Because of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, China is stockpiling oil at a record rate, buying up crude in anticipation of further sanctions against Russia or other interruptions in the supply. Chinese purchases have helped keep the cost of oil above $100 a barrel.
In other news, Saudi Arabia has announced that it may impose sanctions on the Czech Republic in retaliation for President Milos Zeman’s negative remarks about Islam.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Steen, 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.
Young Families Hit Hardest by Crisis in Italy
(AGI) Rome, June 14 — A survey carried out by consultancy agency Nomisma showed that the crisis has hit young families harder than other households. Young families saw their income and standard of living fall more sharply. The survey also showed a change in consumption in Italy since the second half of 2013, when the crisis started to ease off.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
168 Times Released Gitmo Detainees Returned to Terror
So, what did we give up in exchange for the tarnished soldier? Five “high-risk” Taliban commanders. Two of the five are wanted by the UN and would be tried for war crimes. Mullah Mohammad Fazi, the Taliban army chief of staff, is wanted for allegedly murdering thousands of Shiites. Mullah Norullah Noori, senior Taliban military commander, is wanted for the same. Taliban deputy minister of intelligence Abdul Haq Wasiq helped the Taliban give al Qaeda’s 9/11 planners intelligence training. Taliban governor of the Heart province and former interior minister Khairullah Khairkhwa was a point man for Mullah Omar. And Mohammed Nabi held meetings with al Qaeda to determine attack plans against US targets.
This will not work out well.
How do we know? Because the United States has routinely released terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, and they frequently end up targeting America and her allies. According to the Director of National Intelligence in September 2012, just a few days before the Benghazi attacks, 28 percent of all detainees moved out of Gitmo return to terrorism. Among those released terrorists:…
As of September 2012, 168 out of the 602 released Guantanamo Bay detainees are suspected of returning to terrorism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Across America, Police Departments Are Quietly Preparing for War
At first blush, the title of this post could be perceived as somewhat hyperbolic by those who still have an impression of America’s police departments as bastions of safety, designed “to protect and to serve” the population of the “land of the free.” However, said impression would be promptly washed away upon reading an article in today’s NYT which citing Pentagon data, reveals that under the Obama administration, “police departments have received tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft.”
Which begs the question: just who is America’s police force, and by extension the Obama administration, which is behind this quiet militarization of local police forces with weapons that would normally be seen in a warzone, preparing for war against?
And while we already documented America’s conversation to a turnkey totalitarian banana republic (confirmed over a year later by Edward Snowden), behold America’s conversion to a police state:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A New Jersey father defended his son, Ethan, after a simple pencil-swirling incident nearly resulted in the boy’s suspension earlier this year because a classmate claimed he was spinning it like a “gun.” Following intense media scrutiny, school officials reportedly backed off and it looked like the situation would just blow over.
Then Michael Chaplin says he received a stunning letter from New Jersey’s Department of Child Protection and Permanency and Department of Children and Families. Despite the fact that the superintendent of the Vernon Township School District decided not to take any disciplinary action, the state reportedly claimed to have found “an incident of abuse or neglect.”
“I received a letter from them saying they had found an incident of abuse or neglect regarding Ethan because I refused to take him for psychological evaluation,” Chaplin told WPIX-TV.
Though he disagreed, Chaplin agreed to take his son for the evaluation. In addition to having his blood and urine being taken for testing, Ethan also spoke to a social worker.
Officials apparently found no behavioral problems with Ethan.
However, the father now claims that the state is demanding further evaluation and even threatening to terminate his parental rights and put Ethan up for adoption if he refuses to comply.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The father of embattled POW Bowe Bergdahl, who landed on US soil today, waged a sinister campaign of stalking and harassment against pretty twin sisters — even stealing a gnome from their garden and peaking at them in the shower, the sisters claim in shocking police reports.
Bearded Robert ‘Bob’ Bergdahl drove by the home of Lacey and Allie Hillman ‘several times a day’ over a period of months and left ‘creepy’ notes for them, the sisters allege in police documents, obtained exclusively by MailOnline.
Once Bergdahl banged on Allie’s door and accused her of ‘two-timing’ him — despite the fact that the pair never dated or were even friends, Allie told police.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
IRS Tells Congress it Lost Lerner Emails
The Internal Revenue Service told Congress Friday that is has lost more than two years worth of emails, dating from 2009-2011, between former employee Lois G. Lerner — who resigned over her role in the recent scandal that found the IRS accused of targeting the Tea Party and other conservative groups — and both other IRS employees and outside organizations.
The agency is attributing the loss of the correspondence to a computer crash.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Leader: ‘See You in New York’
When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi walked away from a U.S. detention camp in 2009, the future leader of ISIS issued some chilling final words to reservists from Long Island.
The Islamist extremist some are now calling the most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he was released from the biggest U.S. detention camp in Iraq in 2009.
“He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’“ recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca. King didn’t take these words from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a threat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First and foremost, Barack Obama is a congenital liar, whose lies, the number and magnitude of which are produced to match the scale of his sweeping narcissism.
That type of behavior is no surprise because Obama’s character was incubated in the low expectations biosphere of political correctness, where the amount of ineptitude is excused in proportion to one’s racial genetics, ethnic purity or whatever victim categories the liberal canon dictates.
Obama has had no incentive to change because throughout life and during his time in the White House, lying has gotten him what he has wanted, while escaping responsibility and any negative consequences.
America’s elite universities and the media, desperately wanting to validate their own ideological predispositions, have overlooked Obama’s obvious weaknesses and willingly accepted his excuses and political spin in order to avoid their own accountability for facilitating and advancing the career of an amoral and intellectually vacant individual.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Researcher Trowbridge Links Obama to 1975 Weather Underground Domestic Terrorist Group
Please note the important related informational links — especially the subsequent Trowbridge website article link following the short youtube video.
Investigative Researcher, Martha Trowbridge has been successful linking a young aka Obama to the 1975 radical Weather Underground group, which intented to overthrow traditional, patriotic and Constitutional America.
Discovering that violent means was not the [then] practical and prudent manner to reach their malevolent goals, Bari’ Malik Shabazz — [now] aka Barack Hussein Obama was drafted (“launched”) and groomed to be the US de facto “president,” criminal White House ID fraud, to complete the job. Please note throughout the following video how Trowbridge identifies Bari Shabazz with that of aka Barack Obama.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Difference Between Healthy Grains and Unhealthy Grains
Processed grains are synthetically bleached to create white flour. This practice forced an early 20th century head of the FDA forerunner Bureau of Chemistry, Dr. Harvey Wiley, MD, to resign in disgust at the government’s failure to enforce anti-wheat bleaching legislation he had proposed.
A byproduct of synthetic bleaching, never included as an ingredient, is alloxan, used to induce diabetes in lab rats! The European tradition requires sun to whiten flour. But if you look for it, unbleached white flour is available. Even before bleaching, Big Ag’s harvesting and storing procedures for grains are littered with toxic procedures, explained with practical solutions included here.
The wheat of decades ago has been hybridized botanically over generations to produce a less nutritious wheat that’s more pliable for high volume industrial baking efficiency. This has transformed wheat from 5% gluten at the turn of the 20th Century to over 50% gluten today.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
We recently published an article on the Justice Department’s most dangerous division that you’ve never heard of, based on a stunning chapter from John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky’s new book, “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department.”
