Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/16/2014

Crimean residents went to the polls today to vote in a referendum, and 95% of those who voted favor joining the Russian Federation. However, Tatars and Ukrainians reportedly boycotted the vote. Meanwhile, a mob of ethnic Russians attacked pro-Ukrainian demonstrators in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. One person was killed and dozens were injured.

In other referendum news, two-thirds of the voters in the Venice region voted to secede from Italy and re-establish the Republic of Veneto.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Mark H, 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
» Banks, Financial Institutions: Near Future of Transacting Business Will be Done Via Scanning
» Dubai Reaches Refinancing Deal With UAE Central Bank and Abu Dhabi on $20 Billion of Debt
» Italy’s Recovery ‘Modest’ Over Next Two Years Says Fitch
» Italy: Temporary Contracts to be Limited to Three Years
» Milan Sheds 1.5% in Trading Amid Concerns Over Italy Economy
» The Fiscal Compact is Killing Italy
 
USA
» After 37 Years on Lam, Killer Caught in Florida
» Biometric Head & Hand Scanning Begins Rapid Expansion on College Campuses
» Computer Control — U.S. Businesses Now Fear Internet Censors (Video)
» General Accused of Sexual Assault Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charges
» Hiding Behind ‘Global Internet Community’ The Ravening United Nations Wolf
» India Disappointed With U. S. Re-Indictment of Diplomat
» Internet Control — Keys to the Kingdom
» Leaderless in America: US Desperately Seeks Principled Direction in a Merciless World
» Unnamed Source Says USGS is Suppressing Supervolcano Activity at Yellowstone Under White House Orders
 
Europe and the EU
» Bulgarian Security Agency Warns of Increased Terrorist Risk
» Fake Prince Harry Cons Austrian Floor Fitter
» France to Limit Vehicle Use in Paris Amid Soaring Pollution
» French Muslims Campaigning to Overturn Anti-Muslim Laws
» Italy: Northern League Petitions for Red-Light District in Milan
» Italy: Mobster Informant Says 1990s Bombings Stopped When Mafia Won
» Italy: Berlusconi Says Left Uses Justice to Eliminate Opponents
» Italy Prepared to Cut Order for F-35 Jets
» Latest Round of Words Added to the Oxford Dictionary Include One of the Rudest in the English Language
» Lego Robot Crushes Rubik’s Cube World Record With Superhuman Speed
» New Dating Methods Suggest the Shroud of Turin is Real
» UK: Bid to Boost Feminism Among Muslim Women
» UK: Box-Ticking Bureaucrats Are Crippling the NHS…
» UK: Grandmother Who Was Brutally Attacked With a Curtain Pole by Another Resident at the Care Home Where She Lived Died 13 Days Later
» UK: Muslim Extremists, And a Worrying Lesson for US All
» UK: Osborne: People Paying 40p Tax Feel They Are Joining the Aspirational Classes and Are a Success
» UKIP to Win EU Parliament Election, Opinion Poll Reveals
» Venice Votes in Referendum on Splitting From Rome
 
Balkans
» Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bus Bombing Suspect Arrested in BiH
» Polls Open in Serbia’s Elections
» Progressive Party Favourite to Win Serbia Elections
 
North Africa
» Crackdown in Egypt on Ousted President’s Backers Sees 16,000 Detained, Many Reports of Abuses
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Schwartz Tells Israel to Prep for Armageddon and Forget US Help as Obama Has Turned US Into an ‘Enemy of Israel’
 
Middle East
» 14 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq
» 5 Terrorists Killed While Preparing Car Bomb in Yemen
» Migrant Workers in Qatar: “We’re Paid to Attend Football Games”
» Syrian Troops Regain Control of Yabrud
» Turkey’s Forthcoming Elections
» Turkish Students Fail to Go Beyond ‘Hello’ In English Courses
» Yemeni Officials Say 3 Militants Accidentally Blow Themselves Up in Explosion in South
 
Russia
» Crimea Referendum Voter Turnout at 44.7 Percent
» Crimea Referendum: Voters ‘Back Russia Union’
» EU Sanctions Worry Italian Businesses in Russia
» Jubilation on Streets of Simferopol Over Crimean Vote to Leave Ukraine
» Merkel and Putin Agree to Bolster OSCE Presence in Ukraine
» Russian Nationalists Riot, Maim and Kill Pro-Ukrainian Demonstrators in Donetsk
» Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites and Blogs
» Saipem Reaches 2-Bn-Euro Deal With Russia’s Gazprom
» Ukraine Names Oligarchs and Gangsters as Governors and Ministers
 
South Asia
» Afghanistan: All But One British Frontline Base Pull Out
» Council of Islamic Ideology Declares Women’s Existence Anti-Islamic
» Hunt for Missing Malaysian Plane MH370 Turns to Pilots
» Indian Prophet Believes Zombie Attack May be on Way
» Karzai Says Afghanistan Doesn’t Need US Troops
» Missing Malaysia Plane: Malaysia Requests Countries’ Help
» Missing Malaysia Plane: MH370 and the Military Gaps
» Pakistan: Enraged Muslim Mob Burns Hindu Center Over Rumors of Qur’an Desecration
» Pilots of Missing Malaysian Jet Caught at Security Before Fatal Flight — as Officials Reveal Flight Could Have Been on the Ground When Last Satellite Signal Was Sent
» Plot by Islamic Jihadists to Hijack Passenger Jet Investigated in Connection With Disappearance of Malaysian Airliner
 
Australia — Pacific
» Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — and Prince George — Heading for Constitutional Storm in Australia
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Islamist Attacks Kill 100 in Nigeria
» More Than 100 Christians Killed in Village Attacks Blamed on Muslim Herders in Nigeria
» Nigeria: As Fulani Herdsmen Fire Rages… 200 Killed in Kaduna
» Somalia: Qur’an Teachers Arrested Over Indoctrination
 
Culture Wars
» BBC Bans Jesus From Radio 2: Pop Star Eliza Doolittle and Dj Baffled Over Order to Change ‘Innocent’ Lyric
» Comes Polyamorous Engineered Babies
» Mykonos Among Top Gay-Friendly Destiantions
» UK: Fury at School Plan to Force Teenagers to Share Unisex Toilets: Girls as Young as 11 Will Use Same Bathroom Facilities as 16-Year-Old Boys
 
General
» NASA-Funded Study: Industrial Civilisation Headed for ‘Irreversible Collapse’?
 

