Tonight’s news feed includes most of the tips that were sent in today, but I know I missed a few.
The biggest news concerns the aftermath (including anti-mosque protests) of the mass arrests of “Australian” supporters of the Islamic State — which still has nothing to do with Islam.
Meanwhile, the United States and its allies began air attacks against ISIS targets in Syria.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, JP, Phyllis Chesler, Takuan Seiyo, 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.
Arab Bank Liable for Supporting Terrorist Efforts, Jury Finds
A federal jury on Monday found that Arab Bank was liable for knowingly supporting terrorist efforts that were connected to 24 attacks in the Middle East.
The closely watched case, in New York City, was the first civil case brought against a bank under the Anti-Terrorism Act to go to trial, and the verdict was expected to have a broad impact on similar legal efforts to hold financial institutions responsible for wrongdoing by their clients, even if the institutions had followed banking rules.
Arab Bank, a major Middle Eastern bank with $46 billion in assets, said that it followed compliance procedures, and that any transactions conducted on behalf of terrorists were executed in error.
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Treasury Creates New Hurdles to Inversion Moves
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on Monday announced new rules aiming to make it more difficult for United States companies to relocate overseas to lower their tax bills and wipe out the benefits for those that do. It is the administration’s latest move to sidestep a paralyzed Congress and tackle a politically charged element of President Obama’s agenda.
“While there’s no substitute for congressional action, my administration will act wherever we can to protect the progress the American people have worked so hard to bring about,” Mr. Obama said in a statement after the regulations on so-called corporate inversions were announced.
The Treasury guidelines are designed to curb inversions by limiting the number of companies that can complete them, and by barring them from transactions that make the practice profitable. But the changes will only affect deals completed Monday or afterward, meaning they will not reach back to any of the high-profile inversions, such Burger King’s takeover of Tim Hortons.
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A wanted poster was issued today for a nursing assistant described as a ‘person of interest’ in the case of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.
Detectives on Monday returned for a second time to search the apartment of Jesse ‘LJ’ Matthew in Charlottesville. It is believed that Matthew is the last person to be seen with the 18-year-old before she vanished last week.
Matthew, 32, is wanted on two counts of reckless driving for speeding away from the police station. He hasn’t been charged in the student’s disappearance.
According to Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo, Matthew walked into the police station with two relatives on Saturday but quickly left the station after asking to speak to a lawyer.
Detectives left Matthew’s apartment on Monday with more evidence, NBC reported, having originally searched the home on Friday.
A sheriff’s deputy was also parked outside his mother’s home today.
His wanted poster also revealed that Matthew had contacts and associates in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.
Miss Graham’s parents spoke publicly on Sunday for the first time since their 18-year-old daughter’s disappearance last week.
A $50,000 reward has been posted for information relating to her disappearance.
John and Sue Graham held hands as they walked in front of the news cameras for the first time since their daughter’s disappearance over a week ago.
Tears could be seen running down the Mrs Graham’s face and she appeared to be shaking…
| — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo | [Return to headlines] |
White House Intruder Was Arrested in July With Trove of Weapons
The man who scaled the White House fence on Friday and ran into the front door of the presidential residence had been arrested in July by Virginia State Police with a cache of automatic weapons, a sniper rifle and “a map of Washington, D.C., with writing and a line drawn to the White House,” law enforcement officials said.
During the summer, Omar Gonzalez of Texas was arrested driving a 1996 Ford Bronco after leading Virginia troopers on a high-speed pursuit along Interstate 81 in Southwest Virginia. After being stopped, police found the car filled with weapons and the map, according to a release by the state police.
In the car, officials found a trove of weapons, including a .45 caliber automatic with two loaded magazines, a Smith and Wesson 380 caliber automatic with two loaded magazines and a 12-gauge shotgun, according to an inventory released by the state police.
Officials said Mr. Gonzalez was charged with reckless driving, one felony count of eluding police and possession of a sawed-off shotgun.