On Tuesday we caught up with Mr. von Spakovsky, a former FEC appointee and counsel to the assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in connection with the release of the book to discuss a variety of topics from “Fast and Furious,” to “Pigford,” immigration, the damage done to national security by the DOJ and more.
His response to the question as to who President Obama might pardon at the end of his tenure (hint: it could be a mass pardon that includes the release of serious criminals), was perhaps most shocking of all.
Below is a transcript of our interview, conducted via phone, with slight edits for clarity and links.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What Made Bergdahl So Important?
Exclusive: Mychal Massie looks at apparent value of ‘America-hating, wannabe-Muslim’
But as is usually the case with Obama, the truth exposed is much different from his lies. A spokesperson for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said: “The president never consulted with the Senate Armed Services Committee on the details of such an exchange while the senator has been ranking member.” Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., was even more demonstrative in renouncing the lie Obama told in Warsaw, saying: “The White House is wrong about that. I haven’t had a conversation with the White House on this issue in a year and a half. Now, if that’s keeping us in the loop, then this administration is more arrogant than I thought they were. The president says he kept Congress informed and, as I just told Joe, that’s simply not the case.”
Chambliss further exposed the absence of truth to Obama’s claim by saying: “I got a phone call last night apologizing for not giving us advanced warning. It was from a high-level White House individual. They [said] it had just been called to their attention that I had not received advanced notification of this transaction taking place.” In colloquial terms, White House staff realized Obama had lied, and it caused an “oh crap” moment. They had to cover his lie, and that phone call was the best they could do.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute found nicotine causes a cell’s DNA to mutate in a way which could be a precursor to cancer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Czech President Zeman Tells OIC to “Go Jump in a Lake”
On the occasion of Israel’s Independence Day, the Czech Republic President, Milos Zeman, gave a speech at the Israel Embassy in Prague. It was stunning in its clarity regarding Islamic hateful doctrine towards Jews and by inference Christians and virtually all unbelievers and apostates. Our colleagues at Gates of Vienna (GoV) obtained a )translation of President Zeman’s remarks. They have since generated an acrimonious and courageous exchange with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) who alleged that Zeman had committed blasphemy by accusing Islam of not being a religion of peace and tolerance. Anything but. Baron Bodissey of GoV said, “He’s the only head of state that I know of who has ever told the OIC to shove off”. And he did it so brilliantly”.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Czechs Could Face Saudi Sanctions Over President’s Remarks
The Czech Republic could face trade sanctions from Saudi Arabia over anti-Islamic remarks by President MiloÅ¡ Zeman, the Czech foreign minister says. Mr Zeman’s comments, linking terrorism to “Islamic ideology” were also condemned by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation but its demands for an apology have been rejected by the Czech head of state.
MiloÅ¡ Zeman, photo: Filip JandourekThe Czech ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jirí Slavík, was summoned to the country’s foreign ministry on Sunday to explain the latest remarks by President MiloÅ¡ Zeman, the Czech daily Lidové noviny reported on Friday quoting sources from the Czech foreign ministry.
Mr Zeman delivered his remarks at a reception at the Israeli embassy in Prague marking Israel’s Independence Day last month. Referring to a recent violent attack in Belgium, the president said that “Islamic ideology rather than individual groups of religious fundamentalists was behind violent actions similar to the gun attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels”.
But the Czech ambassador had more explaining to do than that. “The Saudis had a comprehensive list of everything Zeman ever said on this topic. There were several pages of it. The ambassador was in a very awkward position; their protests had never gone that far,” a source from the Czech foreign ministry told the paper.
Mr Zeman has a history of controversial comments about Islam; in 2011, for example, he referred to Islam when he said that “the enemy is the anti-civilisation spreading from North Africa to Indonesia. Two billion people live in it.” He also compared Muslim believers to the Nazis.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a Saudi-based association of 57 Muslim countries, has also demanded an apology from Mr Zeman. But the Czech president declined, possibly adding more insult to the injury. Mr President has certainly no intentions to apologize as he would consider it a blasphemy to apologize for quoting a holy Islamic text”, his spokesman said earlier this week.
Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek has voiced concerns about the possible impact of the controversy, fearing it could jeopardize several planned investment projects in health care and agriculture. “We should stay clear from religion and realize this could have economic consequences,” the minister told Lidové noviny.
Mr Zaorálek said a meeting with the ambassadors of Arab countries to the Czech Republic should take place at the ministry next week, with the president’s comments on top of the agenda. An Arab diplomat however told the daily that a clear stance of the Czech government distancing itself from the president’s position would help much more.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
The 71-year-old actor had to be airlifted to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford after being hit by the door of the Millennium Falcon on the set of the latest Star Wars film.
The news comes amid fears the actor’s injuries could be worse than previously thought, potentially taking weeks to heal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Calabria Farm Councillor Probed for Mafia
Michele Trematerra ‘helped ‘Ndrangheta land contracts’
(ANSA) — Reggio Calabria, June 10 — Calabria’s farm councillor, Michele Trematerra, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of links to the region’s powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia, judicial sources said Tuesday.
Trematerra, of the small post-Christian-Democrat UDC party, is suspected of helping ‘Ndrangheta-linked businessmen win contracts from the regional government, they said.
Fifteen people are being probed including the former mayor and an ex-councillor in the town of Acri.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: L’Unita to be Liquidated
But won’t be closed
(ANSA) — Rome, June 12 — Lossmaking leftwing daily l’Unita’, long the big-selling bible of the once-powerful Italian Communist Party (PCI), is to be placed into liquidation.
But it will not be closed, the publishers NIE said.
The daily, once required reading for progressive Italians, has gone through repeated crises while the PCI morphed in successive stages into the ruling Democratic Party.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: House Votes for Civil Suits Against Magistrates
‘Weakens judiciary amid rising corruption’ judges say
(By Christopher Livesay) (ANSA) — Rome, June 11 — The Lower House on Wednesday approved an amendment to a bill incorporating a European regulation into Italian law that, if it wins final approval, will make it possible to prosecute magistrates in civil courts for bad decisions made carrying out their duties.
Premier Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said the controversial measure will be stripped from the bill when it goes to the Senate. Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has been at the centre of dozens of criminal cases and is currently doing a year of community service for a tax-fraud conviction, has frequently called for it be possible to sue magistrates for their decisions. The amendment was not proposed by Berlusconi’s opposition centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, but by his allies in the right-wing Northern League.
The amendment was immediately criticized by Italy’s national magistrates’ association (ANM), who called it “unConstitutional”. “It is a serious and contradictory move that weakens the judiciary at the very moment when it is called upon to work against corruption,” the group said. ANM President Rodolfo Sabelli said that the statute would harm judicial independence and “condition” judges due to its ability to “intimidate”. He warned of its potential to be used as a way to “get rid of judges deemed unlikely to rule” as the plaintiff or defendant would like. Sabelli said that the unConstitutional nature of the regulation was “so clear that I don’t think it will pass. But the signal it sends is worrisome: that of weakening the judiciary” at the very moment when anti-corruption measures are called for.
