The Islamic terror group Boko Haram attacked a military barracks and an adjacent police station in the village of Buni Yadi in Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria, killing fourteen soldiers and eleven policemen. The terrorists also attacked homes, shops, and churches, killing at least ten civilians.
In other news, thirty-five people were killed in bomb attacks across Iraq, including seventeen who died when a suicide bomber detonated outside a Shia mosque in Baghdad.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, 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.
Inflation to Return to Near 2% Target, Draghi Says
ECB chief sees ‘constructive role’ for new European Parliament
(ANSA) — Sintra, May 27 — Inflation will return to just below the target of 2%, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said Tuesday.
“We are aware of the risks of a prolonged period of low inflation,” Draghi said. “I am confident, we will bring inflation close to, but below, 2% as per our mandate,” he continued.
The annual inflation rate in the eurozone was 0.7% in April, well below the ECB’s medium-term target of about 2% inflation as countries in the common-currency area struggled to emerge from four years of economic crisis. The ECB chief also said separately that the new European parliament that emerged from recent elections would be “able to play a constructive role”.
“The prospect of a European parliament that is no longer able to function did not come to pass,” he said of the election results in which Euroskeptic parties nonetheless made big gains across the 28-member European Union.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Consumer Confidence Rises in May to Highest Level in 4 Years
Istat says Italian households feeling more optimistic
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — Consumer confidence rose in May to levels not seen since January 2010, national statistics agency Istat said Tuesday. The findings suggest households in Italy are feeling inspired by Premier Matteo Renzi’s economic plans including reforms to reduce unemployment and boost growth.
The confidence index reached 106.3, up from revised levels of 105.5 in April, the third consecutive month of growth, said Istat.
The agency said that households seemed to be feeling more optimistic.
The findings come only days after Italian voters showed strong support for Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) in elections for the European Parliament.
The PD took more than 40.8% of the vote — almost double the 21.2% for the Euroskeptic 5-Star Movement (M5S) led by Beppe Grillo.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Art Collection on Display in Dallas
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Museum of Art is putting on display the first item from a rarely-shown Islamic art collection that it recently got on long-term loan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism Suspect Disagreed With Attack on Mosque, Court Hears
In a new piece of audio evidence introduced Monday, accused Ottawa terrorist conspirator Misbahuddin Ahmed told an alleged co-conspirator that he opposes attacks on mosques.
The two are heard discussing a terrorist explosion at an Iranian mosque, apparently to avenge the hanging of Islamist Sunni militant leader Abdul-Malik Rigi in the summer of 2010.
The alleged co-conspirator, whose name is protected by a publication ban, tells Ahmed about the explosion and Ahmed responds: “I don’t agree with that stuff, my brother. . . . It’s a place of worship.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
2 British Men Plead Guilty in Terrorism Case
LONDON (AP) — Two British brothers have pleaded guilty to conspiracy for planning to attend a terrorist training camp in Syria.
Hamza Nawaz, 24, and 30-year-old Mohommod Nawaz were arrested in September in Dover after arriving in England from France. Police say they were carrying ammunition…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium’s Flemish Separatists to Lead Coalition Talks
(AGI) Brussels, May 27 — The head of Belgium’s separatist NVA New Flemish Alliance party, Bart De Wever, on Tuesday was given a week by King Philippe to report on coalition talks with the country’s other leading parties. Sunday’s federal elections saw the NVA secure a winning 20.3 percent share of the vote, with a significant lead on outgoing premier Elio Di Rupo’s PS socialist party, which came away with 11.7 percent. In 2010, under similar circumstances, De Wever had refused to establish a coalition government. The NVA leader is to report to the King on June 3.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium’s Government Resigns After General Vote
Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Ruppo submitted on Monday the resignation of his cabinet to King Phillippe.
Di Ruppo, whose government will have a caretaker capacity until a new administration is formed, saw his Socialists being defeated by the Flemish nationalist and separatist party at the general polls held alongside European elections Sunday, as BusinessWeek reported.
The New-Flemish Alliance, or N-VA, received 32% on May 25’s vote in Dutch-speaking Flanders (where 60% of Belgium’s population is concentrated), leading by 2% on the Socialists.
Di Ruppo won a majority in French-speaking Wallonia.
Antwerp Mayor Bart de Wever’s N-VA is poised to get 33 out of 150 legislative seats, six more it previously had, according to Interior Ministry projections.
Socialists are expected to receive 24 MP seats, while Liberals might get 19 and the Flemish Christian Democrats will count on eighteen.
Belgium is usually government through broad coalitions which sometimes take months to forge. The country’s last political crisis was in 2010, when political leaders failed to form a coalition for a total of 541 days.
