Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/6/2014

Over 2,500 illegal migrants were saved at sea by the Italian Navy in the space of 24 hours, as a part of the “Mare Nostrum” operation. After the Navy made its announcement, the Coast Guard rescued another 300 refugees off Lampedusa, and a merchant ship reportedly picked up 94 more.

In other news, 46 people were killed and more than a hundred wounded in various bombings and other attacks across Iraq.

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

Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, 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.

Financial Crisis
» U.S. Added 217,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Rate Remains 6.3%
 
USA
» Brooklyn Will Seek to Host 2016 Democratic National Convention
» Clintons Hit $200 Million for Endowment Before 2016 Race
 
Europe and the EU
» Brussels Jewish Museum Suspect Denies Murder Charges
» Donor-Sperm Fertility Treatment in Italy Expected Mid-June
» France: The Spy Who Saved D-Day
» France: Missing UK Pensioner Found at D-Day Events
» France: Thousands Gather on Normandy Shores to Recall ‘The Longest Day’
» German Stasi Spied on 80pct of West Berlin Policemen
» Italy: Informant Says Berlusconi Ex-Undersecretary ‘Cosa Nostra’
» Italy: Venice Mayor Arrested in Flood-System Graft Scandal
» Italy: Carer ‘Robs 93-Year-Old, Buys Coke and Gambles With Loot’
» Northern Ireland: Pastor Apologises for Anti-Islam Sermon
» On D-Day Tributes to the Greatest Generation: While Contretemps Over Prisoner Exchange Grow
» Rampant Islamic Jew-Hatred in Europe and the Brussels Jewish Museum Carnage
» Spain to Deport Pakistani Refugee for Criticizing Islam
» UK: Friend of Lee Rigby’s Killer Jailed for Distributing Terrorism Material
» UK: Liquid Bomb Plotter Planned to Go to Syria on Stolen Passport
» UK: Portsmouth Marks 70th Anniversary of D-Day Commemorations
» UK: While We Turn a Blind Eye to Islamists, Our Children Suffer
 
Balkans
» Source: Army of Serbia Does Not Have a Single Fighter Jet in Working Condition
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Activists Hijacking Feminism to Attack Israel at Women’s Studies Association Meeting
» Caroline Glick: Ending Abbas’s Winning Streak
» Islamic Prayers to be Held at the Vatican
» Jerusalem Picked as ‘Islamic Tourism Capital for 2016’
 
Middle East
» 46 Killed, 103 Wounded in Violence in Northern Iraq
» Ha’aretz Conspiracy Delusion Over Iran’s Nuclear Program
» ISIS Touts French, German, And Libyan Suicide Bombers in Syria
» The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria: Gone But Not Forgotten
 
Russia
» Putin: There Are No Russian Troops Abroad While US Troops Are Everywhere
 
South Asia
» Afghan Presidential Runner Escapes Suicide Blast, 4 Killed
» Pakistani Teenager Survives Attempted Honour Killing
 
Far East
» Japanese Warship Arrives in Central Vietnam for Pacific Partnership 2014
 
Australia — Pacific
» On the March
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Nigeria’s Second Highest Islamic Traditional Monarch Dies
 
Latin America
» Kim Kardashian Lookalike With Pink AK-47 Accused of Being Head of Mexico Drug Gang
 
Immigration
» German Parliament Discusses Asylum Law
» Italy: Over 2,500 Migrants Saved by Navy in 24 Hours
» Sweden Gains 13,000 New Citizens
 

U.S. Added 217,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Rate Remains 6.3%

American employers added 217,000 workers in May, a bit more than the average monthly gain over the last six months and another sign that the economy may finally be gaining momentum after a weak start to the year.

The unemployment rate was flat at 6.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday morning in its monthly report on hiring and joblessness.

Over the last six months, employers have added an average of just over 200,000 people a month to their payrolls, with momentum rising recently after more anemic job gains in December and January.

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Brooklyn Will Seek to Host 2016 Democratic National Convention

Brooklyn, a nexus of the new Democratic left that has morphed from working-class enclave to a gritty, global arbiter of cool, will vie to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said on Friday.

In a formal bid, the de Blasio administration proposed Barclays Center, the rust-hued sports and entertainment arena in Brooklyn’s bustling downtown, as the anchor venue for the quadrennial gathering, with accommodations and other events to be spread across the city’s other four boroughs.

A Democratic convention in Brooklyn, arguably the most liberal redoubt of one of the country’s most liberal cities, would be a stark departure from the recent tradition of political parties hosting their conventions in swing states like Florida and Colorado, which can be critical to clinching a national campaign.

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Clintons Hit $200 Million for Endowment Before 2016 Race

Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton raised $200 million in 10 months for their foundation’s endowment, positioning the nonprofit to survive even if its cash-collecting namesakes engage in a 2016 presidential run.