His comments were seen as a reference to two major corruption scandals unfolding in the country, which include an investigation into alleged bid-rigging at the 2015 World’s Fair in Milan, and an even larger probe into a suspected political bribery scheme in the construction of Venice’s MOSE flood barriers.
In the latter, 35 people have been arrested, including the mayor of Venice, while several former ministers have been placed under investigation, one of whom — Senator Giancarlo Galan — may also be arrested if the Senate approves lifting his parliamentary immunity. They are accused of skimming 25 million euros in taxpayer funds and channeling them through political campaigns. Italy’s anti-corruption czar Raffaele Cantone echoed Sabelli’s concerns on Wednesday, warning that he does not yet have enough resources or authority to properly fight the problem. Speaking to a conference at the foreign ministry, the former anti-mafia prosecutor said that the face of corruption has become more mainstream and less obviously criminal. In an indirect reference to the amendment, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano stressed later on Wednesday that judicial independence was “not merely a privilege”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Isspresso Coffee to Launch at Space Station
20 kg machine also prepares other hot beverages in space
(ANSA) — Rome, June 13 — Italian coffee maker Lavazza and aerospace food engineering firm Argotec are launching a coffee-making system dubbed ISSpresso to the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of 2014, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Argotec said Friday.
The future mission will also feature the first Italian woman to go into space, Samantha Cristoforetti, who could become the first astronaut in history to drink an real expresso coffee in orbit.
The ISSpresso is the the first capsule-based espresso system able to work in the extreme, low gravity conditions of space, where principles regulating fluid dynamics and liquid mixtures are very different than on earth. The 20 kg machine will not not only prepare a regular espresso, but also other hot beverages, such as caffe’ lungo, tea, infusions and broth, so that food can also be rehydrated.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Only 13% of Foreign Tourists Opt for South
44.3% choose north-east
(ANSA) — Bari, June 13 — Only 13% of foreign tourists opt for southern Italy, retailers’ association Confcommercio said Friday.
Fully 44.3% preferred the north-east, the area around Venice, it said.
It would be a mistake to pursue the industrialisation of the Mezzogiorno, according to Confcommercio.
Instead, the area’s cultural, tourism and culinary treasures should be exploited.
photo: Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Orsoni Revokes Powers of City Council as He Resigns
Venice mayor calls out ‘opportunist, hypocritical reactions’
(see related)(ANSA) — Venice, June 13 — Giorgio Orsoni said that he revoked the powers of his city council before stepping down as mayor on Friday in the wake of a political bribery scandal linked to the MOSE flood barriers. “It’s nothing against any individual official,” he said, adding that the gesture signified a “failed relationship” with politics. Orsoni plea-bargained a release from house arrest, accepting a four-month suspended jail term Thursday. In his written resignation, Orsoni called out “opportunist and hypocritical reactions” to his arrest, “even from some members of city council”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Orsoni Quits as Venice Mayor
Under pressure from PD
(ANSA) — Venice, June 13 — Giorgio Orsonio quit as Venice mayor Friday in the MOSE flood-barriers graft scandal under pressure from the Democratic Party (PD) that backed him. Orsoni plea-bargained a release from house arrest, accepting a four-month suspended jail term Thursday.
Afterwards, he said nothing would force him to step down.
He said there was “no objective reason” for him to resign.
“I have nothing to reproach myself for,” added Orsoni. Orsoni was being probed for illegal financing of political parties over his 2010 city election campaign.
He said that he would return to his position at the helm of the city council and had no intention of retiring.
“I have made many enemies and maybe this is the price I’m paying,” Orsoni told a news conference.
“I couldn’t know that an illegal system was used (for the 2010 campaign),” he said, adding that he has assigned fund-raising to third parties.
Orsoni was among 35 people arrested earlier this month over the MOSE probe, while around 100 others are under investigation.
These include former Veneto governor and ex-minister Giancarlo Galan, currently a Senator for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI) party, and Altero Matteoli, a former centre-right environment and transport minister.
Prosecutors are looking at allegations a corruption scam saw 25 million euros in taxpayers’ money funnelled to political campaigns and away from MOSE, a 5.5-billion-euro system of retractable dikes set to be operable in 2016 after decades of delays.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Signs Trade Agreements With Kazakhstan
Asia tour stopover includes oil, gas and vehicle agreements
(ANSA) — Astana, June 12 — Italian Premier Matteo Renzi met Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday in the capital of Astana to sign trade agreements at the end of his Asia tour.
Renzi signed an energy agreement with Kazakstan’s KazMunayGas and Italian oil giant ENI, and a second agreement with Italian truck and industrial vehicles maker Iveco and Kazakhstan’s industry ministry. Claudio Descalzi, ENI’s chief of access and exploration operations, and Mauro Moretti, CEO and General Manager of Finmeccanica, were present at the signing.
ENI currently has a 16.81% stake in the massive Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan, which is years behind schedule and has gone reportedly gone over budget by $30 billion.
Renzi is returning from his Asia trade tour, which included stops in Vietnam and China.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Major Terrorism Trial Could be Held in Secret for First Time in UK Legal History
A major terrorism trial is set to be held entirely in secret for the first time in British legal history in an unprecedented departure from the principles of open justice, the court of appeal has heard.
The identities of the two defendants charged with serious terror offences are being withheld from the public, and the media are banned from being present in court to report the forthcoming trial against the two men, known only as AB and CD.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Minimum 20% Juice Content Law ‘To Harm Italian Producers’
‘No health or safety benefits’ says food association chief
(ANSA) — Rome, June 11 — The head of Italy’s national food-and-drink association Federalimentare, Filippo Ferrua, spoke out on Wednesday against the Lower House’s approval of a law amendment raising the minimum orange-juice content in products from Italy labeled ‘orange drink’ to 20%.
Ferrua said that it was “harmful to bring in limits and prohibitions solely for Italian producers, thereby aiding foreign companies and damaging Italian competitiveness. It puts thousands of jobs at risk, including those in ancillary industries”. The head of the food industry association called the regulation “clearly unConstitutional,” saying it constituted “counter-discrimination against Italian producers and an unnecessary hindrance to unrestricted economic initiative,” and was “unreasonable, as it neither protects health nor food safety”. He noted that the regulation was not justified on the basis of health-related reasons, “as the EU Commission found when it rejected it in previous years,” and would not help agriculture, since “there is no rule saying the supply must come from Italy”.
As for consumers, “they already have a wide selection of 100% fruit juices on the market to choose from, while soon they will no longer be able to find the flavours they have enjoyed for years. They will instead find more calories on products made in Italy and lower requirements and prices on those made abroad”.
Ferrua warned that the regulation might result in the elimination of entire production lines and have serious effects on employment.
“At a time like this,” he said, “it is absurd to penalize those doing business in Italy”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
New NATO Head Expects ‘Enormous Dilemmas’
Nato’s incoming Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has told Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper that he expects the role to be “difficult, demanding and involve enormous dilemmas” in a long-running interview ahead of taking up the post.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway’s Plan to Combat Extremism
The Norwegian government released its 30-point action plan on Tuesday for fighting radicalization and violent extremism. It included proposals to punish citizens who go to fight in the Syrian conflict, stricter measures to deny visas to war criminals, and a unified approach including schools, police and sports clubs to stamp out extremism from a young age.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pius XII Criticism ‘Gives Me a Rash’ Says Pope
‘Made mistakes but must be seen in context’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, June 13 — Criticism of wartime pope Pius XII for allegedly not speaking out against the Holocaust “gives me a rash,” Pope Francis said Friday.