Banks, Financial Institutions: Near Future of Transacting Business Will be Done Via Scanning

Banks and other financial institutions are embracing biometrics as a next-level security platform, helping prevent against fraud and theft, according to a report published by the Global Industry Analysts (GIA) research group. Fingerprint recognition is the most popular form of biometrics security, with high accuracy and relatively low deployment costs. Most common biometric security tend to be fingerprint verification, hand-geometry recognition, speech recognition, and iris and retina scanning technologies. Each has significant advantages and disadvantages, leading some companies to adopt multiple types of biometrics. However, it’s not cost-effective to install and maintain multiple layers of security, unless necessary, with each different solution needing a complex infrastructure.

[Comment: Most likely will result increased kidnapping, assaults and other injuries now that the individual is the “key”.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dubai Reaches Refinancing Deal With UAE Central Bank and Abu Dhabi on $20 Billion of Debt

Dubai has reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates’ central bank to extend payment of $20 billion of debt that was due this year. Dubai built up tens of billions of dollars in debt during a building boom, but struggled to repay it as the global financial crisis battered its economy and property market. Dubai is one of seven emirates in the UAE.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Recovery ‘Modest’ Over Next Two Years Says Fitch

Growth driven by exports, domestic consumer market static

(ANSA) — Rome, March 14 — Italy’s recovery over the next two years will be “modest”, with 0.6% growth in 2014 and 1% growth in 2015, ratings agency Fitch said in its Global Economic Outlook released Friday. This year growth will be driven primarily by exports, while the domestic consumer market is expected to remain static, said the chapter devoted to Italy. Italy technically began to emerge from recession — its worst since World War II — in the second half of last year, a year which nevertheless ended with negative growth.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Temporary Contracts to be Limited to Three Years

Renzi presents labour-market reforms

(ANSA) — Rome, May 12 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Wednesday that employees will be able to hire a worker on a temporary contract for no more than three years, as part of reforms he presented aiming at simplifying the labour market and combatting unemployment.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Milan Sheds 1.5% in Trading Amid Concerns Over Italy Economy

European markets weaken over fears of sanctions against Russia

(ANSA) — Milan, March 14 — Italy’s main financial market fell by as much as 2% at one stage on Friday, driven lower — like many European markets — by uncertainty created from the crisis in Ukraine which could lead to sanctions against energy-exporter Russia.

Milan’s FTSE Mib shed as much as 2% before recovering slightly to trade 1.32% lower by late afternoon, a loss of about 271 points to reach 20,320.75.

The Italian market was also weighed down by concerns raised by Fitch ratings agency, which warned that Italy’s recovery over the next two years will be “modest”, with 0.6% growth in 2014 and 1% growth in 2015.

In its Global Economic Outlook, Fitch said that Italian growth in 2014 will be primarily driven by the export sector while consumers will continue to keep their wallets closed.

Investors were also worried as Italy’s public debt continued to rise in January, reaching 2.0895 trillion euros from 20.5 billion euros reported at the end of 2013, the Bank of Italy said Friday. Across Europe, stock markets were dropping to five-week lows as investors watched for the results of Sunday’s controversial referendum that could lead to Crimea leaving Ukraine and joining Russia.

Shares in oil-service provider Saipem rose by 1.49% by late afternoon to 17.05 euros after reaching a two-billion euro deal with Russia’s Gazprom on a gas pipeline project under the Black Sea.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

The Fiscal Compact is Killing Italy

In Italy, the important things are decided by a handful of people tucked away in private rooms, without getting the citizens involved. With the government of Rigor Montis who was President of the Council, having been elected by nobody, on 19 July 2012 Italy received the death sentence, in the form of the what is known in Italian as the “Fiscal Compact”. This is the usual idea of using English words to give intellectual weight to anyone pronouncing them and it means that people can’t understand what they are talking about.

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

After 37 Years on Lam, Killer Caught in Florida

In the nearly 40 years after he escaped from the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, convicted killer James Robert Jones carved out a new life for himself in Florida, living under an assumed name, getting married and working for an air conditioning company.

It all came to an end this week when Jones — or Bruce Walter Keith, as the former Army private was known in Florida — was recaptured with the help of technology that was more sci-fi than reality when he broke out during the disco era: facial-recognition software.

“The first words out of his mouth were, ‘I knew this would catch up with me someday,’“ Barry Golden, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, said Friday. Jones, 59, was one of the Army’s 15 most-wanted fugitives after his 1977 escape from the Kansas prison dubbed “The Castle” for its large walls and tower keeps.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Biometric Head & Hand Scanning Begins Rapid Expansion on College Campuses

A wide variety of identification and authentication technologies are well entrenched at universities nationwide, and it seems biometrics is starting to make noise on campuses where speed and security are both needed. Hand geometry readers have been fairly common on campus for years but more recent deployments are leveraging fingerprint and even iris biometrics to link students with transactions. Physical access is the hallmark biometric application but the technology has been gaining popularity in food service and other sectors to expedite transactions. The social stigma attached to biometrics is also being lifted, as students are becoming more comfortable with the technology, says Brian Adoff, executive vice president at NuVision. The inclusion of a fingerprint scanner on the latest iPhone is just one indication that the younger generation is comfortable with biometrics.

[Comment: Students have become acclimatized to biometrics only because it is being forced on them through campus security and food service sectors. It’s all part of their “conditioning” so they will more readily accept biometrics outside of schools.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Computer Control — U.S. Businesses Now Fear Internet Censors (Video)

Fox News takes a look at the globalist sell-out of the internet.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

General Accused of Sexual Assault Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charges

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, the Army general prosecuted in the military’s most significant sexual assault case, has agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for the dismissal of accusations that he twice forced his longtime mistress into oral sex, threatened to kill her and her family, and performed consensual sexual acts with her in a parked car in Germany and on a hotel balcony in Tucson.

The new guilty pleas, outlined in a document obtained by The New York Times, are expected to be entered by General Sinclair in military court at Fort Bragg, N.C., as soon as Monday morning.

The pleas would end a two-year-old case against one of the military’s rising stars that was derailed after setbacks, including a judge’s ruling last week that cleared the way for a plea deal.

The general’s punishment will not be determined until a judge finishes holding a sentencing hearing; prosecutors are expected to argue for prison time, while defense lawyers will contend that officers in similar cases have not faced jail time and have been allowed to retire at reduced rank.

[Return to headlines]
 

Hiding Behind ‘Global Internet Community’ The Ravening United Nations Wolf

Obama is about to rob you of your most useful form of communication. Your world will go dark and silent overnight without the Internet.

Like the bully taking candy away from the proverbial baby, high-handed President Barack Hussein Obama is giving away the Internet that is in no way his to give. His latest act of out-and-out thievery graduates him from the most unpopular American president of all time, to Enemy of the Free World Numero Uno.