With four-fifths of their $250-million target in the bank, they are also changing fundraising strategies to include small donors — a tactic that would create a list that could be politically useful, as well.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Brussels Jewish Museum Suspect Denies Murder Charges

Mehdi Nemmouche’s lawyer says his client should not be extradited to Belgium because nothing connects him to murders. belgian shooter

The lawyer representing Mehdi Nemmouche, the Frenchman suspected of killing four people at the Jewish museum in Brussels, denied that Nemmouche committed the murders.

Nemmouche, 29, says he stole the AK-47 assault rifle and handgun that customs officers found in his possession on May 30 in Marseille, Nemmouche’s lawyer, Apolin Pepiezep, said Wednesday during an interview with the French broadcaster.

The lawyer said Nemmouche stole the weapons from a parked car in Brussels and planned to sell them in Marseille. He added that his client should not be extradited to Belgium to face murder charges because “nothing connects him to the murders.”

On May 24, a man entered the museum with an assault rifle that appeared to be an AK-47 and a handgun. He killed four people, two Israeli tourists and two museum staffers.

French police said on June 1 that they believed Nemmouche committed the May 24 murders at the Jewish Museum of Belgium and then travelled to Marseille in southern France aboard a bus. He was arrested at a routine customs inspection of the passengers on the bus, which left from Amsterdam via Brussels to France.

Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said Sunday that a video found after Nemmouche’s arrest contains his voice claiming responsibility for the attack and murders. Nemmouche had tried to film the attack, according to Van Leeuw, but the camera failed.

Nemmouche, who lived in the French city of Roubaix on the border with Belgium, had spent several years in a French jail for armed robbery. French authorities believe he left for Syria via Belgium to fight with jihadists in 2012, before returning to Europe.

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

Donor-Sperm Fertility Treatment in Italy Expected Mid-June

Follows Constitutional Court ruling in April lifting ban

(ANSA) — Rome, June 3 — Two months after Italy’s Constitutional Court lifted a ban on the use of donor sperm and eggs contained in a controversial law limiting assisted-fertility treatments, proponents said Tuesday that by mid-June, these treatments should be accessible in Italy.

Both public and private clinics will be able to offer fertilization treatment by mid-June, as the official journal of the courts is publishing the April 9 ruling by the Constitutional Court.

That struck down parts of the 2004 reproductive law, called law 40, that banned third-party donors in assisted fertility treatments. The entire law is now under court review.

“Like it was before 2004, it will be lawful egg donations, while any fertile man can donate his sperm”, said Filomena Gallo, secretary of the Luca Coscioni organization, which promotes freedom of scientific research.

A related legal hurdle will be dealt with on June 18 when the European Court of Human Rights hears the thorny question of using embryos for scientific research. The hot-button case of assisted fertility treatment had pitted Catholics against members of the scientific community who have called for a wider review of the 2004 reproductive law which among other things banned screening of embryos for abnormalities or genetic disorders even for couples with a family history of genetic disease.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2012 had already rejected the law, saying it went against two provisions in its convention for the protection of human rights.

Under the law, which was originally passed by a cross-party alliance of Catholics, single parents, same-sex couples and women beyond child-bearing age cannot use assisted-fertility techniques.

Law 40 also bans embryos from being frozen or used for scientific research and prohibits human cloning.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

France: The Spy Who Saved D-Day

by Dominic Selwood

Today is the 70th anniversary of the “D-Day” Normandy landings.

On 6 June 1944, President Franklin D Roosevelt solemnly declared, “You don’t just walk to Berlin”. He was speaking at a White House press conference, where he had just announced that Allied troops had landed in northern France…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

France: Missing UK Pensioner Found at D-Day Events

A UK war veteran who went missing after slipping out of his care home has been found in France, at celebrations marking the D-Day anniversary.

An 89-year-old British World War II veteran who went missing from his retirement home has been found 12 hours later in Normandy enjoying a get-together with his former comrades. The unnamed veteran had been told by his carers that he could not attend the events to mark the 70th anniversary of the landings in northern France…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

France: Thousands Gather on Normandy Shores to Recall ‘The Longest Day’

World leaders, military personnel, dignitaries and ordinary people descended on France’s northwest coasts on Friday to pay tribute to the heroes of D-Day and remember the fateful landings 70 years on.

The region of Normandy is organising 20 different ceremonies this year to honour the sacrifices of Allied soldiers and celebrate their victory over Nazi Germany, but Friday saw the biggest events planned for the historic anniversary…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

German Stasi Spied on 80pct of West Berlin Policemen

(AGI) Berlin, June 4 — East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, spied on 80 percent of West Berlin’s policemen according to a study published by Berlin’s Free University. The study reveals that of the 22,000 police officers serving in the city under western control, 16,000 were spied on with reports on their position, families, friends and habits.