“I want to say that sometimes I have a little existential rash when I see the attacks by all against the Church of Pius XII, and the role of the great powers is forgotten,” Francis told Spanish daily La Vanguardia.
Francis admitted that Pius “made mistakes” but stressed that his actions should be seen “in the context of the times”.
The opening of the Vatican archives on WWII, expected in a few years’ time, will “she a lot of light,” Francis said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Says 99% of Vatican Was Against Peres, Abbas Invitation
‘Then the 1% grew’
(see related) (ANSA) — Vatican City, June 13 — Virtually everyone in the Holy See was skeptical about Pope Francis’ invitation to the Palestinian and Israeli presidents to attend a prayer meeting in Vatican City, the pontiff said Friday. “Some 99% of them said we shouldn’t do it,” Francis told Spanish daily La Vanguardia. “I heard from people we were overreaching…then the 1% grew”. On Sunday, the pope welcomed Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican Gardens for prayer after making a surprise invitation during his visit to the Holy Land last month.
The Vatican said the success of the event was symbolized at one point in an embrace shared by Abbas and Peres.
According to Francis, he decided to visit the Holy Land in light of Peres’ upcoming retirement later this summer. “I knew his term was coming to an end. One way or another, I had to visit him first,” said the pope.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour ‘Risks Losing Working Class Votes to UKIP’
Dave Prentis, the Unison leader, warns Ed Miliband that Labour must do more to ‘resonate with working class people’
Ed Miliband faces losing Labour’s traditional workers to the UK Independence Party, one of his biggest union backers has warned. Dave Prentis, Unison’s general secretary, said he was concerned that Labour was losing touch with its core support as the general election approaches…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Parents May be Stripped of Their Benefits Under New Plans
Consevative MP Margot James, pictured, has proposed that benefits should be docked from feckless parents who refuse to take classes on how to improve their children’s discipline, diet and exercise.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Baroness Newlove (pictured) said those targeted by yobs were ‘living in fear’ and needed officers to take action, and that police had not learned from earlier deaths.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Soldiers Are ‘Secretly’ Being Fed Halal Food
The MoD said it does use halal and kosher meat in meals, and that personnel are only told if they ask, in accordance with Government guidelines.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tiny $1,230 London Apartment Sparks Outrage
Apartment sizes are shrinking across the world.
[Comment: Check out the photo.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Vandals Draw Hitler Moustache on Church Image of Saint
Historic church is attacked by vandals who deface an image of a saint with a Hitler moustache and damage antique carvings and paintings
Vandals broke into an historic church which overlooks King Arthur’s castle and defaced a picture of a female saint with a Hitler moustache.
Black facial hair was drawn on a portrait of St Materiana, a Welsh saint and patron of Tintagel Parish Church in Cornwall. The hands of four carved angels, dating back at least four centuries, were hacked off and two paintings were damaged including a Victorian study of the Madonna and child which was covered in scratches…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
In America, most mosques profess to teach a version of Islam adapted to the modern world. That’s not what I’ve found here…
The introduction of a madrassa curriculum at a secular state school in Birmingham and talk of Christian pupils at risk of ‘cultural isolation’ seem to have come as a revelation to non-Muslim Britain. They should not have. Islam in Britain is dominated by a very specific, and rather illiberal, version of the faith — one that, if anything, seems to be becoming more conservative over time…
[Reader comment by Picquet on 13 June 2014.]
They’re not “our” mosques. They’re a very unwelcome foreign invader.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: You’re Playing for England, Moeen Ali, Not Your Religion
Before he went out to bat, Moeen Ali claimed he was representing his Muslim faith
National identity is not always easy to define. The artist Wassily Kandinsky, for instance, was born in Russia, lived in Germany, and died in France. At various times he was a citizen of each of those countries, though posterity will judge him to be a German painter. Igor Stravinsky, also born in Russia, lived in France and America, and was buried at his request in Venice…
[Reader comment by rubberchicken on 13 June 2014.]
Why doesn’t he go and live in a muslim country where he feels a greater degree of loyalty?
As a tax payer I am more than willing to fund repatriation programs where muslims who disdain our way of life and culture can hand in their passports in exchange for a one way ticket to the muslim hell hole of their choice. Perhaps the governors of those Trojan Horse muslim schools and the parents that supported them can start the ball rolling?
Examine your hearts and tell me honestly that you wouldn’t support such a policy.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Were the Vikings Scared of Volcanoes?
New Danish research suggests that the Icelandic Vikings were far less relaxed about volcanoes than previously believed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
MERS Deaths in Algeria, Contracted in Saudi Arabia Transmitted From Camels
Two cases registered in the North African country. A pilgrim returning from Mecca dies. In Saudi Arabia there are about 700 infected; so far the death toll is at around 300. The infection seems to come from camels.
Algiers (AsiaNews / Agencies) — A 59 year old Algerian died yesterday from the coronavirus infection known as MERS, which he contracted during his pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, home to the largest number of cases of this disease.
This is the second case of infection in Algeria among those who have returned from Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi kingdom has registered MERS cases (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) since 2012. It a viral infection with symptoms similar to those of the common cold. But in the case of MERS it often leads to kidney failure and pneumonia. According to data from the country, so far there have been at least 282 deaths out of nearly 700 infections.
Thanks to a certain superficiality on the part of the Saudi Minister for Health (who has now resigned), the virus has spread even further among people who came to Saudi Arabia for business or for religious reasons.
Cases of MERS are now registered in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the United States.
Scientists agree that the MERS has been transmitted to humans by camels. British researchers have recognized the same coronavirus in camels and their owners.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Fearing Three Teens Abducted, Israel Escalates West Bank Search With Abbas Help
(Reuters) — Israel sent more troops to the occupied West Bank on Saturday to step up searches for three Israeli teenagers believed to have been abducted by Palestinians, with a military source saying it was not known if they were dead or alive.
The three boys disappeared on Thursday night after they left a Jewish settlement bloc where they were seminary students…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli War Jets Launch Intensive Airstrikes on Gaza Strip
GAZA, June 14 (Xinhua) — Israeli war jets on Saturday night carried out a series of intensive and successive airstrikes on various targets in southern, central and northern Gaza Strip, injuring one person, medics and security officials said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Three Gaza Rockets Fired at Southern Israel
JERUSALEM, June 14 (Xinhua) — Three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Saturday evening, after Israeli air raid against southern Gaza earlier the same day, the Israeli military said in a statement.
No injury or damage was reported in the wake of the attack, though rocket alert sirens were set off in western Negev communities. The Israeli military said one projectile landed in an open area near the coastal city of Ashkelon. The military is searching for the remains of the rest rockets…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
30 Killed in Blast Near Syrian-Iraqi Border — TV
A bomb attack targeting a weapons bazaar in eastern Syria close to the Iraqi border killed 30 “terrorists” on Saturday, state television reported.