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Woman, 21, Pays $20,000 to Surgically Add Third Breast in Desperate Bid to Become a Reality TV Star
A 21-year-old woman has paid $20,000 to surgically add a third breast in a desperate bid to become a reality TV star.
Jasmine Tridevil was rejected by 50 doctors before she found a willing surgeon who would perform the procedure which violates ethical codes, she claims.
Now, she has hired a camera crew to follow her around Tampa, Florida, documenting the ‘struggles’ she faces as a three-breasted woman.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Terror Muslims Rally in Toronto Against Radical Islam
by Phyllis Chesler
On September 21, 2014, Muslims Facing Tomorrow held a public rally in Queen’s Park, Toronto, on the steps of the Legislature, “in Support for minority Christians and other religious communities in the Middle East and the Muslim World.”
Approximately 125 people turned out for this Muslim-initiated rally against “ISIS…and for the minority communities of Christians and non-Christians who have been brutally attacked, killed, or forcefully converted into Islam under pain of death.”
Speakers included Raheel Raza, President of the Council, Vice-President of Muslims Facing Tomorrow author Salim Mansur, the Honorable Federal Minister of State for Multi-Culturalism, and former Member of Parliament (MP), Tim Uppal. In addition, four other MPs spoke: MPs John Carmichael, Devinder Shory, Brad Butt, and Bernard Trottier. Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a strong message of support.
In addition, Rev. Majed el Shafie, President and founder of One Free World International; Avi Benlolo, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, Arshad Mahmood, Director, Progressive Muslims Institute, Canada, Peter Bhatti, Chairman, International Christian Voice, Christopher Khokhar, son of the late Shuja Khokhar and Chairman of International Christian Awaaz, and Tahir Aslam Gora, TV producer, editor, and founder of the Muslim Committee Against Anti-Semitism—all spoke as well.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
15 People Have Been Tested for Ebola in the Netherlands: Rivm
Over the past few weeks, 15 people have been tested for the ebola virus in the Netherlands, the public health institute RIVM said on Monday.
They were tested after becoming ill on their return from an at-risk area, the RIVM said. ‘These are people who have gone to their family doctor and then been referred on for tests,’ a spokesman said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Alexander the Great’s Tomb Not at Amphipolis, Says Culture Minister
Greece’s Culture Minister Kostas Tasoulas said on Monday it is “impossible” for Alexander the Great to have been buried at a tomb in Ancient Amphipolis currently being excavated by archaeologists.
Although the experts searching the site insist that the tomb is from the Macedonian warrior king’s era, Tasoulas told Mega TV that people should not expect the dig to uncover the remains of Alexander.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Legoland Figures Boost Confidence for Global Expansion
It has been a successful summer for Legoland amusement parks, according to financial figures released by the parks’ owner Merlin Entertainments.
The company now has its sights set on Asia as the new frontier for expanding the Legoland brand.
The British company, which owns and runs the parks, released its interim management statement yesterday, showing like-for-like revenue growth of 13.8 percent for the Lego parks. The Lego-themed parks outperformed the other attractions making up the company’s portfolio by a significant margin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Copenhagen Sets Electric Car World Records
The longest electric car parade crossed the Øresund Bridge on Sunday and after arrival in Copenhagen, vehicle owners set three more records while they were at it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ED MILIBAND’S unease and wobbliness was plain to see when he was repeatedly asked yesterday whether he supported English votes for English laws in the wake of the decision to devolve even more powers to the Scottish Parliament.
He simply played for time by proposing yet another commission before saying, categorically, that he would not waiver from his decision — along with David Cameron and Nick Clegg — to maintain the discredited Barnett Formula, which continues to skew public funding in favour of the Scots, and at the expense of the English…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
EU Boosts Security After Jihadist Threat Report
The European Union boosted security at its Brussels headquarters on Monday even as authorities downplayed reports that jihadists arrested after returning from Syria were planning to target the building.
Belgian judicial officials said materials which could be used to make explosive devices were found in a raid in the Netherlands but stressed there was no proof of a plot to attack the European Commission building.