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

Italy: Informant Says Berlusconi Ex-Undersecretary ‘Cosa Nostra’

Cosentino ‘repeatedly met with Camorra bosses, arranged bribes’

(ANSA) — Caserta, June 4 — The allegedly Camorra mafia-linked politician Nicola Cosentino, a former undersecretary to three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi, was “our thing” said a Camorra informant in a Caserta courtroom on Wednesday.

In a judicial meeting, Camorra clan member and informant Roberto Vargas described Cosentino as “cosa nostra” (our thing), a reference to Mafia membership and said that the politician had met with Casalesi head Francesco “Sandokan” Schiavone to talk about contracts and politics.

“Cosentino met with Sandokan after his release in 1993 and before the Spartacus raid (1995). The two met in the warehouse annex of Vicenzo Cantiello’s shoe shop. (Cantiello is a relative of boss Salvatore Cantiello). Cantiello told this in 2003 after he left his cell. Then in the course of the years, Nicola Schiavone (son of Sandokan) told me many times that Cosentino was ‘cosa nostra’“, said Vargas.

Vargas also said that Cosentino took care of the bribes to companies building the Sparanise power station near Caserta.

“Nicola Schiavone told me that we should not do anything because Cosentino had closed the deal with a bribe of 20 thousand euro each month, delivered into the hands of the cashier of the Nicolino Panaro clan”.

Cosentino was arrested in April along with 12 others for alleged extortion and unfair competition in favor of his family petrol-pump business in the southern Campania region Also on his rap sheet is a March 2013 arrest on suspicion of collusion with the Neapolitan mafia for alleged links with the powerful Casalesi clan whose death threats have forced anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano into 24-hour police protection.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Venice Mayor Arrested in Flood-System Graft Scandal

‘Scheme like Bribesville, only more sophisticated’

(ANSA) — Venice, June 4 — The mayor of Venice was among 35 people arrested Wednesday in an unfolding multi-million-euro corruption scandal, one that includes a Berlusconi-era minister in an alleged scheme that funneled bribes to political campaigns through the lagoon city’s flood-protection system over the course of a decade.

Lawyers representing Giorgio Orsoni were quick to deny charges against him, a member of Premier Matteo Renzi’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), who as a sitting mayor was among the most startling names to appear in case files that spanned 700 pages, outlining crimes ranging from bribery and extortion to money laundering by a panoply of public officials.

Prosecutors also requested the arrest of former Veneto governor and ex-minister Giancarlo Galan, currently a Senator for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI) party, meaning the Upper House will have to vote on whether to authorise the arrest.

At the center of the alleged bribery web is Consorzio Venezia Nuova, a consortium of private and government entities responsible for safeguarding the Venetian lagoon, which includes MOSE, a 5.5-billion-euro system of retractable flood barriers set for completion in 2016 after years of delays.

According to investigators, the consortium gave Galan a lump-sum bribe of 800,000 euros on top of one million euros in annual salary via Giancarlo Mazzacurati, the former head of the consortium, and Veneto Infrastructure Councillor Renato Chisso, between 2005 and 2011.

The case files call Mazzacurati, arrested last summer, the “grand puppeteer” of the alleged campaign-bribery scheme. Chisso was among those arrested Wednesday.

Even a top tax cop, now-retired Finance Guard General Emilio Spaziante, was promised 2.5 million euros to influence inspections and criminal probes on the MOSE flood barriers, according to his arrest warrant. Spaziante eventually received half a million euros which he allegedly split with two of the other people arrested, the warrant said.

The MOSE investigation comes as investigators probe other graft allegations in northern Italy. Last month police uncovered a suspected criminal network that organised bribes in exchange for contracts to work for Milan Expo 2015, or the World’s Fair.

Both cases have put pressure on Premier Renzi, who appointed an anti-corruption czar in response to the Expo scandal and growing popular disenchantment with the ruling class.

One Venice prosecutor said the case there involved some of the same politicians involved in the Bribesville probes of two decades ago, which brought down the old party system. “We’ve found the same suspects from the 1990s,” said Carlo Nordio, who played a role in those investigations as well. This time, the web of bribery in Venice is much more sophisticated, he said.

Police said the Venice probe has been in the works for several years, sparked by another investigation into alleged bribery linked to road work along the A4 highway. The head of the company involved, Lino Brentan, made a plea bargain in that case. On Wednesday he was among those arrested in the MOSE case. In the highway probe, police said they uncovered at least 20 million euros in slush funds in San Marino and Switzerland, allegedly at the hands of Piergiorgio Baita, a former manager of Mantovani, the principal construction firm involved in MOSE.

Also linked to the current probe, but not under investigation, is Altero Matteoli, a former Berlusconi transport minister.