“A big explosion hits a terrorist arms market in Mayadeen, killing 30 terrorists and wounding dozens of others,” the television reported. A rebel official from the town in Deir Ezzor province told AFP the blast killed at least 15 civilians in a street market.
He said a car bomb was detonated by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the same group which has spearheaded an offensive in neighbouring Iraq this week that has seen militants sweep down from second city Mosul towards Baghdad.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
By Srdja Trifkovic
Last Tuesday’s sudden capture of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city (population 1.8 million), by a coalition of Sunni forces led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was swiftly followed by the fall of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home town. By Thursday morning the insurgents were reported to have advanced to the city of Samarra, only 80 miles north of Baghdad. Their lightning success has thrown the U.S. policy in the region into disarray.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fifty Former Baath Party Members Killed in Iraq
(AGI) — Baghdad, June 14 — Iraqi security forces have killed 50 former Baath Party officials in recent clashes in Tikrit.
According to an Iraqi military source, the son of Sadam Hussein’s closest advisor, Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, also died after being seen in Mosul when the city fell into the hands of extremist Sunni militias. Operations were carried out by an anti-terrorist unit informed by Iraqi intelligence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Will “Consider” Joint Action With US in Iraq, Hassan Rouhani Says
Iran’s president has given the clearest hint yet that Tehran is prepared to cast aside 35 years of hostility in an alliance of convenience with the US to combat Sunni militants in Iraq
Iran will consider joining forces with the United States to combat Sunni militants in Iraq, Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, said on Saturday in the clearest sign yet that the Islamic Republic is ready to set aside its decades-old enmity with Washington…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Conflict: Iran’s Rouhani ‘Ready to Help’
Iran is ready to assist the Iraqi government in its battle against extremist Sunni insurgents, President Hassan Rouhani has said.
But he denied Iran had sent troops into Iraq to help bolster Iraqi government forces’ defences.
The insurgents — from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) — have seized the cities of Mosul and Tikrit and are moving closer to Baghdad…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Many residents of Mosul say they prefer life under ISIS to that under Iraqi army control
An elderly man is ripped from his bed in the dead of night. Blindfolded, the last thing he feels is the blade slitting his throat. A taxi driver, made to kneel on the side of the road, trembling as a gun is put to his head and the trigger is pulled. In one summary execution, the bodies of five men are shown convulsing under the force of the bullets being fired into their backs.
The men of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the jihadists now rampaging across northern Iraq are proud of their murders. The real footage, posted online as propaganda videos for the group, reveals the cruel psychopathy of men whose humanity has been lost to its extremist cause…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Falls to Islamic Militants: Here’s What the Media Isn’t Telling You About Why it’s Happening
(NaturalNews) The puppet Iraqi government installed at gunpoint by western imperialist nations is collapsing. Iraq is now being overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The oil-rich city of Tikrit has already been captured, and militants are headed for Baghdad, the capitol city of Iraq.
The military surge has sent shockwaves around the world, shining yet another spotlight on the disastrously failed foreign policies of the United States and the Obama administration. While the U.S. military occupation of Iraq began in 2003 under President Bush, Obama pulled most U.S. troops from the nation in 2011, leaving behind a puppet government installed at gunpoint by the USA. That government is now on the verge of total collapse as armed, impassioned Islamic militants are rapidly overrunning the country.
U.S.-backed Iraqi soldiers have no heart in the fight, and they are abandoning military equipment as they retreat en masse from the Islamic militants.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq’s Vulnerable Christians Further Imperiled by Jihadist Advance
(CNSNews.com) — The startling gains made by jihadist fighters in Iraq are placing the region’s already extremely vulnerable Christians in even greater peril, Christian advocacy groups are warning.
While hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are affected by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s takeover of key cities including the Ninawa (Nineveh) provincial capital, Mosul, minority Christians — some of whom trace their origins to the earliest years of Christianity — are among those with the most to lose.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Abu Bakr Baghdadi’s Reach Shows Power of Regional Militant Groups
He is regarded as one of the most powerful militants in the world, a former Islamist preacher who evolved into a global jihad warrior now threatening to rewrite the map of the Middle East.
Yet Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, remains largely a mystery, even to his followers…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Al-Qaeda, Ex-Saddam Loyalists Claim Iraq Advance
By Judit Neurink
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Mosul is in the hands of al-Qaeda groups and former members of Saddam Hussein’s defunct ruling party and military, confirmed the spokesman of the Civil Committees that are now in charge of Iraq’s second-largest city.
Ghanim al-Aabed named the head of the new caretaker government in Mosul as Hashem Jamas, a former top general in Saddam’s army. He added that the aim of the ongoing fighting, as the Sunni insurgents advance toward Baghdad, is to topple Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanese Army Arrests Five Syrian Refugees on Terrorism Charges
BEIRUT, June 13 (Xinhua) — The Lebanese army said Friday it detained five Syrian refugees in operations on the outskirts of the eastern Bekaa border town of Arsal on terrorism charges.
An army statement said the detained men were apprehended inside Syrian refugee camps in the area.
According to the statement, a Syrian national was charged of being with the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group of “Abdallah al- Azzam brigades” while four others for the possession of cameras, computers and CDs, in which materials show their participation in trainings with terrorist groups…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Sends Aircraft Carrier to Gulf as Additional Option
(AGI) Washington, June 14 — Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel has said that a U.S. aircraft carrier will be deployed to the Persian Gulf should there be a need for military intervention in Iraq. The Pentagon has emphasised that an aircraft carrier will provide “greater flexibility” should it become necessary to protect American lives and interests in Iraq because of the current jihadist offensive.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
49 Troops Aboard Plane Shot Down in Ukraine’s Luhansk Confirmed Dead
The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has confirmed that 49 servicemen died when a military transport plane was shot down at Lugansk airport. “About 01:10 local time on June 14, 2014, when landing at Lugansk airport, an Il-76 military transport plane of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was downed by a shot from an antiaircraft missile system. On board the plane, aside from nine crewmembers, were 40 servicemen. All died,” the press service of the prosecutor’s office said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Threatens Russia With New Sanctions
(AGI) Washington, June 14 — Following the shooting down of a Ukrainian military plane carrying 49 soldiers by pro-Russian separatist, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that new sanctions will be approved by the G7 if Russia does not immediately stop providing separatists with heavy weapons.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: Mutiny in National Guard
A scandal is surfacing in one of the Ukrainian units attempting to quash revolt in the eastern regions. Turning out to be non-existent on Kiev’s books, the fighters who were denied food and service pay now seek truth in the capital, RT reports.
The Ukrainian government has been using National Guard conscripts as a major assault force in attacks on anti-Kiev forces in the east of the country. It is mostly the guards, many of whom are members of the ultranationalist Right Sector movement, who have been shelling the city of Slavyansk and the villages around it with mortars and Howitzers to force the pro-federalist region of Donetsk into submission.
Now an entire unit of the National Guard has revolted and is heading back to Kiev, claiming they have been abandoned by the government and left unpaid.
“According to official papers, we don’t exist! We’re an illusion. It’s like we haven’t been deployed here, we haven’t got any ammunition — nothing!” claimed the commander of the Third squadron of the First reserve battalion of the National Guard, Lieutenant Taras Zherebetsky.