However extra security personnel were posted at the entrance to the Commission building in the EU district of central Brussels on Monday, checking the security passes of everyone entering, AFP reporters saw.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Tax Fraud Gangs Cost Norway Millions
Organized criminals from the Balkans are responsible for over half of the 1.1 billion kroner ($174 million) in lost tax and VAT revenue, the Norwegian government said on Monday.
The amount covers the last 18 months and tax officials see the threat from criminals overseas as a real concern for Norway.
One of the worst hit parts is East Norway which lost 185 million kroner ($29 million) Jan-Egil Kristiansen, head of tax crime investigation in the region, said to Aftenposten: “These are multi-criminal networks and the threat from them is serious.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Full-Galaxy Dust Map Muddles Search for Gravitational Waves
Planck probe’s survey of polarized light casts further doubt on BICEP2 discovery claims and could complicate Planck’s own plans.
A map of interstellar dust unveiled today has significantly lowered the chances that a South Pole telescope glimpsed the imprint of gravitational waves from the dawn of time, as claimed in March. The latest map, obtained with the European Space Agency’s Planck radio telescope, could however guide astronomers to the regions where they may have the best chance of detecting the primordial signal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Genes Influence Political Engagement
Your ideological position, and your participation in demonstrations and elections, are partly determined by your genes.
How politically involved you are is partly determined by something you have no control over: your genes. A new study by Swedish and American researchers suggests that between 30 and 50 per cent of political involvement can be explained by genetic factors.
“This includes ideological views, participation in political demonstrations and elections,” says Sven Oskarsson, a political science researcher at Uppsala University.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Police Arrest Isamic State Terrorist Suspect in Berlin
German anti-terror police in Berlin have arrested a man they believe had recently completed training at an Islamic State camp in Syria. He had reportedly also fought alongside IS militants.
A special unit of the German police force has arrested a suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) group, the attorney general’s office in Berlin has announced.
Police acted on an arrest warrant for a 30-year-old man with a Turkish passport who had a registered place of residence in Berlin.
According to reports in the German mass-circulation daily Bild, the man is believed to have completed weapons training in an IS camp in Syria between January and August. Bild reported that he had also fought for IS.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Three Iraqis Held’ In Swiss is Terror Probe
The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office is investigating some 20 cases involving radical jihadist terrorism, including four cases connected to Syria, a spokeswoman for the office told the Swiss News Agency.
The prosecutor’s office declined to give more details about the 20 cases on the grounds of official confidentiality, confirming only that the state’s prosecution authorities were investigating people who had travelled from Switzerland to conflict zones to take part in a ‘Holy War’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour to Ask Public Sector to Monitor Employees’ Social Background
Shadow equalities minister, Gloria de Piero, says Britain is still not class-blind and Labour will take action to widen opportunity
Labour will take action against class discrimination by asking public sector employers to monitor the social background of their workforce, Gloria de Piero, the shadow equalities minister, has said.
The senior Labour MP said the UK is still not class-blind and Labour would try to break open the closed shops of politics, law, journalism and business to people from all backgrounds…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mosque Leaders Lodge New Plan for Controversial Development
Fresh plans have been lodged for a mosque in Dudley as Muslim leaders reveal they have downscaled the size of the development.
Dudley Muslim Association said instead of a stand-alone dome, the building will have a curved roof and the minaret will stand at 61ft, not 109ft.
It comes despite an on-going battle between the association and Dudley Council over land in Hall Street earmarked for the development. A hearing is due to take place at London’s High Court next year…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Was Former CIA Official Morell Unaware of “Kidnapped” Iranian Red Crescent Workers in Benghazi?