The MOSE project, which in Italian is a play on the name for Moses, has been contested since its inception in 1984. Environmentalists say the series of retractable dykes will interrupt the natural ecosystem, and some experts believe it will fall short of protecting the city from disastrous floods despite the billions poured into it.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Carer ‘Robs 93-Year-Old, Buys Coke and Gambles With Loot’

‘Caught red-handed in 17,000-euro theft’

(supersedes previous) (ANSA) — Milan, June 3 — A young carer was in custody in Milan on Tuesday after being caught red-handed stealing 17,000 euros from a a 93-year-old woman and spending it on cocaine and slot machines. Police said the 26-year-old woman withdrew the money straight from the victims’s bank account in 35 separate transactions over the course of three months. The elderly woman’s son noticed the missing cash as he went to purchase the carer a ticket to Sardinia using his mother’s bank card, police said. After pinpointing the ATM machine the suspect tended to use, police set up a sting and waited for her to strike again, catching her in the act on Saturday. A search at the suspect’s house turned up a scale and 50 grams of cocaine, enough to charge her with intent to deal. Police also said they had reason to believe she spent much of the loot on slot machines.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Northern Ireland: Pastor Apologises for Anti-Islam Sermon

Belfast Pastor James McConnell has been released by police investigating comments he made about the Islamic faith during a sermon last month, which he has apologised for.

He went voluntarily to Newtownabbey PSNI station on Friday morning. Police enquiries are continuing. Earlier, he apologised for any distress caused by a sermon during which he described the Islamic faith as “heathen” and “satanic” and “spawned in hell”.

The evangelical Protestant preacher likened “cells” of Muslims in Britain to the IRA as he addressed a congregation at Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in north Belfast last month…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

On D-Day Tributes to the Greatest Generation: While Contretemps Over Prisoner Exchange Grow

The President was surrounded at the 70th Normandy commemoration with a contingent of surviving veterans, many in their 90’s. The President brought with him a young disabled US Army Ranger severely wounded by an I.E.D in Afghanistan, Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg. He had been an iconic figure at the 2014 State of the Union Address. He said in his D-Day remarks referring to those survivors who joined the American commemoration, “the legacy is in good hands”…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Rampant Islamic Jew-Hatred in Europe and the Brussels Jewish Museum Carnage

[…]

Nemmouche—who had joined the anti-Assad regime jihad in Syria— recorded a celebratory video which displayed the weapons he used for the attack (unwrapped from within a white sheet scrawled with the name of the jihadist group, “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”), identified him as the killer of the Jews, and proclaimed his desire to lay waste to Brussels. We also learned that Nemmouche, a recidivist criminal, during the last 2 years of a 5-year prison term before sojourning in Syria, was kept isolated because of his aggressive Islamic proselytism. He grew a beard, donned a djellaba (characteristic North African Muslim robe), and performed the five Muslim prayers a day. Nemmouche had no apparent interest in television while imprisoned until jihadist Muhammad Merah went on his killing spree—including, notably, March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, at the Ozar Hatorah day school, where Merah shot dead Rabbi Yonathan Sandler, 30, his sons Aryeh, 6, and Gabriel, 3, as well as Miriam Monsonego, 7, while critically wounding Brian Aaron Bijaoui, 15, who was protecting other pupils. Jubilant at Merah’s murderous exploits, Nemmouche asked for a television set in his cell. When the Merah affair ended, Nemmouche told prison officials to remove the TV…

           — Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]
 

Spain to Deport Pakistani Refugee for Criticizing Islam

by Soeren Kern

“Okay, you Muslims, use violence, but we will continue to make films. One day, one of us will lose.” — Imran Firasat.

Firasat argued that the expression of his views about Islam fall within the constitutional rights of free speech.

Two dissenting judges signed a statement in which they ask whether the source of the danger to national security is in the actions of Firasat or in the reactions of Islamic fundamentalists.

The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that a political refugee should be deported because his criticism of Islam poses “a danger to the security of Spain.”

The May 30 ruling, which upholds an earlier decision by a lower court to revoke the refugee status of a Pakistani ex-Muslim named Imran Firasat, showcases how the fear of Muslim rage continues to threaten the exercise of free speech in Europe.

Firasat obtained political asylum in Spain in October 2006 because of death threats against him in both Pakistan and Indonesia for leaving the Islamic faith and marrying a non-Muslim…

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UK: Friend of Lee Rigby’s Killer Jailed for Distributing Terrorism Material

Ibrahim Hassan, a friend of one of Lee Rigby’s killers, is jailed for unrelated charges of disseminating material which encourages terrorism

The close friend who first put Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebolajo on a path to Islamist extremism has been jailed for three years for encouraging terrorism and holy war. Ibrahim Hassan, also known as Abu Nusaybah, was arrested two days after the Woolwich murder and moments after giving an interview to BBC Newsnight about his friend…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Liquid Bomb Plotter Planned to Go to Syria on Stolen Passport