He said that all documents of his detachment have disappeared as if they had never been created.
“We were sleeping on the ground, because we didn’t even have tents! They just sent us there — and forgot about us! And while all the generals and commanders were sitting pretty in their warm tents, guarded by the newest APCs, we were sent to fight like cannon fodder,” Zherebetsky said.
Other members of the National Guard said that sometimes they had to buy their uniform themselves and the body armor was given by sponsors, not the government.
Another peculiar detail about the unit reveled by the fighters, is that its military personnel have been attributed to other units which actually never existed. That means that technically, they actually saw action, were carrying arms and probably killed adversaries in Donetsk Region of their own accord.
But that is not the whole story either. The National Guards found out that while actually being deployed to a war zone near the city of Slavyansk for weeks, according to papers they remained in the peaceful city of Pavlograd in the neighboring Dnepropetrovsk Region, so they may forget about the combat pay they were promised.
“We haven’t been paid. We got around [US]$600 on arrival here two months ago, and that’s it. We didn’t have any food. Instead, they’ve been feeding us with promises that it’s going to happen tomorrow. But we’re tired of waiting!” said another National Guard soldier, Evgeny Ivanenko.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Crisis: Russia Condemns Attack on Kiev Embassy
Russia has reacted angrily to a violent protest outside its embassy in Ukraine, which saw windows smashed, the Russian flag torn down and cars overturned.
Russia accused Ukrainian police of doing nothing to stop the attack, and called it a “grave violation of Ukraine’s international obligations”.
Meanwhile Nato released images which it says back up Ukrainian claims that Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
4 Killed, Several Injured in Blasts, Firing in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, June 14 (Xinhua) — At least four people including a provincial lawmaker were killed and several others injured in four separate incidents of firing and bomb explosions in Pakistan on Saturday, local media and officials said.
Jan Muhammad Buledi, spokesperson of the Balochistan provincial government, said that a lawmaker, Hendry Masih, was killed when his personal bodyguard opened fire at him on Saturday morning.
Buledi said that Masih, a member of minority Christian community, was shot dead by the gunman that he hired 15 years ago outside his residence in provincial capital of Quetta…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
9 Burnt to Death in Clashes at “Stranded Pakistanis” Camp in Bangladesh
DHAKA, June 14 (Xinhua) — At least nine people including three children and two women were burnt to death in a devastating fire during a series of violent and chaotic clashes at a refugee camp of Biharis, or “stranded Pakistanis,” in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Saturday morning.
The clashes erupted following altercation over blasting crackers on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat, the night of divine blessings for the Muslims…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Daughter of First American Killed in Afghanistan Learns Freed Taliban Leader Was Behind it
Alison Spann was just 9 when she learned her father, a U.S. Marine turned CIA operative, had become the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan. Thirteen years later, she found out her country had freed the Taliban leader behind his death.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: Radical Hindus Target Christian Communities: Murder and Torture
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), denounces two cases to AsiaNews, which occurred in Orissa and Bihar. In the first, a man was tortured and killed “by mistake”: the attackers wanted to kill his son who had just been baptized. In the second, the extremists assaulted an entire family not even sparing the children: they had met with the pastor of the local church.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “We killed your father because he refused to deny Jesus Christ.” This is what one of the sons of Nimmaka Laxmaya was told by his father’s killers, when he found the man’s lifeless body near a village in Orissa. In fact, the group of Hindu radicals killed him by “mistake”. The goal was just his young son, “guilty” of having received baptism. The incident occurred on May 25 last, but news of the murder only filtered through today. It was confirmed to AsiaNews by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), which expresses “outrage for what happened” and demands justice for the “increasingly vulnerable” Christian minority.
On the morning of May 25 in the village of Dherubada, inhabited by tribal Kondho, Rev. Ben Christom officiated at a christening ceremony for 29 people, including the youngest son of Nimmaka. At the end of a meal consumed with the community, the man — 50 years — walked towards his home alone, carrying the clothes worn by his son during the ceremony. Along the way a group of fanatical Hindus attacked him, mistaking him for one of the newly baptized.
It later emerged that they had been ordered to find and kill the Christian, because he had just received baptism. Faced with the father’s refusal to deny Jesus Christ, the mob bound him by the neck, dragging him like an animal. The split his head with a stone, to kill him, then dumped his body into a wooded area near the road.
Only moments later, the son discovered the tragedy: he was returning home and noticed fresh blood on the ground. He followed the trail and found the assassins still close to his father’s body. “If you come any nearer- they told him — we will kill you too”. The terrified young man ran for help. On returning with the Pastor and others, the mob had fled.
The community denounced the murder to the police who arrested the culprits. Since then, however, things have gotten worse: the supporters of the group continue to threaten Rev. Christom and Christians in the area with a similar fate if they still refuse to deny Christ.
A similar case occurred in another Indian state, Bihar, also on 25 May. In the village of Kaliyaganj a group of extremists brutally attacked a Christian family, “guilty” of having received the visit of Rev. P.G. Vergis, founder of a Protestant church in the area. The attackers did not spare anyone, after beating up the head of the family, Sadanandan Singh, they also violently attack his daughters and younger children.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Violence Mars Afghan Presidential Vote
Taliban fire rockets at Kabul airport as voters choose successor to President Hamid Karzai after months of campaigning
Afghans braved sporadic rocket fire and bomb attacks to vote in the second round of a protracted election to choose Hamid Karzai’s successor. Despite 150 scattered attacks, which left 14 dead, Taliban insurgents were unable to fulfil threats to derail polling day with spectacular assaults and voting closed with a sense of relief…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
8 Shocking Health Effects From the Fukushima Disaster
It’s been a couple years since the Fukushima disaster but the ruins are still smoldering and the negative health consequences are more pronounced than ever. The somewhat indifferent response from many governmental health agencies around the world to the Fukushima disaster was perhaps more shocking than the disaster itself. Authorities around the globe assured us not to worry, claiming any radiation that had come into contact with citizens was well below the detectable and harmful level. The message is clear, everyday citizens can longer rely on their government for protection.
As tons of radioactive water continues to spill into the Pacific Ocean, many national health agencies have raised the standards for acceptable radiation exposure to reinforce their absurd statements. The previous standards for 30 years of radiation exposure would have generated a cancer rate of 1 in 10,000. Now that radiation standards have been raised (thanks to the Obama Administration’s green-lit effort to increase radiation exposure to 2,000 millirems), the cancer rate from 30 years of exposure is now at 1 in 23! [1]
What other problems have sprung up since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Card. Zen and Democrats Urge Participation in Referendum. Protests Against Beijing’s “White Paper”
For the cardinal, participating in the referendum is a way to express the dignity of Hong Kong’s people, against those who want to repress or enslave them. The Democrats cancel a meeting with Beijing’s representative in the Territory. The White Paper states that Beijing’s authority is more important than Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy” promised by the Basic Law. Judges also have to be submitted as “patriotic administrators.” Demonstrators accuse Beijing of considering the Basic Law “waste paper” or “toilet paper”.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — Cardinal Joseph Zen and members of the Democratic Party are urging the people of Hong Kong to cast their vote on the democratic future of the territory by joining in the referendum of June 20-22 launched by the Occupy Central movement. Meanwhile, criticism towards the Beijing’s “White Paper” is increasing as it stresses China’s “comprehensive sovereignty “ over any change in Hong Kong.