Beggars ride with legions of politicians claiming king status along the Information Highway, and in terms of communication, it is all that the beggars really have.

The world has thrived on the Internet, more valuable than any other asset of the average, making the world a Global Village since at least the late-1980s.

The Information Highway known as the Worldwide Web has been the main form of communication for everyday people, and now Obama is taking it away from an America he loathes and, just as been long feared, is handing it over to the United Nations.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

India Disappointed With U. S. Re-Indictment of Diplomat

(AGI) New Delhi, March 15 — India expressed disappointment regarding the new U.S. charges against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the U.S. visa fraud case. Government spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that New Delhi was disappointed that the U.S. Department of Justice had chosen to obtain a second indictment. He added that any measures consequent on this decision in the U.S. would unfortunately impact on efforts by both sides to build the India-U.S. strategic partnership, to which both sides are committed. Ms Khobragade, who was Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of India in New York City at the time, was arrested on Dec. 12, subjected to a body search and charged with the submission of false documents and statements to the U.S. State Department while applying for a visa for her domestic help. The case triggered a heated dispute, until the Indian diplomat was expelled from the country on Jan. 9 after being granted full immunity by the Indian government. She left behind her husband, a U.S. citizen, and her daughter. On Wednesday judge Shira Scheindlin sided with the defence, acknowledging that Ms Khobragade enjoyed diplomatic immunity at the time of her arrest. On Friday, however, she was re-indicted by a New York grand jury with the comment: “There is currently no bar to a new indictment against her for her alleged criminal conduct, and we intend to proceed accordingly.” ..

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

Internet Control — Keys to the Kingdom

We are handing over the Internet to THE most incompetent and evil body on the planet. It is ruled by Islamic dictators and Communists. John D. Rockefeller was all giddy over the prospect, he called the move “consistent with other efforts the U.S. and our allies are making to promote a free and open Internet, and to preserve and advance the current multi-stakeholder model of global Internet governance.” That ought to chill you to the bone right there. Handing the Internet to the UN paves the way for global government and Rockefeller knows it.

Newt Gingrich was a lone voice of sanity on this issue — here’ s his tweet on the subject:

“What is the global internet community that Obama wants to turn the internet over to? This risks foreign dictatorships defining the internet.”…

USAHitman has a great piece on all of this, They are ringing the warning bell on tyranny at the UN:

Analysts, however, said the UN plot to take over the Internet and expand its powers has essentially nothing to do with either terror or propaganda. Instead, critics of the scheme argued, the establishment is getting nervous about the Internet — possibly the final bastion of true free speech in the world — and is working to crack down on it now, before the people of the world wake up and remove the shackles of tyranny.

“The powers-that-be have decided that they need to track user details on the Internet to prevent crime… The ultimate goal is world government and it is being built via ever-more authoritarian means,” noted analysts at the liberty-minded Daily Bell, which has been vigorously defending Internet freedom as the potential key to advancing human freedom throughout the world.

In essence, then, the UN hopes to facilitate tyranny. “

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Leaderless in America: US Desperately Seeks Principled Direction in a Merciless World

Madness! Idiotic Internet Surrender Latest Example of Barack’s Inexplicable Anti-Americanism

As if Americans needed another example of Barack’s mind-numbing, feckless, apologetic, undermining, utterly damaging, sarcastic presidency, we are now informed that the president has unilaterally decided to hand over control of the Internet to a world body.

Shades of Jimmy Carter! Let’s not forget Carter simply handed off the Panama Canal after the blood, sweat, tears and lives of Americans who created it from scratch. So why are American liberals always so intent upon punishing the States? In a word — Marxism!

Will the USA ever decide that Barack’s furiously anti-America tour has gone too far? Would the typical American really want the Internet, which is a mostly native creation, handed over to a UN type body? This is crazy policy and truly infuriating. The myth that must be punctured here is the notion that only “international” bodies have the right, or can be trusted with important global concerns. In fact, if anything — history proves just the opposite. Further, this canard is launched upon the lie that the “world” created freedom and justice, and therefore has a right to preserve and own all good things. In fact, the very notion of freedom and liberty is a European, and mostly British development, then grafted into America. For example, British patriots like Selden and Coke helped craft the British Bill of Rights, a foundation of Founders Jefferson and Madison’s Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Unnamed Source Says USGS is Suppressing Supervolcano Activity at Yellowstone Under White House Orders

In what may prove to be bad news for the United States, the Yellowstone supervolcano may be on the brink of a massive explosion that would be categorized as an extinction level event (ELE). In fact, recent reports suggest that ancient Helium4 gas has breached the surface layers of Yellowstone’s crust,escaping into the atmosphere. Now couple that with the recent and abrupt ground level rise in the park — and we may be looking at a spell for disaster. I mean after all, as Michio Kaku, famous theoretical physicist, pointed out on a Jan. 2011 CNN newscast, “When it blows [Yellowstone] it could destroy the United States as we know it. […] That’s what is making us nervous”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bulgarian Security Agency Warns of Increased Terrorist Risk

There is an increased risk of extremist and terrorist groups in Bulgaria, concluded a report of the State Agency for National Security (DANS). The agency has identified the “considerable risks for national security”, but did not specify them. In 2013 it has investigated nearly 100 000 dubious people and has deported from Bulgaria 128 foreigners, deemed dangerous for Bulgaria…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Fake Prince Harry Cons Austrian Floor Fitter

A Facebook user posing as Britain’s Prince Harry has conned an Austrian floor fitter out of thousands of euros. The fake prince offered the workman a million-euro contract to renovate the parquet floors at Buckingham Palace. The tradesman then transferred 27,500 euros (£23,000) to several UK bank accounts, which the fraudster said was necessary to set up a British business.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France to Limit Vehicle Use in Paris Amid Soaring Pollution

France is to limit vehicle use in the capital Paris from Monday morning amid a spike in pollution to health-threatening levels, the French government announced Saturday.

A system of “alternating traffic”, whereby vehicle use is restricted to alternate days depending on licence plate numbers, will come into effect in Paris and its surrounding suburbs from 5.30 am (04.30 GMT) Monday morning.

A decision will then be taken as to whether to extend the measure into Tuesday “depending on how the situation evolves”, a statement from the office of French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. “The Prime Minister is aware of the difficulties that this may cause to the everyday lives of Parisians” the statement said. “But this is a necessary measure.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Muslims Campaigning to Overturn Anti-Muslim Laws

On the 10-year anniversary of France’s ban on the hejab in public schools, Muslims and their supporters have begun a campaign to overturn the country’s steadily-increasing number of Islamophobic laws…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Northern League Petitions for Red-Light District in Milan

Matteo Salvini says he wouldn’t oppose brothel in his area

(ANSA) — Milan, March 12 — The head of the regionalist Northern League said Wednesday that his party plans to collect signatures on a petition calling for a red-light district for Italy’s business capital city of Milan.

