Ponte Galeria detention centre is located near Rome’s international airport to make deportations easier. It holds detains about 100 undocumented migrants. Italy is facing mass inflows from North Africa and now Syria amid the ravages of poverty and war.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Sweatshop Workers Near Naples ‘Being Held in Slavery’
Passports seized, forced to work all week at three euros an hour
(ANSA) — Naples, February 3 — Sweatshop workers from Bangladesh working in textile factories in the town of Sant’Antimo near Naples have petitioned to be recognized as de facto slaves in a bid to escape their employers, activists said Monday.
Hundreds of Bangladeshis, some of them undocumented migrants, told activists in a church meeting on Sunday that their employers seize their passports, then force them to work upwards of 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for three euros an hour.
“We will report their Italian and Bangladeshi employers for slavery, and ask that all the signatories to the petition be granted residency permits on humanitarian grounds”, Italian immigrants-rights NGO February 3 Association (A3F) said in a statement.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1930 defined slavery as “forced or compulsory labor, meaning work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mark Harper Resigns After Hiring Illegal Immigrant
Immigration minister quits after discovering that his cleaner did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK but David Cameron says he should return to front bench soon
Mark Harper, the Immigration Minister, has resigned from the government after it emerged that he had employed a cleaner who was in the country illegally. Mr Harper said he discovered last week that she did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK and decided that his position leading the government’s immigration reforms was no longer tenable…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
More Federal Privileges to Extend to Same-Sex Couples
The federal government will soon treat married same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court or visit family in prison.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was preparing to issue policies aimed at eliminating the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal criminal justice system, according to excerpts from a speech prepared for a Saturday event organized by a prominent gay-rights group.
“In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages,” Mr. Holder’s prepared remarks said, according to the excerpts circulated by the Justice Department.
The changes were set in motion last year when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to refuse federal benefits to married same-sex couples, a ruling that Mr. Holder supported.
Since the ruling in June, the Obama administration has rewritten federal rules to allow same-sex couples to file taxes together and receive Medicare and other benefits reserved for married couples. Mr. Holder has been the public face of those efforts and has made championing gay rights one of the central messages of his tenure.
| [Return to headlines] |
Forget the Paleo Diet, Make Yourself Some Mesoamerican Hot Chocolate
Skip the contents of that deer stomach, or whatever other weird diet you’re on, and get yourself some cocoa beans
Chocolate was first consumed in liquid form in ancient Mesoamerica. Cocoa pods were harvested and fermented; then, the seeds were roasted and ground with a metate, a stone grinding tool also used to process corn. After being mixed with water, the chocolate was served hot or cold with added flavorings like vanilla beans, ground chili, honey, or a spicy tree-flower that had a taste similar to black pepper and nutmeg.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sorry but why is there news dating back from 2011 in this section. The one article about potential riots in Spain and Italy.
It’s there because someone sent me the title, the text, and the link. If the item is not obviously noxious or bogus, it goes in. So sometimes old stuff gets included.
@Circassian Activists Call Sochi 2014 the ‘Genocide Olympics’
The anti-Russian,Western Caliphate Propaganda operatives win the gold medal for the most absurd time warping linkage – ‘Genocide Olympics’.
Who is running the pro-sunni muslim Olympics propaganda machine across the Western media CIA, MI5/6 NSA???
Let’s not forget the Greek pogroms, with over a million dead, most in 1922.
Let’s not forget the Armenian genocide with well over a million and half dead.
Let’s not forget the Chaldian and Assyrian massacres with 100s of thousand dead. All in the first half of the 20th century.
Then let’s not forget the Chinese massacres in Indonesia.
That’s just for starters.
and let’s not forget that neither of the aforementioned crimes was perpetrated by the Adyghe …
Besides, apparently Circassian identity and Islam are till this day at odds. Few years ago, insurgents killed prominent kabardian ethnographer Aslan Tsipinov, specializing in traditional religion of Habze: http://www.rferl.org/content/north_caucasus_insurgents_ethnographer_murder/2272112.html