A liquid bomb plotter released early from sentence planned to go to Syria for jihad after hatching plot with man he met in jail, court hears

A terrorist who helped plot to blow up airplanes with liquid bombs tried to head to Syria on a stolen passport the year after being released early from prison. Nabeel Hussain, 30, was jailed for eight years in 2009 for helping to fund a major terror plot to blow up at least seven passenger jets over the Atlantic using explosives disguised as soft drinks…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Portsmouth Marks 70th Anniversary of D-Day Commemorations

PORTSMOUTH, Britain, June 5 (Xinhua) — Thousands of people from across Britain and abroad on Thursday gathered at the seafront of the southern British port city of Portsmouth to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: While We Turn a Blind Eye to Islamists, Our Children Suffer

by Charles Moore

Politicians are so busy squabbling over extremism that they are failing to tackle it

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the Home Office website published a letter from the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to the Education Secretary, Michael Gove. In it, Mrs May asked some rude questions about why his department had not acted earlier to investigate accusations of Islamist infiltration of schools in Birmingham.

This was heat-of-the-night stuff. One government department is not supposed to publish its attacks on another. The error was tacitly acknowledged: on Thursday afternoon, the letter was taken down from the website…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Source: Army of Serbia Does Not Have a Single Fighter Jet in Working Condition

Belgrade — During the recent floods, doubts appeared in public whether the Army of Serbia has enough capacity to fulfill its third constitutional mission to help the population during natural disasters, but the actual condition of the combat equipment raises the question of whether the Army of Serbia can perform its first duty — defense of the country.

A source of Beta agency, close to the Air Force command confirmed the report of Serbian daily Politika that the Army of Serbia does not have a single fighter in working condition because batteries for MiG-21 and MiG-29 were not purchased from Russia.

Although it is a purchase of the assets that cost tens of thousands of euros per set, a delay in the purchase occurred not only because of the lack of money, but also because of “very rigid and bureaucratized system” that indefinetly prolongs the procurement, although even Russian squadrons, that use MiG-29, purchase batteries on the civilian market.

However, the same source claims that the situation in aviation is so difficult that it goes beyond the issue of procurement of batteries, but threatens to cause elimination of an entire corps due to the lack of aircrafts, fuel, spare parts, and even trained personnel.

Although on paper Army of Serbia has two aviation brigades stationed in Batajnica, Kraljevo and Nis, and a dozen types of aircrafts and helicopters in use, besides Gazelle helicopters, all other types of aircrafts do not fly at all, or the maintenance is being performed only on few of them, insufficient even for the basic flight training.

Fighter Aviation stopped flying last month, but even before that the situation was not much better. Despite the fact that there are dozens of MiG-21 and MiG-29 on the Batajnica airport, in reality only three MiG-21 aircrafts are active (two single seat versions and one two-seater) and three MiG-29. Before the crisis with the batteries their activities were limited only to basic maintenance and attendance in air defense system tests, which are currently not performed, probably for the first time after World War II.

The other MiG-21 aircrafts are not flying because of the expiration date of the producer — 30 years since the introduction to armament.

Two MiG-21 had an extension of the period for another year, or two years, with assistance of the representatives of the manufacturer from Russia, but one of them will pass the expiry date as early as next week, after which it will be permanently grounded.

Although it has four MiG-29, left after NATO bombing in 1999, Serbia has rarely used more than three aircrafts at the same time, despite the repair that was done a few years ago.

FIghter Aviation of the Army of Serbia has aircrafts Orao and Supergaleb, but again only on paper, because Orao aircrafts have not flown for more than half a year.

After the crash of the aircraft Orao in Mrcajevci, in mid-November 2013, all aircrafts of the this type were grounded. The analysis of the crash and eventual system repairs of the other aircrafts have not yet been performed, so the aircrafts remain grounded.

A few days ago one Orao two-seater flied, but this was not an aircraft from the unit, but an aircraft that has spent few years in repairing, so now flight tests are being performed.

As for the aircraft G-4 Supergaleb, Army of Serbia has about a dozen aircrafts of this type, but the problem is that announced modernization of them is being prolonged for years, as well as digitalization that should enable their usage until 2020 and training of the future pilots for modern aircrafts.

In fact, with current possibilities and composition of the instrument panel, which are only analog, future pilots can not be trained for modern aircrafts which only have digital multipurpose instruments.

Therefore it was decided to carry out the modernization of the aircraft, especially the cockpit, but the deadline for tendering for the job expired at the end of 2008.

The basic trainer aircraft at the moment is still Utva-75, which is at the end of its resources, and which should already be out of use.

Instead of it Lasta 95 should be introduced, but the introduction of the aircraft is still delayed because the planned changes in the construction have not been carried out. It was estimated that these changes would prevent the repetition of the crash in which Major Goran Savic was killed on September 26 2012.