De Wever has declared he does not want a repetition of the last stalemate and will enter talks with all other political parties.
Among the N-VA’s key demands are a shift to neo-liberal policies, suspension of Belgian monarchy and a confederate status for the country.
Its leader has repeatedly claimed that one day Flanders will have the chance to be independent and a EU member.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Eamon Gilmore Quits as Ireland’s Labor Leader in Aftermath of Election
DUBLIN, May 26 (Xinhua) — Ireland’s Eamon Gilmore announced his resignation on Monday afternoon as Labor Party leader following his party’s huge losses at the local and European elections.
Gilmore, who is also deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs and trade in the coalition government, made the announcement to the press after he had informed the party secretary at 10:30 a.m. (0900 GMT) of his intention to stand down…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Finland’s Far Right Party Emerges as Biggest Winner in EP Election
by Elina Xu
HELSINKI, May 26 (Xinhua) — The European Parliament elections have settled with Eurosceptic parties gaining ground in many countries across the European Union (EU). The voting results in Finland reflects this phenomenon with the far right Finns Party gaining popularity dramatically.
In the voting held in Finland last Sunday, the Finns Party won 12.9 percent of the votes, and will send two MEPs to the European Parliament, one seat more than in the last EP election in 2009.
Founded in 1995, the Finns Party, previously known as the True Finns, is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland. Timo Soini has been the leader of the party since 1997…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Aires Mateus Wins Competition to Design Mosque in Bordeaux
Aires Mateus’ undulating, two-tiered Muslim Center of Bordeaux has been announced as winner of an international competition headed by the Fédération de la Gironde musulmane. Far from typical, the sculptural-like center is designed to act as a single continuous space whose retail base and open area of worship unites religion with daily life.
“For this project we sought an absolute space, a continuous topography, an architecture where everything is connected: the different uses [of the building], the pathways that relate the filtered light that characterizes them. A whole without parts,” stated the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the scheme…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Polls: Over 50% of Police Voted for Golden Dawn
The neo-nazi party came third with 9.41% of votes
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS — Despite assurances that investigations are under way to eliminate Golden Dawn enclaves within the police force, in light of the criminal investigation that was prompted after the murder of musician Pavlos Fyssas, it appears that over 50% of police officers voted for the neo-Nazi party in Sunday’s elections, increasing the party’s influence since the 2012 elections. According to the police’s special electoral catalogs, a total of 2,738 police officers voted in 18 polling stations near the central police HQ on Alexandra Avenue.
In each of these polling stations about 150-200 police officers voted, from a total of 400-480 registered voters. The neo-Nazi party received between 16.32% and 22.32% in these polling stations, when the average for the district of Athens is 7.81%.
The results from polling stations where commanding officers voted showed Golden Dawn received about 13-15% of the vote.
Political analysts argued that with 30-40% of voters being police officers in polling stations where the neo-Nazi increased its influence, it is clear that support for Golden Dawn has not waned.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland: Foreign Minister: Anti-Mosque Comments Not Party Line
Foreign Minister of Iceland Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson says comments made by his colleague, mayoral candidate for Reykjavík Sveinbjörg Birna Sveinbjörnsdóttir, that a mosque should not be built in Reykjavík, are not in line with the party’s policy…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Legal Experts at Work on India Marines Case
Team headed by former foreign office adviser Bethlehem
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — A team of experts in international law have begun work on the case of two Italian marines detained in India for over two years pending trial after allegedly murdering two Indian fishermen during an international anti-piracy mission, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said Tuesday.
The group led by barrister Daniel Bethlehem, a former legal advider to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has been tasked with “following the new phase of internationalisation” of the case involving Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who have been held in New Delhi under mobility restrictions after allegedly shooting dead fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki aboard their trawler during an anti-piracy mission in February 2012.
Last month the Italian government announced it was opening a “new phase” in the saga, replacing its special envoy on the case and sending its ambassador back to New Delhi to help steer the case towards arbitration by an international organisation such as the UN.
“The inauguration of the new government (in India) does not mean that we will change our position regarding the fact that India does not have jurisdiction in the case,” added Mogherini, insisting that the two naval fusiliers were “covered by international immunity” at the time of the shooting.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Kidnapped Aid Worker Arrives From Syria After Release
Federico Motka taken captive in March 2013
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — An Italian aid worker kidnapped in Syria in 2013 arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning, a day after being released. Federico Motka was “very tired but well” according to Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, who went to Rome’s Ciampino airport to meet him. Motka was released on Monday near the Turkish border, over 14 months after being taken prisoner on March 12, 2013.