In a radio interview, Matteo Salvini said he would not oppose a brothel in his neighbourhood, “even in my house, I see no problem”.

He told the radio program La Zanzara that beginning on March 29, the League will begin to circulate petitions gathering signatures in favour of opening brothels. The exchange of sexual services for money is legal in Italy but organized prostitution — indoors in brothels or controlled by third parties — is prohibited.

Brothels became illegal in 1958 but there have been periodic calls, especially from right-wing and populist parties, to bring them back.

An estimated 70,000 prostitutes work in Italy, half of them foreign-born and 20% under the legal age for sex work of 18, according to the most recent survey by activist organization Gruppo Abele.

Abele says there are nine million “assiduous or occasional” clients of sex workers in Italy, who generate a turnover of 5.6 billion euros.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Mobster Informant Says 1990s Bombings Stopped When Mafia Won

‘Cosa Nostra got what it wanted in State-Mafia talks’

(ANSA) — Rome, March 14 — Mafia bombings in the 1990s ended because the Sicilian crime syndicate had obtained all it wanted in secret talks with the State, mobster-turned-informant Gaspare Spatuzza testified Friday at an ongoing trial into the alleged negotiations.

After a failed carbomb attack in 1994 at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico targeting Carabinieri police, “the slaughters ended because we had closed everything,” Spatuzza said on Friday.

The Mafia turncoat was referring to claims made by boss Giuseppe Graviano, who reportedly told him in 1994 that Cosa Nostra had obtained all it wanted in the talks “thanks to serious people who had moved things forward,” referring to three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi and former Senator Marcello Dell’Utri.

Dell’Utri is appealing to the supreme Court of Cassation a seven-year sentence imposed last March by a Palermo court that convicted him of Mafia association.

Cosa Nostra carbomb attacks in the early 1990s that claimed the lives, among others, of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992 allegedly led the State to enter into secret talks with the Mafia.

Testifying at the trial from a jail in Rome, Spatuzza, a former aide of Graviano, said on Thursday that his boss had told him Berlusconi and Dell’Utri had “put the country in the hands” of the Mafia. “He said: I told you that things would turn out all right” before mentioning Berlusconi, and adding “that our ‘paesano’ (fellow Sicilian) Dell’Ultri was also involved, and thanks to them we had the country in our hands,” Spatuzza said.

Dell’Utri allegedly forged “a pact of protection” with Cosa Nostra for Berlusconi at a meeting in May 1974, reportedly linking the ex-premier and the crime syndicate through the former chief of the media magnate’s advertising arm.

Dell’Utri is credited with setting up in 1993 the organization of the three-time premier’s center-right party Forza Italia six months before it swept to victory in general elections.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi Says Left Uses Justice to Eliminate Opponents

(AGI) Rome, Mar 15 — Silvio Berlusconi has said that the left uses magistrates to get rid of their opponents. Speaking by telephone at a Forza Italia event in Varese, and commenting on his possible candidature in the next European elections, he said: “Unfortunately, whenever the left is not able to defeat a rival on a political level, they resort to justice to eliminate him”.

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

Italy Prepared to Cut Order for F-35 Jets

(AGI) Rome, March 16 — Italy will not hesitate to make major cuts in its spending on war planes, Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in a television interview. Pinotti referred in particular to an order for 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning jets. But before making cuts, she specified, “we must ask ourselves: do we want an air force? What kind of defence do we want, what kind of protection do we need? The government is awaiting the result of an inquiry into these questions before taking a decision.” .

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

Latest Round of Words Added to the Oxford Dictionary Include One of the Rudest in the English Language

The offensive word — which has been added under the ‘c’ section — joins nearly 900 other terms newly added to the reference collection.

Among them is ‘Old Etonian’, which refers to an old boy of Eton College, ‘bathroom break’, ‘beat boxer’, and ‘scissor kick’.

[Comment: Mostly useless additions…the descent of Oxford dictionary continues. Keep on adding slang and pretty soon it’ll look like the dictionary for Edward James Olmos’ character in Bladerunner. All part of ‘dumbed-down’ education for the masses.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Lego Robot Crushes Rubik’s Cube World Record With Superhuman Speed

And you thought that Lego castle you built as a kid was impressive. Two engineers in England have set the world record for completing a Rubik’s Cube with a robot made from the ubiquitous plastic blocks.

The (somewhat) cleverly-named Cubestormer 3 robot accomplished the impressive feat in just 3.253 seconds — about 62 percent faster than the previous world record, which was held by the second-generation version of the robot. That time also destroyed the current human record, set by the Dutchman Mats Valk, who set a 5.55 second time last year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

New Dating Methods Suggest the Shroud of Turin is Real

The Shroud of Turin is a relic and therefore an object of worship for believers. According to Catholic tradition, it is the linen cloth in which Jesus’ body was wrapped after his death on the cross and in which he was placed in the grave by Joseph of Arimathea. The Gospel narrated that on the third day an angel was standing by the open grave, though it was guarded by soldiers. Christ was resurrected with his body. Only his shroud was found in the empty grave. The linen cloth with the outlines of a wounded man have fascinated people ever since and still poses a big mystery to science. Those who are far from the Church find it particularly difficult to deal with it. They can not escape the fascination of the cloth. But they can’t accept a supernatural origin….

Giulio Fanti, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Padua has just released together with Malfi Pierandrea a new book on the Turin grave cloth. The title is: La Shroud: primo secolo dopo Cristo (The Shroud First Century After Christ, Edizioni Segno, 425 pages, 20 euros). “Thanks to a project at the University of Padua, it was possible to develop on the basis of mechanical and opto-chemical analyzes, alternative dating methods for the grave Shroud of Turin. The results of these analyzes showed datings which are all compatible with each other and the year 33 result in a fluctuation of a mean of 250 years after Christ “ Vatican Insider conducted an interview with Professor Giulio Fanti.