The situation is not much better in the transport component of the aviation because at this moment Serbia has only two operational An-26 aircrafts. However, repair resource is expiring this year on one of the aircrafts, and next year on the other one. Although both aircrafts could still be repaired, the budget does not include funds for it, so their fate is uncertain.

As for helicopters, which were very actively used during recent floods, their condition is very difficult both in terms of numbers and in terms of age.

Army of Serbia uses total of eight tranasport helicopters — two Mi-17 and six older Mi-8. The average age of Mi-17 helicopters is 24 years, while the youngest Mi-8 is 34 years old.

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

Activists Hijacking Feminism to Attack Israel at Women’s Studies Association Meeting

by Phyllis Chesler

The next National Women’s Studies Association annual meeting will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico on November 13-16, 2014 and is aptly named “Feminist Transgressions.” Indeed, the conference itself is “transgressive” in that it minimizes the cause of women to focus, yet again, on the cause of Palestine, aka the destruction of Israel.

This is only the latest, among many other examples, of the way in which Women’s Studies—an idea which I pioneered so long ago—has been Stalinized and Palestinianized. I wonder whether the forces of evil will try to pass a resolution in favor of boycott, divestment, and sanctions—not against Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, or Russia—but against Israel only.

The Association’s line-up of professorial and celebrity talent is 100% politically correct; the speakers are mainly African-American, African-Hispanic, and African/Asian Caribbean. While I may not agree with some of their views, e.g. the pro-sex “work” agenda which is being presented at this conference, I recognize that these speakers—my old friend bell hooks, Ana-Maurine Lara, Ana Irma Lassen, and Kamala Kempadoo—are all genuinely feminist.

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Caroline Glick: Ending Abbas’s Winning Streak

Mahmoud Abbas must be great at cards.

The PLO chief has no real assets to speak of.

He’s physically unattractive. He has zero charisma. He’s old.

And no matter how hard he tries, Abbas can’t do much of anything to dampen public support for Hamas or raise public support for himself. By many accounts, if elections are ever held, Hamas would win them in a walk.

As for money, beyond the PLO’s slush fund, all Abbas has is what outsiders give him. He is completely dependent on the Americans, the Israelis, the Europeans and the Gulf states. Without them, he would have nothing to buy people’s loyalty with.

If the money ever stops coming in, he’ll go broke and lose power immediately.

Militarily, if Israel ever stops lending military support to Abbas’s forces, it will be a matter of weeks, or perhaps days, before Abbas will be forced to surrender to Hamas.

And yet today Abbas is sitting pretty on the top of the volcano that is Arab politics, dictating terms for people with real power while playing mind-boggling radical politics. And he’s winning big.

This has been a great year for Abbas. In exchange for agreeing to humor the Obama administration with “negotiations” consisting of rejecting pro-Palestinian American peace proposals while refusing face-to-face contact with Israel for nine months, he got the Americans to force Israel to release several dozen terrorist murderers from prison.

He then abandoned the negotiations and effectively ended the peace process when he signed onto 15 international agreements as “the president of Palestine,” seeking to gain international recognition for a Palestinian state that is in a de facto state of war with Israel.

From there he went on secure his own power at the helm of Palestinian politics by signing the unity deal with Hamas.

It’s a win-win deal for Abbas and the genocidal jihadist group…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic Prayers to be Held at the Vatican

For the first time in history, Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran will be heard at the Vatican on Sunday, in a move by Pope Francis to usher in peace between Israelis and Palestinians…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Jerusalem Picked as ‘Islamic Tourism Capital for 2016’

Palestinian minister says decision by international Islamic group is another step to break Israel’s siege of Islam’s holy sites.

Jerusalem has been picked as the capital of Islamic tourism for 2016 by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, a Palestinian minister said Thursday.

Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority minister of religious affairs, said the decision was another step towards breaking Israel’s siege of Islamic holy sites…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

46 Killed, 103 Wounded in Violence in Northern Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 6 (Xinhua) — At least 46 people were killed and 103 others wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh on Friday, police said.

Seven people were killed and 46 others injured when two car bombs exploded in the village of Tehraoh near Nineveh’s provincial capital Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Ha’aretz Conspiracy Delusion Over Iran’s Nuclear Program

Last weekend , I read an incredulous example of Ha’aretz journalist Shemuel Meir giving credence to US conspiracy theorist , Gareth Porter over a new book in an interview article, “Was the Iranian threat fabricated by Israel and the U.S.?”. Porter is a self styled anti-war investigative journalist and conspiracies author on national security issues. Porter’s latest opus is, Manufactured Crisis, the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare . Porter is a mainstay at the anti-Israel Inter Press Service which is well regarded by the Islamic Regime in Tehran. That is reflected in funding requests by Trita Parsi of the Washington, DC-based National Iranian American Council or NIAC. Michael Rubin of the AEI commented in Commentary: The recent review and interview—written and conducted by Ha’aretz staff blogger and academic Shemuel Meir—treats with great credulity Gareth Porter’s recent book Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Nuclear Scare. Porter weaves together his narrative with questionable sources, fuzzy interpretation of sources, and cherry-picked data. The result is a forgettable tale easily refuted by legitimate sources and data Porter chose to ignore. Perhaps it is time for Mr. Meir and the editors of Haaretz to explain such omissions and to enunciate whether Ha’aretz is simply sloppy or has consciously sought to transform itself into a flagship for peddlers of hate.