Mogherini thanked the foreign ministry and the Italian security services for the successful outcome to the case and Motka’s family for their faith in the public institutions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Clini Probed for ‘Transnational Graft Conspiracy’
Alleged corruption on contracts in China, Montenegro
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — Police in Rome said Tuesday that an investigation has been opened into allegations of corruption against former environment minister Corrado Clini involving projects in China and Montenegro.
On Monday, police said Clini, 67, was under house arrest in an investigation into a water-treatment project in Iraq.
The latest investigation also involves Clini’s wife Martina Hauser and four or five other people, authorities said.
It involves environmental redevelopment projects worth 200 million euros in the Chinese case and 14 million euros in the Montenegro plan.
The investigation announced Monday included engineer Augusto Calore Pretner and authorities allege the pair skimmed money from The New Eden Project, a joint Iraqi-Italian initiative to restore marshlands in the Tigris and Euphrates basin. That probe was sparked last summer after police spotted a series of false invoices from Dutch company GBC for payments to engineering firm Med Ingegneria Srl, based in the northern Italian city of Ferrara.
Clini, a senior research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, was later interrogated last October as part of the investigation. At the time he was director-general of the environment ministry, a position he had held before joining the government of former premier Mario Monti in November 2011, and one he resumed after the government was replaced in April 2013. Clini’s time in office was marked by his handling of the environmental disaster surrounding the fatal January 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, the remains of which still rest off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Meets EU Leaders on Reforms in Wake of Weekend Vote
Italian PM suggests new spending on public works important
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — Reforms to the European Union in the wake of a weekend vote that saw the rise of Euroskeptic parties in many countries was on the agenda for a summit of EU leaders Tuesday.
Premier Matteo Renzi was one of the few national leaders in the 28-member EU whose voters did not show strong support for Euroskeptics and nationalist parties, but he said he also supported a renewal of the EU as he headed to the scheduled summit in Brussels.
Italy may be in a position to push hard for reforms as it assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in July.
During a televised interview Monday night, Renzi said that the EU must reconsider its policy of strict budget controls and consider making a major investment in public works.
On the program Porta a Porta, Renzi admitted he was surprised at how well his Democratic Party did in the European Parliament vote on Sunday.
Renzi’s PD took 40.8% of votes, almost double second-place anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) at 21.2%.
But such a level of voter confidence carries great responsibilities, added Renzi.
“If I have to be honest, I did not expect a result with such a great proportion,” of votes, he said.
“In some respects, it is almost touching because you have a strong sense of responsibility, you must not miss a shot,” Renzi added.
“We have received the message: now is the time to step up on everything and not to celebrate,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Demolition Derby’ Insurance Scam Busted
Dozens probed in Sicily for crashing cars on purpose
(ANSA) — Palermo, May 27 — Dozens of people in Sicily are suspected of intentionally crashing their cars to collect insurance money, police said Tuesday. Investigators say 81 suspects, including two lawyers, turned an area in northwest Sicily into a virtual demolition derby, where hundreds of cars were crashed in order to file fraudulent claims worth nearly half a million euros. Much of the destruction was caught on tape, police said. The alleged mastermind of the ring was Vincenzo Nobile, who police said used friends and family members to recruit participants. Part of the scheme involved bashing the same vehicle several times but with different license plates. Police confiscated a warehouse full hoods, fenders, bumpers and other car parts outside the wrecking field, which was protected by high walls and barbed wire.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lombardi Says Pope Can’t Meet Victims Next Week
Francis invited sexual abuse survivors to Vatican
(See previous) (ANSA) — Vatican City, May 27 — The date has not yet been set for a meeting between Pope Francis and survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, a spokesman for the Vatican said Tuesday.
Father Federico Lombardi said that dates initially suggested by the pope are not possible.
During a news conference Monday, as he returned from a three-day trip to the Holy Land, Francis said he would meet with a group of abuse survivors at the Vatican, possibly in the first week of June. The victims will be invited from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany and will meet with the pope at St. Martha’s House, the Vatican guesthouse where the pope lives.
Francis also said three bishops were being investigated in connection with sexual abuse cases, adding that the Church “must go forward with zero tolerance” for abuse and no special treatment for perpetrators.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
M. Le Pen to Call Referendum to Leave EU if in Power
Possible alliance NF- Golden Dawn
(ANSAmed) — NANTERRE — If the National Front gets into power in France, it will “hold a referendum to ask the French whether they want to leave the European Union”, said party leader Marine Le Pen in a press conference on Tuesday.
The leader of France’s far-right Front National party has not ruled out a possible alliance between her party (which holds 24 seats and is the top party in the country) and Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn. “I will go to Brussels tomorrow to meet with a number of political leaders,” she told broadcaster BFM TV on Tuesday. The parties she said she would be meeting with include the Hungary’s Jobbik, Bulgaria’s ATAKA and “obviously Golden Dawn”.