Fanti: We know that the radiocarbon dating from 1988 is wrong. This was verified by a series of articles in international journals. The former dating left some aspects out of consideration, as well as the phenomenon of fire. According to the analysis of 1978 and 1988, the grave cloth was exposed to the monoterpene thymol, a very strong bactericide, however, the C-14 content changes, especially on old textiles. From a chemical point of view, therefore, you know: the grave cloth of a C-14 analysis should now again be subjected to the action of thymol would be reflected on the dating…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Bid to Boost Feminism Among Muslim Women

The charity Maslaha is aiming to persuade more Muslim British women to engage with issues of gender equality

For many feminists the hijab is a glaring symbol of male oppression and the patriarchal power of religion. But now there is a small but growing number of Muslim women looking to take their places in Britain’s rapidly expanding women’s movement…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Box-Ticking Bureaucrats Are Crippling the NHS…

“We must give life or death decisions back to doctors,” leading surgeon pleads as he leaves the health service after 30 years

Henry Marsh has been an NHS brain surgeon for more than 30 years. But now thoroughly disillusioned with the bureaucracy crippling the service he is leaving to work in countries like Ukraine where he is most needed.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Grandmother Who Was Brutally Attacked With a Curtain Pole by Another Resident at the Care Home Where She Lived Died 13 Days Later

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A grandmother died 13 days after being viciously attacked with a curtain pole by a fellow care home resident, an inquest has heard.

Maureen Shone, 72, was found by staff on the floor of her bedroom in Trentham, Staffordshire after being brutally assaulted by a male patient.

The helpless dementia sufferer was found covered in bruises Selwyn House, and the metal pole used to beat her was found dangling by her bed, covered in blood.

The inquest at North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court heard she had been put to bed early that evening.

But it emerged a sensor — placed under Mrs Shone’s mattress to alert staff if she got out of bed — had not been switched on by staff.

Carers then found her lying on the floor two hours later after hearing a banging noise coming from her room…

Mrs Shone’s daughter, Patricia Shone, went to the hospital after being called by staff .

Miss Shone, 52, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: ‘Given that I had quite a few phone calls about her falling over I wasn’t unduly concerned, so I went to the hospital the following day.

‘But when I saw my mum I had a bit of a shock. She looked like she had been in a boxing match.

‘She was bruised all over her face and chest, her nose was bent, her eyes were black and she was barely recognisable…

Post mortem results recorded that Mrs Shone died of pneumonia, aggravated by dementia and blunt force trauma.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Muslim Extremists, And a Worrying Lesson for US All

By Andrew Gilligan

Activists attempting to ‘Islamify’ state schools in Birmingham could try to launch a national campaign

Last week, a deputy head teacher in Birmingham, called Razwan Faraz, tweeted a newspaper article casting doubt on claims that hard-line Muslims were plotting to take over some of the city’s state schools. “The truth reveals itself,” he said.

The document behind the claim, supposedly a “how-to” letter from one Muslim extremist to another, certainly had its problems. At least one of its claims was wrong, taking credit for the ousting of a head teacher that had occurred 20 years before. The very name the letter gave to the alleged operation, “Trojan Horse”, was perhaps a little too obvious. For that reason, this newspaper and others described it as a “purported” document.

But whether or not the letter is genuine, much of what it describes is certainly real…

[JP note: See also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10685418/Extremists-and-the-Trojan-Horse-approach-in-state-schools.html and http://www.mcb.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2457:community-news-template&catid=85:community-news&Itemid=37 ]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Osborne: People Paying 40p Tax Feel They Are Joining the Aspirational Classes and Are a Success

Tory MPs accuse Chancellor of insulting middle earners

The Chancellor has been accused of ‘insulting’ middle-class voters after claiming that making them pay higher tax rates is ‘good for them’ because it makes them feel successful.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP to Win EU Parliament Election, Opinion Poll Reveals

Ukip currently leads ComRes opinion poll at 30%, ahead of the Conservatives and Labour.

The UK’s right-wing eurosceptic UK Independence Party (Ukip) will win a majority of votes in the European Parliament election in May, according to a new ComRes poll.

The opinion poll, commissioned by the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror, puts Ukip in the lead with 30%, two points ahead of Labour, which is on 28%. The Conservative Party is in third place with 21%, followed by the Liberal Democrats on 8% and the Green Party on 6%…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Venice Votes in Referendum on Splitting From Rome

Voting has begin in Venice and the surrounding region on whether to break away from Italy. Recent opinion polls suggest that two-thirds of the four million electorate favour splitting from Rome, but the vote will not be legally binding.

The poll was organised by local activists and parties, who want a future state called Republic of Veneto. This would be reminiscent of the sovereign Venetian republic that existed for more than 1,000 years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bus Bombing Suspect Arrested in BiH

BANJA LUKA, March 15 (Xinhua) — A bus bombing suspect was arrested midnight Friday in the Republika Srpska (RS), an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), local police said on Saturday. The suspect, Zeljko Stevanovic, was arrested near the train station in Banja Luka, capital city of RS, said Mladen Maric, Chief of Security in Banja Luka. Stevanovic, suspected of throwing a bomb into a city bus in Banja Luka on Friday, did not resist during the arrest, he said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Polls Open in Serbia’s Elections

BELGRADE, March 16 (Xinhua) — Polling stations across Serbia opened on Sunday morning for more than 6.7 million eligible voters to elect a new 250-seat parliament. Voters arrived at some of more than 8,000 designated voting places in central Serbia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo as well as foreign countries…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Progressive Party Favourite to Win Serbia Elections

(AGI) Belgrade, March 16 — Serbians are voting in snap polls on Sunday, with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) party led by Aleksandar Vucic favourite to capitalise on a wave of public support after successfully opening talks on EU membership. Some 6.7 million voters have been called to the polls to elect a new 250-seat parliament with a four-year mandate.

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

Crackdown in Egypt on Ousted President’s Backers Sees 16,000 Detained, Many Reports of Abuses

Egypt’s crackdown on Islamists has jailed 16,000 people over the past eight months in the country’s biggest round-up in nearly two decades, according to previously unreleased figures from security officials. Rights activists say reports of abuses in prisons are mounting, with prisoners describing systematic beatings and miserable conditions for dozens packed into tiny cells.

The Egyptian government has not released official numbers for those arrested in the sweeps since the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July. But four senior officials — two from the Interior Ministry and two from the military — gave The Associated Press a count of 16,000, including about 3,000 top- or mid-level members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Schwartz Tells Israel to Prep for Armageddon and Forget US Help as Obama Has Turned US Into an ‘Enemy of Israel’

Henry Schwartz, a prominent entrepreneur and EMPact America founder, spoke with Arutz Sheva following his organization’s National Security Action Summit last week. The purpose of the conference was to save America from a “dire” situation, revealed Schwartz. US President Barack Obama has given Iran permission to build a nuclear weapon through a “bogus deal,” charged Schwartz, warning the Iranians “will come back to Israel, G-d forbid, they will come back to America. Schwartz warned that the Obama administration is “effectively an enemy” of Israel, opining that if Israeli acted to take out Iran’s nuclear program, “Obama would probably be a detriment to Israel,” and “feed intelligence” to Iran about Israeli activities.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

14 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 16 (Xinhua) — Fourteen people were killed and 19 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Sunday, police said.