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Touts French, German, And Libyan Suicide Bombers in Syria

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate that operates in Iraq and Syria, praised French, German, and Libyan suicide bombers in the latest release of its English-language magazine, which is called “Islamic State News.” The three suicide bombers are the latest foreign “martyrs” celebrated by the ISIS…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria: Gone But Not Forgotten

FOUR masked men raided Fateh Rahmoun’s house in Ras al-Hussein, a village in Syria’s north-western province of Idleb. Heavily-armed and wearing belts of explosives, one shot the 13-year-old boy who opened the door while the others stormed into the house shooting at everyone…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Putin: There Are No Russian Troops Abroad While US Troops Are Everywhere

Ahead of his visit to France Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an extensive interview to Radio Europe 1 news program author and frontman Jean-Pierre Elkabbach and anchor of the evening news on TF1 TV channel Gilles Bouleau covering burning issues from Ukraine and Crimea to the US foreign policy.

Asked about United States claims that it had evidence that Russia had intervened in the conflict in Ukraine by sending its troops and weapons, on Crimea and US foreign policy, Russian leader said:

“Proof? Why don’t they show it? The entire world remembers the US Secretary of State demonstrating the evidence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, waving around some test tube with washing powder in the UN Security Council. Eventually, the US troops invaded Iraq, Saddam Hussein was hanged and later it turned out there had never been any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. You know, it’s one thing to say things and another to actually have evidence. I will tell you again: no Russian troops… There are no armed forces, no Russian ‘instructors’ in southeastern Ukraine. And there never were any.”

“Speaking of US policy, it’s clear that the United States is pursuing the most aggressive and toughest policy to defend their own interests — at least, this is how the American leaders see it — and they do it persistently.

There are basically no Russian troops abroad while US troops are everywhere. There are US military bases everywhere around the world and they are always involved in the fates of other countries even though they are thousands of kilometers away from US borders. So it is ironic that our US partners accuse us of breaching some of these rules,” Russian president said.

“It’s a delusion that Russian troops annexed Crimea. Russian troops did nothing of the kind. Russian troops were in Crimea under the international treaty on the deployment of the Russian military base. It’s true that Russian troops helped Crimeans hold a referendum on their (a) independence and (b) desire to join the the Russian Federation. No one can prevent these people from exercising a right that is stipulated in Article 1 of the UN Charter, the right of nations to self-determination. In accordance with the expression of the will of people who live there, Crimea is part of the Russian Federation and its constituent entity,” Putin said.

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

Afghan Presidential Runner Escapes Suicide Blast, 4 Killed

KABUL, June 6 (Xinhua) — Afghan presidential front-runner Abdullah Abdullah escaped unhurt a twin blast on Friday in Kabul in an attack that killed four civilians and injured several others, sources said.

“Abdullah’s convoy was running from Ariana Kabul Wedding Hall where Islamic Unity Party, leading by Mohammad Akbari, endorsed him. A suicide car bomb went off close to Abdullah vehicle near the hall. A roadside bomb followed the first blast,” a security source told Xinhua at the scene…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistani Teenager Survives Attempted Honour Killing

Saba Maqsood drags herself from canal after being shot in the face by her family, stuffed in sack and left for dead

An 18-year-old Pakistani woman has survived being shot and thrown into a canal by her family for apparently marrying for love. The attempted honour killing came barely a week after Farzana Parveen was bludgeoned to death by her relatives in Lahore, a murder that stunned the world and exposed the brutal way many families treat women…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Japanese Warship Arrives in Central Vietnam for Pacific Partnership 2014

HANOI, June 6 (Xinhua) — Japanese warship “Kunisaki” arrived at Vietnam’s Tien Sa port in central Da Nang city on Friday to take part in the Pacific Partnership (PP) 2014 exercise, reported state-run news agency VNA.

The visit by Kunisaki (LST-4003), an Osumi class tank landing ship of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), will last from June 6 to June 15. It will be involved in activities such as advanced healthcare training, helping to repair healthcare units, cultural and sports exchanges in Da Nang city with a participation of some 400 people, according to VNA…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

On the March

White nationalists have called a rally in south Brisbane today. They huddle on one side of a street that runs along a park. Behind the park poke the cranes and skyscrapers of the city skyline. Getting wind of the rally weeks ago, a counter-protest has gathered on the other side of the street, to show support for multiculturalism. Two olive-skinned Greek men stand proud as a mob of angry white faces turn red, screaming and hectoring them.