She said she would not, however, be meeting with German neo-Nazi MP Udo Voigt.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bid to Build New Mosque and Community Centre in Accrington
BOSSES at an Islamic centre in Accrington want to build a new mosque and community centre. The Raza Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre said its base, in Grimshaw Street, had reached capacity.
It has applied for plann-ing permission to build a mosque, with room for 850 worshippers, nearby on spare land bounded by Lower Antley Street and Grimshaw Street…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cameron Tells Brussels ‘Don’t Interfere’ With Member States
British PM wants focus on voter concerns like unemployment
(see related) (ANSA) — Brussels, May 27 — British Prime Minister David Cameron told the European Union that it “cannot interfere” with member States at an EU summit meeting on Tuesday in Brussels.
On the heels of a European Parliament election which saw a rise in Eurosceptic parties, Cameron said, “The European Union cannot just shrug off these results and carry on as before.
Those who manage the EU must understand that Brussels cannot interfere with its States”.
Cameron also asked EU leaders to address the more pressing concerns of its voters by focusing on growth and employment.
With the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) winning 27.5% of the vote, the British PM and Conservative party leader is under pressure to deliver on previously made promises.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Council Accused of Witch-Hunt in Battle Over Failing Islamic School
Chair of governors at al-Hijrah school threatens to call in police over ‘abuse of power’ by Birmingham city council
The chair of governors of a failing Islamic school has said he will defy attempts by Birmingham city council to take it over, vowing to call in police over what he called a sustained anti-Muslim witch-hunt.
Al-Hijrah school, in Bordesley Green, was placed in special measures by Ofsted last year after inspectors found evidence of poor governance and inadequate teaching. The school is also being examined as part of the Trojan Horse investigation into an alleged plot by Muslim hardliners to seize control of governing bodies in Birmingham.
An attempt to replace the school’s governors ended in a standoff at the school gates last week when security guards refused to let a senior council officer enter the premises, and teachers declined to cooperate with a team of interim governors…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Charity Rejects Report Labelling it as a ‘Hate Group’
The Islamic Education and Research Academy, which is the subject of a Charity Commission statutory inquiry, says the allegations by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain are ‘blatantly false’
An Islamic charity subject to a Charity Commission statutory inquiry has described a report accusing it of being a “hate group” as “outdated and blatantly false”.
The regulator opened its inquiry into the Islamic Education and Research Academy on 7 March over concerns about its policies for organising events and inviting external speakers
Last week, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain released a report, Evangelising Hate: Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA), that said the IERA “can be classified as a hate group because of its persistent promotion of Islamists who preach hate against non-Muslims, women, gays, progressive Muslims and ex-Muslims”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Marathon Election Count at Tower Hamlets Still Not Complete
Tower Hamlets borough council has still not completed its council election count more than three days after polls closed. Electoral chiefs suspended their operations at around 3am today until tomorrow. Recounts have been taking place at Bromley South ward…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Miliband: Labour Won’t Make False Promises on Immigration
Labour leader Ed Miliband has spoken of his party’s policy on immigration, saying they will ensure people working in Britain speak English and that people will have to earn their entitlements
Labour leader Ed Miliband says Ukip’s approach of blaming “Europe and foreigners” for the country’s problems was “not the answer”. On a visit to Thurrock Mr Miliband insisted it is “understandable” that people are worried about immigration as he promised to win back voters from Ukip…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Second Dudley Mosque Appeal Allowed Amid Political Motivation Allegations
Muslim leaders have won a second chance to appeal in a long-running dispute over the building of a new mosque — after a leading judge claimed there could be ‘political’ motivations to allegedly block the scheme.
Dudley Muslim Association (DMA) can once again take its case to the Court of Appeal after a decision by one of the country’s most senior judges. Dudley Council launched a legal bid to reclaim land, in Hall Street, which had been earmarked for the site of a new multi-million pound mosque.
The DMA had lost its initial appeal after its defence against the move was struck out at a hearing earlier this year at London’s High Court…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Two Injured After Shootings in Notting Hill and Hammersmith
Two men were seriously injured in separate London shootings over the Bank Holiday weekend. A father said his 20-year-old son was shot in the back outside their home in Hammersmith on Sunday evening. One bullet struck a neighbour’s flat, sending residents diving for cover…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Three-Week Public Inquiry Into West Ham Mega-Mosque to Launch
A public inquiry into Newham Council’s rejection of plans for a mega-mosque in West Ham will open at the ExCeL exhibition centre.