In Salahudin province, dozens of gunmen in 15 vehicles attacked the house of a leader of a government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group at a village in north of the Samarra city, some 120 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

5 Terrorists Killed While Preparing Car Bomb in Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, March 16 (Xinhua) — Five suspected al-Qaida militants were killed when their explosives-laden car they were building went off prematurely in Yemen’s southeastern province of Shabwa on Sunday, a tribal chief told Xinhua…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Migrant Workers in Qatar: “We’re Paid to Attend Football Games”

Qatar may be hosting the World Cup, but its residents are not known for being big football fans. Their lack of interest runs so deep that promoters are resorting to unorthodox means to fill the stadiums — including paying migrant workers to attend the matches.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Troops Regain Control of Yabrud

(AGI) Yabrud, March 16 — Syrian troops have regained control of Yabrud, in the Qalamoun region, the last rebel stronghold on the border with Lebanon, reported France Press after entering the city following the announcement by the Syrian army. “This new success… is an important step towards securing the border area with Lebanon, and cutting off the roads and tightening the noose around the remaining terrorist cells in Damascus province”, a military source explained.

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

Turkey’s Forthcoming Elections

A briefing by Burak Bekdil

Erdogan underestimated an additional challenge posed by Fethullah Gülen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric and former ally. According to Gülen’s Hizmet movement, Erdogan’s confrontational policy toward other nations and faiths undermined the movement’s global interfaith approach. The Gülenists have pledged their support to Erdogan’s AK party rivals and are certain to keep up the corruption probe’s pressure on the beleaguered prime minister. Against this backdrop, the looming mayoral elections will be a referendum on the popularity of Erdogan and his allies.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish Students Fail to Go Beyond ‘Hello’ In English Courses

More than 90 percent of students in Turkey remain in basic level language even after 1,000 hours of English training, according to a joint report from the British Council and TEPAV

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Yemeni Officials Say 3 Militants Accidentally Blow Themselves Up in Explosion in South

SANAA, Yemen — Security officials in Yemen say three alleged al-Qaida operatives have accidentally blown themselves up while outfitting a car with explosives in preparation for an operation in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa.

Tribesmen from the area and security officials identified the three, one Saudi and two Yemenis, as al-Qaida members. The group is known to be active in the province’s Habban region, where the explosion took place Sunday.

The U.S considers Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, also called al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, to be the network’s most dangerous offshoot. The group seized much of the south after Yemen’s 2011 uprisings.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Crimea Referendum Voter Turnout at 44.7 Percent

(AGI) Simferopol, March 16 — Voter turnout in Crimea reached 44.7 percent by noon local time, in a referendum on joining Russia or staying part of Ukraine. The figures was announced by the head of the Crimean Supreme Council’s commission in charge of the organisation of the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev.

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

Crimea Referendum: Voters ‘Back Russia Union’

Some 95.5% of voters in Crimea have supported joining Russia, officials say. after half the votes have been counted in a disputed referendum.

Crimea’s leader says he will apply to join Russia on Monday. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the Crimean people’s wishes. Many Crimeans loyal to Kiev boycotted the referendum, and the EU and US condemned it as illegal.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Sanctions Worry Italian Businesses in Russia

(AGI) Moscow, March 15 — The European Union’s threatened sanctions against Moscow, in response to Russia’s stance on Ukraine, would be “a serious mistake”, said the President of Confindustria Russia, Ernesto Ferlenghi. According to Ferlenghi, if the sanctions were truly to be imposed it would “bring back the clocks 40 years” and only encourage Russia “to distance itself from the West”, thereby strengthening trade with Asia, and China first and foremost.

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

Jubilation on Streets of Simferopol Over Crimean Vote to Leave Ukraine

SIMFEROPOL, Crimea — Even before the official results of the referendum were announced on March 16, hundreds of people were walking around Simferopol, the Crimean peninsula capital, and celebrating. They waved Russian flags and chanted “Russia! Russia!” People even carried small children late into the chilly night, an unusual situation for a normally quiet provincial city.

Sitting on her father’s arms and carrying a small Russian flag, little Sofia said happily that she was allowed to cast her father’s ballot for Russia.

“See how many people are smiling now on the streets,” said Aleksandr, who was also carrying his little daughter. “For 23 years spent in Ukraine, I have never seen so much joy in Simferopol.” He would not give his full name for fear of retribution from his employer for voicing his opinion.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel and Putin Agree to Bolster OSCE Presence in Ukraine

(AGI) Berlin, March 16 — In a telephone conversation on Sunday the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a sending large-scale Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission to Ukraine.

Merkel suggested sending a large number of observers to the more critical areas, particularly in the east of the country, and Putin was in agreement, a spokesman said.

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

Russian Nationalists Riot, Maim and Kill Pro-Ukrainian Demonstrators in Donetsk

By Oleg Atbashian

A mob of pro-Russian protesters savagely attacked a pro-Ukrainian rally with clubs, metal rods, rocks, tear gas, and smoke bombs, killing a 22-year-old local man and seriously injuring scores of others Thursday in Lenin Square in Donetsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine.

According to witnesses, the pro-Ukrainian rally consisted mostly of local men and women, some with children, who came there after work to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine against Russia’s attempts to split the country. This angered a pro-Russian rally nearby, which held Russian flags and demanded that the coal-mining region be separated from Ukraine and joined with Russia.

At some point rocks, eggs, and smoke grenades started flying from the pro-Russian side towards a line of people who chanted Ukrainian slogans while holding a long banner with the colors of the Ukrainian flag…

[Return to headlines]
 

Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites and Blogs

Russia’s government has escalated its use of its Internet censorship law to target news sites, bloggers, and politicians under the slimmest excuse of preventing unauthorized protests and enforcing house arrest regulations. Today, the country’s ISPs have received orders to block a list of major news sites and system administrators have been instructed to take the servers providing the content offline.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Saipem Reaches 2-Bn-Euro Deal With Russia’s Gazprom

Business pact come amid talk of sanctions against Moscow

(ANSA) — Moscow, March 14 — Italy’s Saipem, Europe’s largest oil-service provider and an Eni subsidiary, has reached a two-billion-euro contract with Russia’s Gazprom to extend the South Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea to southern Europe, the companies said Friday.

This comes amid rising tensions between Europe and Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

Russian officials are reportedly bracing for sanctions that could be implemented by the United States and Europe over its activity in Ukraine.

Because Russia is the world’s biggest energy exporter, supplying 30% of Europe’s natural gas last year, State-run Gazprom could be a target of sanctions.