One of the questions posed to former Acting CIA Director Mike Morell during the Q+A period at the Pensacola Tiger Bay Club on Friday evening, September 19th, “was the CIA aware of the arrival on July 30, 2012 of a 7-man team of so-called Iranian Red Crescent workers in Benghazi?” Morell issued a denial, saying he was “almost certain” there were no Iranian Revolutionary Guards or Hezbollah operatives in Libya. In Dark Forces, Timmerman discussed how the CIA Chief of Base (COB) in Benghazi had picked up chatter in Farsi between two Quds Force operatives they were shadowing. The COB had enlisted agents in the Zintan Militia that controlled the Benghazi Airport to track a seven man team working undercover as an Iranian Red Crescent Medical team. Timmerman alleges that the COB knew these were the “Iranian brains that would command, fund and perhaps actually carry out the attack”. The Iranian undercover Red Crescent team “disappearance” covered the period of the fateful attack that took the lives of the four Americans. It gives rise to questions about whether the COB and his agents lost track of the whereabouts of the Iranian team after their kidnapping. Further, there is the question about whether CIA analysts in Langley, Virginia, were engaged in completing the puzzle from published open sources, agent reports and intercepts of the Iranian and local militia communications to discern a picture of what were their intentions? Timmerman commented:
The Muslim Red Crescent Society has a long history of being used by terrorists, from Gaza and the West Bank to Lebanon, Somalia, and the Sudan.
For former acting CIA director Mike Morell to deny the CIA was aware of the Iranian Red Crescent Team in Benghazi, which was public knowledge ,Americans should find unacceptable in a senior public official.
Timmerman has briefed House Select Benghazi Committee Chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and the Committee’s Chief Investigator on his book, Dark Forces. Morell is looking forward to appearing under oath to set the record straight during the Select Committee deliberations. Perhaps he can refresh his memory about the Benghazi “kidnapping” of the seven members of the Red Crescent team and what they may have been involved in during the two months they were held.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
11 Iranians Arrested for Allegedly Sending Insulting Text Messages
Eleven Iranians accused of sending insulting text messages about Islamic republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini have been arrested in the southern province of Shiraz, according to newspaper reports.
“After monitoring social network applications on mobile phones like WhatsApp, Viber, Line and Tango… 11 people were arrested,” General Esmail Mohebipour, the provincial chief of the Revolutionary Guards, said.
“They recognised the error of their ways,” the Haft e-Sobh daily cited the general as saying.
On Saturday, Iran’s judiciary issued a one-month ultimatum for the government to ban such social networking apps, in a move that would boost existing restrictions on Internet use.
The ultimatum came after the discovery of messages criticising Mr Khomeini.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
130,000 Syrian Refugees Fleeing ISIS Seek Refuge in Turkey
Some 130,000 Syrian refugees have reached Turkey in the past four days after fleeing the advance of Islamic State militants, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said Monday, warning that the number could rise further as the militants press ahead with an onslaught.
Numan Kurtulmus said however, that Turkey was ready to react to “the worst case scenario.”
“I hope that we are not faced with a more populous refugee wave, but if we are, we have taken our precautions,” Kurtulmus said. “A refugee wave that can be expressed by hundreds of thousands is a possibility.”
The refugees have been flooding into Turkey since Thursday, escaping an Islamic State offensive that has pushed the conflict nearly within sight of the Turkish border. The conflict in Syria had already pushed more than a million people over the border in the past 3 1/2 years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘300 Soldiers Iraq Killed in ISIS Chlorine Gas Attack’
North of Falluja
(ANSA) — Baghdad, September 22 — A chlorine-gas attack by Islamic State (ISIS) killed some 300 Iraqi soldiers at Saqlawiya, north of Falluja, Iraqi MPs from the area said Monday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Flood of Syrian Kurd Refugees Enters Turkey
The number of Syrian Kurds fleeing to Turkey ahead of advancing “Islamic State” (IS) militants continues to swell. Officials fear that hundreds of thousands may end up seeking refuge across the border.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIL Fighters Disperse Within Syrian and Iraqi Cities to Evade US Air Attacks
Isil sends its wives and children to safety as residents flee Mosul and Raqqa, but Yazidi women among civilians lined up as “human shields”
Jihadist fighters have begun preparing defences against American air strikes and a feared land-based counter-offensive in Iraq and Syria, residents living under their sway have described to The Telegraph.