The inquiry into the controversial mega-mosque at the Abbey Mills site is expected to last three weeks and is due to start on June 3. It will give Communities Secretary Eric Pickles the final say on plans by Anjuman-E-Islahul-Muslimeen Trust to develop what has been described as a mega-mosque at the Abbey Mills Riverine Centre, situated at the end of Canning Road…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tower Hamlets: Vote Count Surrounded by ‘Threats and Chaos’
Officials counting votes in a London borough were surrounded by “arguments, threats and chaos”, it was claimed today. A councillor in Tower Hamlets said political activists entered the room where officials were working and began disputing how they counted ballot papers. He also claimed there had been a 21 per cent discrepancy between the first and second counts in one ward.
There were separate accusations that activists badgered voters on their way to polling booths…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UKIP’s Farage Says ‘Forget About it’ To Marine Le Pen
No pact between EFD and Front National
(ANSA) — Brussels, May 27 — UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage said “no way” to a pact between the Euroskeptic caucus Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) and France’s far-right Front National led by Marine Le Pen.
Farage told media to “forget about it” in reference to any negotiations with Front National, adding “I don’t care about the Left or the Right”.
When asked about Italy’s Beppe Grillo, of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), Farage said he that he had yet to meet the M5S leader but hinted that he was interested in a potential meeting if he “had the chance”.
UKIP triumphed in Sunday’s European Parliament elections with 27.5% of the vote and a European seat for each British region including Scotland.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Jihadist Group Says Sisi ‘Will Face Hell’
Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis claims killing of Tamarrod member
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, MAY 27 — Former field marshal Abdel Fattah El-Sisi “continues to preach that there will be stability, but in reality he will be facing hell”, the jihadist group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis threatened Tuesday on Twitter. The Al-Qaeda linked group has carried out several terrorist attacks. The movement went on to claim responsibility for the killing of Mohamed Fathi, a member of the Tamarrod group behind the ‘June 30 revolution”.
“Your supporter Fathi,” Ansar said, “is now in hell.” On Tuesday Tamarrod had blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the activist’s death.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya’s New PM Home Attacked — Mogherini
No harm but ‘situation of extreme fragility’
(ANSA) — Libya, May 27 — Libya’s newly sworn-in Premier Ahmed Maiteg was unharmed in a Tuesday morning attack on his home, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said.
Attackers armed with guns and rockets fired at Maiteg’s home in Tripoli where the new premier was with his family.
“In Libya there is a situation of extreme fragility and the scenario is particularly unstable,” said Mogherini.
Maiteg, who was voted in by pro-Islamist parties, received a vote of confidence from the General National Congress on Monday, in spite of a highly contested vote and disputes over the legitimacy of elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Severed Head Found Dumped in Derna Mosque
By Moataz Ahmed.
The severed head of a Derna student who apparently challenged members of an Islamist brigade has been found dumped in a mosque in the eastern town.
A Derna resident identified the young man as Abdul Moaz Abdul Razk Turkawi saying his head been found wrapped in a plastic bag in the town’s Sabaha mosque. The resident said he had witnessed an incident yesterday where Turkawi had challenged members of the Islamic Army in Derna who had seized his car at a checkpoint. Turkawi walked away from the altercation and the events leading to his death are unknown.
The teacher training college in Derna where Turkawi was a student has expressed its sadness at his death, offering condolences to his family.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Pope Francis’s Unfriendly Visit
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman were right when they blamed the noxious anti-Israel incitement rampant in Europe for Saturday’s murderous shooting attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels and the assault and battery of two Jewish brothers outside their synagogue in a Paris suburb later that day.
Anti-Israel incitement is ubiquitous in Europe and is appearing in ever-widening circles of the Western world as a whole.
Until this week, the Catholic Church stayed out of the campaign to dehumanize Jews and malign the Jewish state.
Pope Benedict XVI was perceived as a friend of Israel, despite his childhood membership in the Hitler Youth. His opposition to Islam’s rejection of reason, eloquently expressed at his speech at the University of Regensburg in 2006, positioned him as a religious champion of reason, individual responsibility and law — Judaism’s primary contributions to humanity.
His predecessor Pope John Paul II was less willing to confront Islamic violence. But his opposition to Communism made him respect Israel as freedom’s outpost in the Middle East. John Paul’s visit to Israel in 2000 was in some ways an historic gesture of friendship to the Jewish people of Israel.
Both Benedict and John Paul II were outspoken champions of the Second Vatican Council and maintained doctrinal allegiance to the Church’s rejection of anti-Judaism, including the charge of deicide, and its denunciation of replacement theology.
Alas, the Golden Age of Catholic-Jewish relations seems to have come to an end during Francis’s visit to the Promised Land this week…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Crusader-Era Monastic Seal Unearthed in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, May 27 (Xinhua) — A rare Crusader-era seal stamped by the Monastery of St. Sabas, an important leader of Christian monastic movement, has been excavated in Jerusalem, Israel’s Antiquities Authority said Tuesday.