European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet on Monday, one day after the Ukraine region of Crimea votes in a referendum about joining Russia.

Bloomberg news reported that ministers will consider asset freezes and travel bans on Russian political and business leaders considered to be responsible for Crimea’s move to separate from Ukraine.

South Stream is an infrastructure project of Gazprom, designed to begin carrying natural gas to by 2015 and reaching full capacity in 2018.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Names Oligarchs and Gangsters as Governors and Ministers

What happens to Ukraine will be a model for the rest of us

The newly self-elected Ukrainian government is reorganizing all institutions of power, dissolving the special riot police, naming its cronies to key political posts.

But perhaps the most indicative of the true character of the new regime is the naming last week of new Governors to head the major political divisions of regions of Ukraine.

They include dual Israeli-Ukrainian nationals and notorious billionaire gangsters. This seems to be the “democracy” that US State Department Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, Victoris Nuland had in mind when she rejected earlier EU compromise initiatives with the terse comment, “the EU.”

The non-elected or provisional Ukrainian government headed by 39-year old Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has made key regional appointments as Governors in the industrial pro-Russian eastern Ukraine.

The Prime Minister has named three billionaires, including Ukraine’s richest, to head the key political regional or advisory posts.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Afghanistan: All But One British Frontline Base Pull Out

Afghan forces are now leading 97% of all security operations across the country as British troops pull out the last of troops and equipment

British troops have pulled out of all but one frontline outpost in Helmand province in one of the final acts of the 13-year mission in Afghanistan. Just one base, Sterga 2, remains in Helmand outside Camp Bastion, as the UK works towards withdrawing all combat troops by the end of this year…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Council of Islamic Ideology Declares Women’s Existence Anti-Islamic

Islamabad — Sharia Correspondent: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) concluded their 192nd meeting on Thursday with the ruling that women are un-Islamic and that their mere existence contradicted Sharia and the will of Allah. As the meeting concluded CII Chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani noted that women by existing defied the laws of nature, and to protect Islam and the Sharia women should be forced to stop existing as soon as possible. The announcement comes a couple of days after CII’s 191st meeting where they dubbed laws related to minimum marriage age to be un-Islamic.

After declaring women to be un-Islamic, Shirani explained that there were actually two kinds of women — haraam and makrooh. “We can divide all women in the world into two distinct categories: those who are haraam and those who are makrooh. Now the difference between haraam and makrooh is that the former is categorically forbidden while the latter is really really disliked,” Shirani said.

He further went on to explain how the women around the world can ensure that they get promoted to being makrooh, from just being downright haraam. “Any woman that exercises her will is haraam, absolutely haraam, and is conspiring against Islam and the Ummah, whereas those women who are totally subservient can reach the status of being makrooh. Such is the generosity of our ideology and such is the endeavour of Muslim men like us who are the true torchbearers of gender equality,” the CII chairman added.

Officials told Khabaristan Today that the council members deliberated over various historic references related to women and concluded that each woman is a source of fitna and a perpetual enemy of Islam. They also decided that by restricting them to their subordinate, bordering on slave status, the momineen and the mujahideen can ensure that Islam continues to be the religion of peace, prosperity and gender equality.

Responding to a question one of the officials said that international standards of gender equality should not be used if they contradict Islam or the constitution of Pakistan that had incorporated Islam and had given sovereignty to Allah. “We don’t believe in western ideals, and nothing that contradicts Islam should ever be paid heed. In any case by giving women the higher status of being makrooh, it’s us Muslims who have paved the way for true, Sharia compliant feminism,” the official said.

The CII meeting also advised the government that to protect Islam women’s right to breathe should also be taken away from them. “Whether a woman is allowed to breathe or not be left up to her husband or male guardian, and no woman under any circumstance whatsoever should be allowed to decide whether she can breathe or not,” Shirani said.

           — Hat tip: Mark H [Return to headlines]
 

Hunt for Missing Malaysian Plane MH370 Turns to Pilots

Security agencies have reportedly cleared the vast majority of passengers on the flight, as police turned their attention on the captain, co-pilot and crew members in a series of searches and interviews with their relatives.

The captain has apparently taken centre stage of the investigation in Malaysia for his support of Malaysia’s pro-democracy opposition party. There were also unconfirmed reports on Sunday that Captain Zaharie Shah’s wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before flight MH370 went missing.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Indian Prophet Believes Zombie Attack May be on Way

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Science have already discovered several species of parasites which lodge inside the human brain. One of the most horrifying kind is the “brain-eating amoebae” called Naegleria fowleri. It can easily travel from the person’s nose and goes all the up to the brain which destroys all brain tissue it can — – don’t forget that it can be painful when it hits the pain centre of the brain. Second is Toxoplasma gondii that slows down reaction time and double risking people to traffic accidents. Third one found usually in rainforest and swamps is the Loa Loa eye worm which can cause cognitive losses, memory problems and personality changes…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Karzai Says Afghanistan Doesn’t Need US Troops

In his final address to Afghanistan’s parliament Saturday, President Hamid Karzai told the United States its soldiers can leave at the end of the year because his military, which already protects 93 percent of the country, was ready to take over entirely.

He reiterated his stance that he would not sign a pact with the United States that would provide for a residual force of U.S. troops to remain behind after the final withdrawal, unless peace could first be established.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Missing Malaysia Plane: Malaysia Requests Countries’ Help

Some 25 countries are now involved in a vast search operation for the missing airliner that disappeared over a week ago, Malaysian officials say.

The search area — from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean — takes in large tracts of land and sea. An already complex search operation has become even more difficult, Malaysia’s acting transport minister says.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Missing Malaysia Plane: MH370 and the Military Gaps

The latest information in the riddle of flight MH370 has not only dramatically refocused the investigation and search.

It has also revived questions about why the Malaysian military did not immediately notice what was happening, and what gaps there might be more generally in military air defences in a region where the defence and security temperature is high at the moment.

It has now emerged that Malaysian primary military radar tracked an unidentified contact that flew right across the country’s air space, now confirmed to be MH370. But no action, it seems, was taken.

“Where was the Malaysian air force in all this?” says former RAF pilot and aerospace analyst Andrew Brookes. “Ever since 9/11, air defences around the world have been on alert for a hijacked airliner aiming for a prestige target. And few targets are more prestigious than the twin Petronas towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan: Enraged Muslim Mob Burns Hindu Center Over Rumors of Qur’an Desecration

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An angry crowd set fire to a Hindu community center in southern Pakistan after allegations circulated that a Hindu had desecrated Islam’s holy book, police said Sunday. The incident took place overnight in the city of Larkana in Sindh province after some people said they saw burned pages of the Quran in a garbage bin near the home of a Hindu man, said Anwar Laghari, the area police officer.