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, speaking this morning on Commercial Radio, said that the “White Paper” will push even more residents to express their opinion in a referendum. “[This is because] Hongkongers still care about their dignity. They would hit back if they are repressed and forced to be slaves,”
Today a delegation of the Democratic Party canceled a meeting with the director of the Liaison Office (Beijing’s representative in the Territory) to criticize the “White Paper”, which reduces the “high degree of autonomy” in Hong Kong.
The “White Paper” published by Xinhua on June 10 in 7 languages, states that the central government in Beijing has “full sovereignty” over the territory; that the “high degree of autonomy” promised to Hong Kong — with the formula “one country, two systems” — should not work to the disadvantage of the formula “one nation.” This means that any reforms in Hong Kong must be measured by the good they bring “to the one nation”, that is, to China.
The White Paper also demands a submissive patriotism to Beijing, in short, that all the city’s administrators must “love the motherland.”
Administrators include lawyers and judges. Because of this, the Bar association has criticized the document, saying it is “wrong” to put the judges in the category of civil servants and that they always defend the independence of the courts. “Elsewhere — they state — courts “sing in unison” with the government, but this is not the case in Hong Kong”.
Groups of young people linked to the Occupy Central movement find the Beijing document very serious and troubling. “In this way — they say — the autonomy of Hong Kong and the statement ‘one country, two systems’ is thrown in the trash”. “Beijing treats the Basic Law [the mini-constitution of Hong Kong] like toilet paper.”
For this reason, some young people have burned the White Paper in public; others have shown a roll of toilet paper printed with sections of the Basic Law.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: Beijing Fears World “Instability” And Hoards Crude at the Fastest Pace
Record imports in April highlights efforts to create a strategic reserve against backdrop of supply risks and regional disputes, analysts say. The country fears the instability of large producers and wants a “strategic reserve” similar to the American one.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — China is hoarding crude at the fastest pace in at least a decade, shielding itself from supply disruptions and helping keep prices above US$100 a barrel. The country imported a record volume in April as it emulates steps taken by the United States in the 1970s to create a strategic petroleum reserve, government data shows. President Xi Jinping is building stockpiles as China clashes with Vietnam over resources in the South China Sea and faces potential risks to oil sales from Russia, Africa and the Middle East because of sanctions and violence.
The purchases are helping to drive oil prices higher, according to analysts at Barclays, Citigroup and Nomura.
As China’s thirst for crude grows with the expansion of its emergency stockpiles and refining, the International Energy Agency estimates that it will surpass the US as the world’s largest oil consumer by 2030.
China bought more than 600,000 barrels a day of surplus crude from January to April, a record for that time of the year based on data from Chinese statistics tracked since 2004. The surplus supplies are calculated by subtracting refinery runs from the combined total of net imports and domestic production.
China had 141 million barrels of strategic reserve capacity at the end of last year, China National Petroleum Corp, the country’s top energy producer, said in an annual report released in January.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UN Urges Papua New Guinea to Stop Attacks on ‘Witches’
‘Mystery’ deaths and illnesses blamed on alleged sorcerers
(ANSA) — Rome, June 13 — The United Nations on Friday urged Papua New Guinea to stop attacks against women and sometimes men believed to be witches.
UN human rights adviser Signe Poulsen criticised the government for allegedly doing nothing to stop the attacks.
The government has faced repeated criticism for failing to protect women amid broad superstition that ‘mystery’ deaths and illnesses are caused by alleged sorcerers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Man Snatched by Crocodile and Pulled Into River in Kakadu
A 62-year-old man has been attacked and pulled off a boat by a crocodile in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory on Saturday afternoon.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Attacks Cause 6,220 Nigerians to Flee
(AGI) Lagos, June 14 — Over 6,220 people have fled northeastern Nigeria because of the Boko Haram incursions, the national emergency agency NEMA said. Mohammed Kamar, the agency’s coordinator for the northeast, said aid was being distributed to people gathered outside the Dalori school and that all the displaced would be looked after until they could return to their villages. NEMA has set up several refugee camps and is in the process of setting up another at Maiduguri.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: UK Closes Consulate Due to Security Concerns
Britain on Friday closed its consulate in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, citing security concerns. All consular services have now been transferred to capital Nairobi, according to a Friday press statement issued by the U.K. High Commission.
“Following the changes made to our travel advice on Wednesday, May 14, the decision has been made to close our honorary consulate office in Mombasa,” the statement read…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: 20 Kidnapped Women — Boko Haram Demands 800 Cows as Ransom
Maiduguri — Boko Haram terrorists are reportedly asking for 800 cows as a precondition for the release of the abducted 20 Fulani women…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: Bomb Blast in Galkayo Wounds Two Puntland Soldiers
According to news reports from the Mudug region, a strong explosion occurred today in Galkayo targeting soldiers of the Puntland state administration.
A minimum of two soldiers were wounded after armed fighters through bombs at a vehicle being driven by soldiers of Puntland state administration as they were passing by Garsoor, a neighborhood in North Galkayo.
After the blast, the surviving soldiers conducted search crackdowns in the Garsoor neighborhood in which they detained many youth suspected with being tied to the explosion.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: Civilians Killed in Port Town of Kismayo
Two civilians were killed in Somalia’s port town of Kismayo, according to news reports from the city. The murders were caused by gunmen with pistols and the motive for the killing is unknown. Planned assassinations targeting civilians in Kismayo has recently increased.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: Another Battle Breaks Out in Waajid
According to news reports from the Bakool region, another violent confrontation erupted last night between co-allied Somali National Army soldiers and Ethiopian troops against A-Shabaab terrorist insurgents…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bolivia: UN Secretary General Celebrates 70th Anniversary With Cake of Coca Leaves
UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon on Friday celebrated his 70th anniversary in Bolivia and was presented with anniversary cake from coca leaves, and a children’s choir sang Happy Birthday to him in three languages — English, Spanish and Ayoreo (an Indian dialect), reports the Bolivian Agency ABI…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Jamaica to Legalise Medical Marijuana
Also allow possession of 27 grammes of ‘ganja’
(ANSA) — Rome, June 13 — Jamaica is set to legalise marijuana for a number of purposes.
Justice Minister Mark Golding said the drug, known to Jamaicans as ‘ganja’, would be decriminalised for religious, medicinal and scientific purposes.
Golding added the cabinet was supporting a proposal to allow possession of up to 57 grammes (two ounces) of ganja.
Parliament is expected to OK the revision by September.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
WeChat Becomes Increasingly Popular in Latin America
(People’s Daily Online) — Beijing, June 12 — The number of Latin American users of WeChat, known in Chinese as Weixin, saw a 1000% increase in the first quarter over the same period of last year, far exceeding the growth rate of competitor Whatsapp, a survey shows. According to market research company Global Networking Index, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico witnessed fastest growth in the number of WeChat users. WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging communication app developed by Tencent, an Internet service company in China.