Found in the Monastery of St. Sabas in Bayit VeGan neighborhood, the seal was unearthed a year and a half ago, but studies have only recently identified its unique history. “Surprisingly, while processing the excavation a rare lead seal dating to the Crusader period came to light,” the Antiquities Authority said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
35 People Killed in Bomb Attacks Across Iraq
BAGHDAD, May 27 (Xinhua) — Up to 35 people were killed and 70 others wounded in separate bomb attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, police and medical sources said.
The deadliest attack occurred at noon in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest among a crowd of Shiite worshippers inside Abu al-Timan mosque, leaving 19 people killed and 34 others wounded, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Chemical Weapons Inspectors Abducted in Syria
(AGI) Damascus, May 27 — Six chemical weapons inspectors and five Syrian drivers were kidnapped on Tuesday in the the central Syrian province of Hama, the Foreign Ministry said. The inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were travelling in two vehicles to investigate the site of an alleged chemical attack in Kafr Zaita on April 11. The government said the group had been seized by “terrorists”, a term it often uses to refer to opposition fighters.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Believes West Under Pressure From Third Parties
(AGIP) — Tehran, May 27 — Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has begged the West to resist pressure from third countries not involved in the current negotiations on the nuclear issue. This was a clear reference to Israel, a country that has on various occasions denounced the international communities recent openness with Tehran, reiterating the dangers posed. At the end of a meeting with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Catherine Ashton, Zarif also exhorted parties involved in the negotiations to be “serious and realistic” in view of the new round of talks scheduled for June 16 in Vienna.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Violence: Bombing Hits Baghdad Shia Mosque
At least 17 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque in the centre of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.
The attack occurred as worshippers prepared to attend midday prayers in the Shorja district of the capital. No-one has claimed responsibility so far…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Islamic Affairs Department’s Name Changed
Shaikh Mohammad issues law changing department’s name to Department of Islamic Affairs, Awqaf and Charitable Activities
Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued a law changing the name of Dubai’s Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities.
Under law No 6 of 2014, the department’s name is changed to the Department of Islamic Affairs, Awqaf and Charitable Activities, and hence it will be responsible for Awqaf affairs in the emirate…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘At Least 100 Dead’ In Donetsk Clashes, Rebels Say
Anti-terror op ‘must last hours, not months’, president-elect
(ANSA) — Kiev, May 27 — At least 100 people died in Monday’s clashes between pro-Russia separatist rebels and Kiev forces in the southeastern city of Donetsk, authorities in the self-proclaimed republic said.
Earlier the Ukrainian government said there had been “dozens of victims” among the ranks of the militias in the latest episode of fighting with soldiers engaged in quashing a separatist uprising in southeastern Ukraine. However, authorities in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk said at least half the victims were civilians.
Many died in a late-night attack on two marked trucks carrying injured militiamen to the city for medical treatment, the authorities added.
“It is a crime against humanity,” they said. “We still can’t recover the bodies, we are under sniper fire,” added local separatist leader Denis Pushilin.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s president-elect Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday the so-called ‘anti-terrorism’ operations “must last and will last hours, not months” as Russian President Vladimir Putin called for “peaceful dialogue” between Kiev and regional representatives”.
Russia has been accused of backing the separatist uprising, which began after Ukraine’s Crimea region voted in favour of self-rule in March and was subsequently annexed by Moscow. Separately, the bodies of Italian photoreporter Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrey Mironov began their final journey home on Tuesday. The pair, both freelancers, were killed in the flashpoint city of Sloviansk on Saturday.
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Civilians Evacuated From Donetsk Amid Fighting
As many as 100 killed in clashes between separatists, govt
(See related) (ANSA) — Donetsk, May 27 — The evacuation of civilians from parts of the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk was ordered Tuesday by authorities after fighting there killed at least 100 people.
Clashes between pro-Russia separatist rebels and forces of the Ukraine government were reported in the city, a self-proclaimed republic.
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Russia’s ISS Cooperation With US ‘Pointless’ — Deputy PM
Russia does not see a point to take part in the International Space Station (ISS) after 2020, Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin said.
He explained Moscow does not need continued cooperation on the project after 2020, when the country’s commitments expire, as the ISS “would absorb 1/3 of the budget of [space company] Roskosmos”.
Russia would not leave the project prior to 2020 and will fulfill its task to bring US astronauts to the station until that year, as ITAR-TASS quoted Rogozin as saying.
As of the station’s activities, he described them as “just flying around the earth”.
The Deputy Prime Minister voiced serious doubts whether the ISS project could continue after the end of the decade.
He also stressed that Russia was taking ideas of space cooperation with China into consideration.
Negotiations with Beijing over possible bilateral projects in the field have been scheduled for end-June.