Fighters from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are mounting barricades, increasing checkpoints and booby-trapping the roads into Mosul in northern Iraq, they said. They have also begun sending their families out of the towns to safeguard them from the growing danger…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Onslaught Spurs Mass Exodus of Syrian Kurds
A Kurdish-dominated town that has provided the closest thing to a safe haven in war-ravaged Syria is the latest target of Islamic State gunmen as the group expands territory under its control along the Turkish border.
Kobani, spared the worst of the Syrian civil war, is under siege by the militant group, which is using tanks and artillery, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The fighting has forced 130,000 people to cross the border into Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said today in Ankara.
Kurds in Syria are the latest minority targeted by the al-Qaeda breakaway group, which has rampaged through the country and neighboring Iraq, redrawing borders imposed by colonial powers after World War I.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Urges Attacks on U.S., French Citizens, Taunts Obama
(Reuters) — Islamic State urged its followers on Monday to attack citizens of the United States, France and other countries which have joined a coalition to destroy the ultra-radical group.
Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani also taunted U.S. President Barack Obama and other Western “crusaders” in a statement carried by the SITE monitoring website, saying their forces faced inevitable defeat at the insurgents’ hands.
The United States is building an international coalition to combat the extremist Sunni Muslim force, which has seized large expanses of territory in Iraq and Syria and proclaimed a caliphate erasing borders in the heart of the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Over 130,000 Syrian Kurds Fleeing IS Enter Turkey: Deputy PM
ANKARA, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — More than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey since Friday fleeing violence of Islamic State (IS) militants who have seized dozens of Kurdish villages in northern Syria, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.
“The number of Syrian refugees have passed 130,000,” he told reporters in the Turkish capital of Ankara, adding that the number could rise.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement on Sunday that it has stepped up its response to help Turkey provide aid to the Syrian refugees who crossed into Turkey since Friday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar Will Not Host World Cup Says German Football Chief Theo Zwanziger
The 2022 World Cup will not be held in Qatar because of the scorching temperatures in the Middle East country, Fifa Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger said on Monday.
“I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,” the German told Sport Bild on Monday.
“Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions,” the former German football (DFB) chief, who is now a member of the world soccer’s governing body Fifa that awarded the tournament to Qatar in 2010.
Although wealthy Qatar has insisted that a summer World Cup is viable thanks to cooling technologies it is developing for stadiums, training areas and fan zones, there is still widespread concern over the health of the players and visiting supporters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria Slams Anti-Terror Int’l Coalition, Warns Against Arming Rebels
DAMASCUS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — Syria accused the West of lacking the “true will” necessary to confront terrorism in the region, criticizing the U.S.-led coalition that has vowed to crush the Islamic State (IS) armed group, according to the state news agency SANA.
“The U.S. and Western move to form an alliance outside the framework of the UN Security Council to fight the Islamic State does not reflect a true will to confront terrorism,” Syria’s Parliament Speaker Jihad al-Laham said on Sunday in a speech during a People’s Assembly session…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The Barbarians Within Our Gates: Arab Civilization Has Collapsed. It Won’t Recover in My Lifetime.
By Hisham Melhem
Arab civilization, such as we knew it, is all but gone. The Arab world today is more violent, unstable, fragmented and driven by extremism—the extremism of the rulers and those in opposition—than at any time since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. Every hope of modern Arab history has been betrayed.
With the dubious exception of the antiquated monarchies and emirates of the Gulf—which for the moment are holding out against the tide of chaos—and possibly Tunisia, there is no recognizable legitimacy left in the Arab world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Blair: People Should Listen to My Advice on ISIS as I Have Been to War in Iraq Before
The former Prime Minister says that the lessons he learnt taking decisions about the fall out from the 2003 war are worth ‘appreciating’
Tony Blair has said that politicians should heed his advice that British boots on the ground in Iraq should not be ruled out because he had experience of taking Britain to war in that country.