The number of users in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico witnessed 835%, 1,108%, and 2,502% year-on-year growth respectively at the first quarter.
Jason Mander, director of market trends research at Global Networking Index, said that in the past 12 months, thanks to the rapid growth, WeChat has established its important position in the world of social networking media. It predicted that at the beginning of 2015, there will be another 90 million users.
The survey attributed the following two reasons to the popularity of WeChat in Latin America: One is that the popularity of smartphones and the Internet; the other is a large number of Chinese enterprises investing in Latin America, which allows local people to have the opportunities to contact with Chinese people and became familiar with and willing to use China’s social software.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 10 Migrants Drown Off Libyan Coast
(AGI) Rome, June 14 — At least 10 people died when a migrant dinghy capsized around 40 miles north of the Libyan coast on Friday afternoon. A coastguard boat managed to pluck 39 people from the sea, while a Naval frigate and patrol boat sped to the rescue.
(See link for news story)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Interior Minister Calls for EU Action on Immigration
(AGI) Catania, June 14 — Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, speaking in Catania while attending a summit on immigration, has said that the “Mare Nostrum operation cannot continue as things stand. Italy is confident it has done everything correctly, however, the Mediterranean is a European border and we find ourselves saving the lives of people wanting to live in the heart of the EU, certainly not in Pozzallo, Augusta or other southern towns.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 93 Rescued Migrants Land at Trapani
(AGI) Trapani, June 14 — A Gibraltar-flagged tugboat brought 93 migrants, including 16 women and five minors, to the port of Trapani at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The tug picked up the group, who were in a 10-metre rubber dingy, on Thursday night about 40 miles south of Malta. The migrants come from Sudan, Eritrea and Senegal. One woman was taken to hospital with suspected bronchitis.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Navy Rescues 40 Migrants, 10 Found Dead, Dozens Feared Missing
ROME, June 14 (Xinhua) — Italy’s navy saved 40 migrants and found 10 dead during rescue operations carried out on Saturday.
Dozens more migrants were feared missing, as a new major shipwreck was believed to have occurred off the coasts of Sicily, authorities said.
The navy confirmed it rescued 39 migrants aboard an inflatable boat about 100 miles off Lampedusa, a tiny island that lies 113 km from Africa. Two of the migrants had serious burns and were picked up by an emergency helicopter in order to receive medical care most quickly…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Saves Over 300 Migrants at Sea; 10 Die
ROME (AP) — The Italian coast guard and navy have rescued more than 300 migrants whose boats ran into trouble in the Mediterranean Sea and recovered the bodies of 10 migrants whose dinghy had overturned…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Sicily: Egyptian Migrant Smuggler Arrested
Set up Facebook page for asylum seekers
(ANSA) — Ragusa, June 13 — Italian police on Friday arrested the latest in a string of migrant smugglers caught since the start of the Mare Nostrum rescue operation last October.
The Egyptian is accused of being the pilot of a boat carrying 311 asylum seekers that landed at Pozzallo in Sicily on Wednesday.
He has reportedly confessed.
The man and several Syrian associates had set up a Facebook page to get news on crossing the Mediterranean.
The organisation allegedly got 500,000 euros and the trafficker 6000 from desperate Syrian migrants.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Roma Migrants Cause Terror for South Yorkshire Residents
VILLAGERS being terrorised by hundreds of Roma migrants have warned “blood will be spilt” unless police act.
Roma numbers have rocketed in Hexthorpe, South Yorkshire, from a handful to more than 500 since border controls were lifted in January. Now angry residents say riots could erupt unless action is taken to curb the fly-tipping, late-night noise and threats and intimidation.
Resident Paul Adams, 44, an advertising account manager, said: “The immigrants don’t care about the village or our community. All they are here for is the benefits. They are loud, aggressive and intimidating. They gather in groups in the park and on the streets. They throw rubbish everywhere, literally out of their windows into their garden, in the knowledge the council will clear it up. They need educating in how to be part of the community.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
One School’s ‘Horrific’ Sex-Ed Photos Are Outraging Parents
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
A middle school sex-ed presentation mixed the birds and the bees with a few crude memes.
Parents were outraged.
“That’s something you can’t unsee,” one parent, who asked not to be identified, told KGTV. “This is definitely more than R-rated. This is X-rated.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jihad and the Culture of Hostagetaking
by Dr. Phyllis Chesler
The disappearance and presumed kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers took place on Thursday evening, Israel time. By Friday evening, Israel time, the IDF had released their names and photos.
Since 9/11, truly, we are all Israelis. What used to happen only to Jews or mainly to Israeli Jews (hijackings, suicide/homicide bombings) remained unchecked by the world and now that same style of hatred and violence has increasingly been unleashed against civilians everywhere. We are all at the mercy of merciless, maniacal Jihadists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What I find amazing about this is how tin eared the west’s population is to the threat that the Islamic world implies on their way of life… Are you really so stupid that you want to block energy drilling in your home countries when the alternative is to rely on Islamic crazis to heat your houses and run your cars?
I get the sausage making analogy; every one wants sausage, they just don’t want to see it made. Has it not become clear that the west places greater environmental regulations on the energy industry than the middle east? Are you really so stupid that you don’t get this?
I am more than willing to place restrictions on the oil industry in the US to only market oil derived products from US soil to the US… I’m all in but, how much longer will the middle east burn while our gov’ts sashey around with corrupt “alternative energy” sources? Drill here, drill now and take the air out of the extremist’s balloon.
Is that a radical idea? I don’t think so…
We are now talking about self preservation. I live in an antique home on Long Island. Just down the street from me the battle of Long Island took place.George Washington’s spy ring was centered in my community. If heating oil goes any higher I don’t think I can live here any longer and be a shephard for my 115 year old home. What is it that Mr. Obama expects me to do, tranfer to gas heator, heh, solar? I don’t have the money to do that. I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
Drill here in the US, drill now. Employ a pipeline from Canada and restrict the sale of the oil to North America. Drive down our energy prices and let N. America unleash its power!
Why Mr. Obama insists on stifling our energy production is beyond me. Why does he wish to have the middle east supply a significant portion of our energy?
It doesn’t make any sense.
Don’t always agree with you, Babs, but I think the opposition to fracking in the UK is so short-sighted. The sooner we’re free of oil and gas suppliers in nasty dictatorships, Islamist or Russian, the better.
For god’s sake, Russia is not a dictatorship!
It’s giving a good impression.
Ah, now we know the origin of the phrase “they have us over a barrel”
Islam
A new political party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpwwhqItH-E
Native French under Attack in Muslim Areas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLhqTmIRaMY
” Native French under Attack in Muslim Areas ”
I think this is because of the rotten blind so-called democracy, stupid and cowardly, politicians, who think nothing but their coming to power. Politicians . . . those wolves in sheep’s clothing. 5″Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16″You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?…”
Selfish politician and treacherous who destroy their own country by the hands of muslims just to get elected.
How many Jews left France today? How many muslims were accepted the the “perfect, secular gov. of, Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Politicians just created a France . . . Just paradise on earth. ah h h h h for muslims … that is.
Europe pour more money on palestinians, congratulate Hamas and Fath on unity gov. show you are happy when muslims become stronger. That’s a good sign Europe that you are mature and wise.