Before we go any further, there’s something you need to know. The olive-skinned Greeks are part of the white nationalist crew. The mob of angry whites are the anti-racists. White nationalism is confusing in 2014…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria’s Second Highest Islamic Traditional Monarch Dies

(Reuters) — The Emir of Kano, Nigeria’s second-highest Islamic authority and a revered figure in the largely Muslim north, died on Friday.

Ado Abdullahi Bayero, who was on the throne for half a century, died peacefully in his palace at the age of 83, two palace sources told Reuters…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Kim Kardashian Lookalike With Pink AK-47 Accused of Being Head of Mexico Drug Gang

Kim Kardashian lookalike in Mexico, Claudia Ochoa Felix accused of being head of an infamous drug cartel hit squad

A Mexican woman who posts photographs of herself on the Internet wielding pink and gold AK-47s and designer handbags has been accused of being the head of an infamous drug cartel hit squad. The voluptuous Claudia Ochoa Felix, 27, has become famous in Mexico after using Twitter to show off her love of firearms and luxury clothes.

Mexican newspapers have suggested she runs Los Antrax, an armed enforcement wing of the Sinaloa drug cartel…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

German Parliament Discusses Asylum Law

The German government wants to contain the flow of asylum seekers from the western Balkans. That would mainly affect Sinti and Roma. The opposition has accused the government of poisoning the climate…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Over 2,500 Migrants Saved by Navy in 24 Hours

Authorities rescue 17 boats at sea

(ANSA) — Rome, June 6 — The Italian Navy said early on Friday that it had saved over 2,500 migrants at sea over the previous 24 hours. The Navy said it rescued a total of 17 migrant boats that had departed from the coast of North Africa. They were saved as part of the the Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) Rescue Operation that Italy launched after around 400 people were killed on two migrant-boat disasters in October.

After the Navy statement, the Italian Coast Guard said it had rescued another 300 people in a boat in trouble some 42 miles south of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

Furthermore, a merchant ship rescued 94 more and was taking them to Catania. Italy is having trouble managing after a massive increase this year in the already big flow of migrants who attempt the hazardous crossing from North Africa to Italy.

Last week Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said almost 40,000 migrants landed on Italy’s shores in the first five months of this year — almost as many as the total for all of last year.

Premier Matteo Renzi accused the European Union of looking the other way and not doing enough to help Italy after dozens of people were killed in two new migrant disasters in May.

“Europe explains everything about how to catch swordfish, but it turns its head when we go to rescue people in trouble,” he said.

The government has come under fire over the Mare Nostrum Operation, which some opposition parties say is encouraging people traffickers to increase illegal crossings.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Gains 13,000 New Citizens

Sweden has gained 13,000 new citizens in 2014, a total of 30,000 since National Day 2013, according to new figures from the Migration Board.

The largest group to become Swedish this year is originally from Iraq, followed by Poland, Somalia and Thailand. The citizenship approvals administered by county administrative boards to citizens from other Nordic citizens are not included in the figures.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/6/2014

  1. — A terrorist who helped plot to blow up airplanes with liquid bombs tried to head to Syria on a stolen passport the year after being released early from prison. Nabeel Hussain, 30, was jailed for eight years in 2009 for helping to fund a major terror plot to blow up at least seven passenger jets over the Atlantic using explosives disguised as soft drinks… —

    So . . . you participate in a plot to kill some 3,500 people and in the UK you get . . . five years in jail. Where is Draco when we need him? The easily-gulled UK prison authorities concluded that it was safe to knock three years off this guy’s sentence.

    This incident would be generate an interesting exchange in Parliament during question time. Or is it nap time these days?

  2. If anyone has read the Illawarra Mercury’s- On The March – article on the Brisbane demonstration by Australia First against multiculturalism and is still confused as to which group represented what, as described by the intrepid but naïve reporter at that event, maybe I can shine some light on it for you?

    1. The reporter exposes some naivety by trying to identify the different groups as described by attributing them to either the Left or the Far Right – there is no such thing as a ‘Far Right’ political movement as the only thing far right on the political spectrum is Anarchy – therefore, all groups as mentioned are from the Left.

    2. All groups as described have socialist roots. Australia First is recognized as a National Socialist political party and the Unionists are recognized as belonging to a union that is Communist – a scenario a little like the 1920s and 1930s Germany where the same thing was occurring on the streets except the roles were reversed. Both the Anti-fascists and the students are products of socialist universities that turn out indoctrinated and so called ‘educated’ useful idiots of Lenin.

    3. In short, all groups were representing the same totalitarian system while not being aware of how they are being used for the same purpose.

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