Rogozin’s comments come more than a month after the US suspended space cooperation with Russia on all project except for the ISS as a response to the Ukrainian crisis.
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Russian Forces Slow Withdrawal From Ukraine Border
(AGI) Brussels, May 27 — Russian forces are gradually withdrawing from the Ukrainian border, even if a large number remain, NATO sources report. Over the past few days NATO has observed continuous troop movements near the Ukrainian border.
The activity observed suggests a slow and gradual withdrawal, the source said.
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Ukraine Crisis: Dozens Killed in Donetsk Clashes
Security forces fight rebels for a second day in restive eastern city after new leader Petro Poroshenko vows to put down ‘terrorist’ revolt
Ukrainian forces fought with separatists in the city of Donetsk for a second day on Tuesday after inflicting heavy losses on the rebels while the government vowed to press on with a military offensive “until not a single terrorist” was left.
A representative for the pro-Russian militants conceded that about 30 rebels had been killed while the mayor of Donetsk said the death toll from fighting which erupted on Monday stood at 40, including two civilians…
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Afghanistan: White House Mistakenly Reveals Name of CIA Chief in Kabul
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Xinhua) — The White House inadvertently revealed the name of the Central Intelligence Agency’s top officer in Kabul during President Barack Obama’s weekend trip to the Afghan capital.
A list of 15 senior U.S. officials, first provided to journalists traveling with Obama and then forwarded to other reporters on the White House mailing list, included the “Chief of Station” in Kabul for joining a military briefing with the president at Bagram air base north of the city…
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India Man Reportedly Kills Wife, Girls Because He Wants Son
Suffocates daughters aged 18 months and six months
(ANSA) — New Delhi, May 27 — An Indian man was accused of strangling his wife to death and suffocating their two young daughters because he wanted a son, media in India reported Tuesday.
Police allege Amit Verma strangled his wife Sarla with a scarf and then smothered daughters Tannu and Mannua, aged 18 months and six months respectively before attempting to flee.
Verma reportedly wanted a son rather than daughters.
Police are also questioning his two brothers and a sister-in-law in connection with the murders.
They allegedly abused Sarla over the amount of her dowry and the fact she had not given birth to a son.
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India: A Corporate Office That Doubles as Mosque for the Devout
As a mellifluous azaan signals time for namaaz, several Muslims — be it hawkers selling accessories and clothes on road or local residents — make their way towards a leafy lane off the Causeway main road in Colaba to offer their prayers in the quaint and modest Allana House…
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U.S. Will Complete Afghan Pullout by End of 2016, Obama to Say
President Obama plans to remove all American combat troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2016, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, drawing to an end more than a decade of American military engagement in the country following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Under the plan, which Mr. Obama will announce Tuesday afternoon, the United States would leave 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2014, and reduce that number by roughly half in 2015, according to the official.
All of these deployments hinge on the United States signing a security agreement with Afghanistan, which the administration has not yet been able to do.
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South China Sea: Hanoi Accuses Beijing of Sinking a Vietnamese Ship
A Vietnamese trawler sunk after clashing with Chinese vessels in an area just off a contested platform. Vietnam says the ship was “rammed” and the act constitutes “attempted murder”. China speaks of a “confrontation” between the two parties and a “ timely” rescue of sailors in distress.
Hanoi ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — A Vietnamese vessel sank after it collided with a Chinese vessel near a recently built Chinese oil rig in a disputed area of the South China Sea. Both countries are blaming the other for the incident, which took place 17 nautical miles south of the contested platform: the Coast Guard in Hanoi reports that the boat was surrounded by 40 Chinese ships, and was rammed . The sailors on board accuse their Chinese counterparts of “attempted murder “ . In contrast, the official Chinese state media Xinhua reports that the Vietnamese fishing vessel collided with Beijing vessels and capsized.
Analysts and international policy experts point out that the incident will be a source of further conflict and tension between the two communist countries. China’s aggressive attitude has sparked a wave of protests in Vietnam, which has assumed a violent drift with riots and arson attacks. The violence was sparked by China’s decision in early May, to build a platform for oil exploration, the Haiyang Shiyou 981 off the east coast of Vietnam. A move that has exacerbated nationalism of a large portion of the Vietnamese population , which has responded with street protests that have taken a violent drift characterized by riots and assaults that have led to at least 2 deaths and 140 injured.
The fishermen on board the Vietnamese vessel say the episode amounts to attempted murder and protest against China’s “perverse , brutal and inhumane” actions. Moreover, according to the Hanoi the incident occurred within the territorial waters of Vietnam. Beijing rejects the charges and adds that “the Vietnamese crew of the ship was rescued in an appropriate and timely manner”.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers in Vietnam is preparing legal action to be submitted to an international tribunal , against Beijing’s decision to place the oil rig in the disputed waters and attacks on ships flying the flag of Hanoi. In response , China has raised the nationalist and imperialist rhetoric in the South China Seas, as reported by an official government source for whom Vietnam’s claims over the Paracels are “absurd and laughable”.