Violence triggered by allegations of Quran desecration and other allegedly blasphemous acts is common in conservative Pakistan.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pilots of Missing Malaysian Jet Caught at Security Before Fatal Flight — as Officials Reveal Flight Could Have Been on the Ground When Last Satellite Signal Was Sent

This is the moment the pilots of the doomed Malaysian Airlines flight walked through security for the final time before take-off.

CCTV footage captures Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of the Boeing 777 flight, being frisked while walking through security at Kuala Lumpar International Airport.

He is then joined by co-pilot Fariq Hamid who is also searched before the pair walk onto the plane.

Officials revealed today that it is possible the aircraft could have landed and transmitted a satellite signal from the ground.

Shah, a father-of-three, was said to be a ‘fanatical’ supporter of the country’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim — jailed for homosexuality just hours before the jet disappeared.

It has also been revealed that the pilot’s wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before the plane went missing.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Plot by Islamic Jihadists to Hijack Passenger Jet Investigated in Connection With Disappearance of Malaysian Airliner

Evidence of a plot by Malaysian Islamists to hijack a passenger jet in a 9/11-style attack is being investigated in connection with the disappearance of Flight MH370

An al-Qaeda supergrass told a court last week that four to five Malaysian men had been planning to take control of a plane, using a bomb hidden in a shoe to blow open the cockpit door. Security experts said the evidence from a convicted British terrorist was “credible”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — and Prince George — Heading for Constitutional Storm in Australia

A blip in legislation in the state of South Australia could cause a few red faces when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit in April

As the clock counts down to the first overseas state visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George, there are growing fears that their trip may be overshadowed — not by noisy republicans (an occupational hazard on bygone royal tours Down Under), but by a delicate constitutional wrinkle…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Islamist Attacks Kill 100 in Nigeria

(AGI) Lagos, March 16 — At least one hundred people have died in simultaneous attacks by Islamist Fulani militants in the central Nigerian state of Kaduna, local media reported. The attacks took place at dawn, while the victims were asleep, in Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwar Gata and Chenshyi. Witnesses in Chenshyi said there were around forty attackers, armed with guns and knives.

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

More Than 100 Christians Killed in Village Attacks Blamed on Muslim Herders in Nigeria

Officials say Fulani Muslim herders attacked three Christian villages and killed more than 100 civilians. Hundreds of thatched-roof huts were set ablaze.

Thousands have been killed in recent years in competition for land and water between mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Christian farmers across Nigeria’s Middle Belt. More than 100 people were killed in similar attacks in neighboring Katsina state last week.

Chenshyi village chief Nuhu Moses said Sunday that gunmen killed more than 50 people including the pastor’s wife and children. He said the entire village in the southern part of Kaduna state was destroyed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: As Fulani Herdsmen Fire Rages… 200 Killed in Kaduna

Barely four days after suspected Fulani herdsmen struck in Benue State killing 37, three villages in Kaduna State, yesterday, suffered another attack, allegedly by Fulani herdsmen in which about 200 were feared dead.

The attacked villages in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State were reportedly razed. The fresh attack came just as explosions rocked Maiduguri, Borno State capital, the scene of Friday’s assault by insurgents that claimed scores of lives, yesterday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Somalia: Qur’an Teachers Arrested Over Indoctrination

Mogadishu — Federal Government of Somalia’s security forces Saturday launched a surprise security sweep that led to the arrest of dozens of Qur’an recitation teachers in Mogadishu districts, Garowe Online reports.

Security sources disclose that Somali Intelligence and National Security Agency (NISA) suspected the holy Qur’an teachers of being Al Shabaab agents who are brainwashing and indoctrinating children at private schools in Mogadishu’s Hodon and Wadajir districts…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

BBC Bans Jesus From Radio 2: Pop Star Eliza Doolittle and Dj Baffled Over Order to Change ‘Innocent’ Lyric

The singer-songwriter had to change the lyrics from “ Sometimes I wish I was Jesus, I’d get my Air Max on and run across the sea for you” to “ Sometimes I wish it was easy to get my Air Max on and run across the sea for you” .

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Comes Polyamorous Engineered Babies

The bioethics movement grows ever more radical. In the reproductive field, many activists promote a near-absolute right to have a baby, the kind of baby we want, via any means we desire. The UK’s John Harris is a major voice in utilitarian bioethics discourse, who believes that killing so-called human non persons is A-OK. He has now written in favor of creating children using a process known as IVG — in vitro gametes — using stem cells to create eggs and sperm, and then fertilizing via IVF. Harris extols the possibilities. For example, a single person could “self breed,” making a baby with only their own cells. Another use would be by same sex couples who could both be genetically related to a baby, rather than only one.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mykonos Among Top Gay-Friendly Destiantions

Lgbt tourism market growing fast

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 14 — The Greek island of Mykonos is considered to be a particularly gay-friendly tourism destination, Gtp website reports quoting Russell Lord of Tel Aviv-based Kenes Tours. Lord said that particularly gay-friendly destinations include the Greek islands, the United States, Australia and Spain. The expenditure per capita of gay tourists is 57% higher than those of straight travelers, while the overall development of gay tourism is on the up, according to data released at the ITB Berlin international tourism exhibition. This year ITB Berlin once again hosted a wide-ranging program featuring numerous events on the topic of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travel (Lgbt). According to data, the share of the global Lgbt tourism market exceeds 10% or 75 million tourists. Speaking to Deutsche Welle, the president and CEO of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (Iglta), John Tanzella, explained why Lgbt tourists are so popular in the travel industry. “Usually, because most gay people do not have children, they spend more money when they travel and they go on holiday much more often,” Tanzella said.

Iglta’s president underlined that a gay-friendly country does not necessarily mean that a country, for example, has adopted the gay marriage concept, but that it is a destination in which gays are welcome to holiday. “The majority of gay travelers, consider areas where they may hold hands with their partner in public and without a problem as friendly destinations,” Tanzella said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Fury at School Plan to Force Teenagers to Share Unisex Toilets: Girls as Young as 11 Will Use Same Bathroom Facilities as 16-Year-Old Boys

Plans for the Towers School in Ashford, Kent, were condemned by ChildLine founder Esther Rantzen who said it was ‘one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard’.

The ChildLine founder said the proposal for unisex toilets at a school in Kent was ‘one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard’.

The move will mean that girls as young as 11 will share the bathroom facilities with 16-year-old boys.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NASA-Funded Study: Industrial Civilisation Headed for ‘Irreversible Collapse’?

A new study sponsored by Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution.

Noting that warnings of ‘collapse’ are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that “the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]