Vietnam and the Philippines have been increasingly worried about Beijing’s imperialism in the South China and East China seas. The Chinese government claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent), including sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, in opposition to Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. In recent months, China has used various political, economic and diplomatic means to hamper non-Chinese vessels from fishing or moving through the disputed waters. For the United States, which backs the claims of Southeast Asia nations, Beijing’s so-called ‘cow tongue’ line is both “illegal” and “irrational”. Anyone with a hegemonic sway over the region would have a strategic advantage, in terms of seabed (oil and gas) development, but also in trade since two thirds of the world’s maritime trade transit through it.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Application to Develop Eight Mile Plains Mosque Rejected by Brisbane City Council
A CONTROVERSIAL proposal for a mosque at Eight Mile Plains has been knocked back by Brisbane City Council because of noise, traffic and size issues.
A development application (DA) from the Brisbane Islamic Centre received 535 submissions against the mosque on Underwood Rd. Council documents show the DA was rejected because its size and scale of the project did not reflect “reasonable expectations of development in the area”…
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New Zealand: Charge Over Mosque Row
Religious leader’s helper in court after alleged threats to Muslim group members.
The right-hand man of a Muslim leader at the centre of an Auckland mosque row has been charged with threatening to kill. Imran Patel allegedly threatened senior members of the New Zealand Muslim Association, which owns the Avondale Islamic Centre in Blockhouse Bay Rd.
The alleged threats arose from tensions between two Islamic factions battling for control of the centre…
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New Zealand: Islamic Childhood Centre Open to All Cultures
The cultural mix planned for the Waikato’s first Islamic early childhood centre means kids could be reading Cinderella, Ramadan Moon or a book in te reo. Iqra Educare is on the site of the Boundary Road mosque in Hamilton and will bring together Islamic, Kiwi and Maori culture.
The centre is licensed for 30 pupils and is now open and accepting enrolments. “It’s been such an exciting journey for all of us,” governing board executive member Yasmin Khan said…
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Adopted Children From DRC to Land in Rome Wednesday
31 kids held up for months
(ANSA) — Rome, May 27 — An Italian State plane airlifting 31 Congolese children adopted by Italian families will land in Rome on Wednesday, the premier’s office said Tuesday. The children have been held up for months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Twenty-four Italian couples have been unable to bring their adopted children home from the DRC despite having completed the adoption process due to lack of final clearance by Congolese authorities.
The government in Kinshasa in September suspended permissions on all international adoptions out of suspicion of irregularities, but admitted that none of the procedures in question concerned Italy.
Former integration minister Cecile Kyenge, who was also in charge of international adoptions — and is herself DRC-born — in November went on mission to the country and garnered reassurances of a positive outcome.
After continued standstill, however, the Italian government sent a delegation to the African country to try to unblock the situation.
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Boko Haram Kills Nigerian Soldiers and Civilians
(AGI) Lagos, May 27 — Boko Haram terrorists attacked the village of Buni Yadi, in the north-eastern Yobe state, on Tuesday. The first target was a military base where 14 soldiers and 11 police officers were killed, including the localpolice official Hassan Thlama. Another 10 civilians were killed in the same village where terrorists attacked two churches, shops and a number of homes, and in the village of Borno Chinene, near the border with Cameroon. Buni Yadi is about 55 km from the state capital Damaturu, which has already suffered various extremist attacks.
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Boko Haram Attack Kills at Least 25 Nigerian Security Personnel
(Reuters) — Boko Haram gunmen attacked a Nigerian military base and adjacent police barracks simultaneously in the northeastern town of Buni Yadi, killing at least 25 security personnel, security sources and a witness said…
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US Census Bureau to Consider Gay Spouses as ‘Families’
Move in line with shift in public opinion
(ANSA) — New York, May 27 — The US Census Bureau has decided to bring itself in line with public opinion and start categorising same-sex married couples as ‘families’, the Washington Post reports. The new categorisation will be in effect as of September, when the results of the 2013 American Community Survey will be reported.
Until now gay couples have been categorised as unmarried partners, even when they reported themselves as spouses.
The source points out that the relatively small number of gay married couples — around 180,000 — in the US means that the change will have only a minor effect on the statistical outcome of the survey and that its significance is largely symbolic.
“I think the American public already thinks same-sex married couples are families, and the Census Bureau is just catching up with public opinion,” said Andrew J. Cherlin, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who studies families.
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