The former Prime Minister said people should “appreciate” that he has learnt lessons through going to war in Iraq and listen to his thoughts on tackling Islamic State because they are “precisely” the same terrorist forces he battled during the conflict.
His comments come as Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb, a former director of British special forces, said it is now time to “rule in” the idea of involving British ground forces in the conflict…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Angry Crowds Pelt Three Ministers With Stones
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, SEPTEMBER 22 — Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus and Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Mehdi Eker were attacked with stones on Saturday by a group of outraged people in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province due to a new wave of refugees from the Syrian district of Kobani, recently captured by the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). As Isil militants backed by tanks captured 16 Kurdish villages within 44 hours in Syria’s northern Kobani district, near the Turkish border, prompting civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the extremists sweeping across the area, the three ministers paid a visit to Sanliurfa’s Suruc district, where tens of thousands of refugees have taken shelter along the border.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. And Allies Hit ISIS Targets in Syria
The United States and allies launched airstrikes against Sunni militants in Syria early Tuesday, unleashing a torrent of cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs from the air and sea on the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, and along the porous Iraq border.
American fighter jets and armed Predator and Reaper drones, flying alongside warplanes from several Arab allies, struck a broad array of targets in territory controlled by the militants known as the Islamic State. American military officials said the targets included weapons supplies, depots, barracks and buildings the militants use for command and control. Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from United States Navy ships in the region.
The strikes represent a major turning point in President Obama’s war against the Islamic State and open up a risky new stage of the American military campaign. Until now, the administration has bombed Islamic State targets only in Iraq, and had suggested it would be weeks if not months before the start of a bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria.
The strikes come 13 days after Mr. Obama announced in an address to the nation that he was authorizing an expansion of the military campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
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China: East Turkestan: Uyghur Scholar Ilham Tohti Pleads Not Guilty
The trial of Uyghur economics professor, Ilham Tohti, began on Wednesday 17 September and was expected to last two days, though a verdict has yet to be announced. Mr Tohti is being charged with ‘fomenting unrest’ following criticism of the systematic exclusion of Uyghurs from enjoying the benefits of rapid economic growth in East Turkestan.
Below is an article published by RFE/RL
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
URUMQI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — A series of explosions in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region killed two people and injured a number of others on Sunday evening.
The regional government website said the blasts happened around 5 p.m. in several locations in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, including in front of a shop in Luntai County and the townships of Yangxia and Terakbazar.
The injured were rushed to hospital. According to the website, authorities are investigating the case and normal order has resumed in the areas.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Uighur Scholar Ilham Tohti’s Separatism Trial Ends; Verdict Next Week
China’s trial of a Uighur scholar on separatism charges has concluded two days of evidence, and his lawyer says a verdict in the case, that has drawn international criticism, might come next week.
Prosecutors in China’s western Xinjiang region said economics Professor Ilham Tohti, an advocate for the rights of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group, had promoted independence for the region on a website he managed called Uighurbiz.net…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Lethal Blasts After Chinese Clampdown in Xinjiang
Shanghai: Two people were killed and several more injured in at least three explosions in China’s troubled far-western region of Xinjiang on Sunday, state media reported, but gave few details.
The blasts came as China punished 17 regional officials and police “for being accountable” for a July 28 attack by masked militants that led to almost 100 deaths of police, officials and civilians, and for the subsequent killing of a pro-Beijing imam.
The government has blamed a surge in violence over the past year in Xinjiang — home to the Muslim Uighur people — on Islamist militants or separatists, who want an independent state called East Turkestan, it says…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Multiple Explosions in China’s Restless Xinjiang Kill Two, Injure ‘Many’: Government
A series of explosions in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang has killed at least two people and injured many, according to the local government.
A brief notice about the multiple blasts in Xinjiang’s Luntai county appeared on local government website Tianshan eight hours after the explosions happened. It said the fatal blasts injured many people, and that local police responded quickly.
The Tianshan report did not say what caused the explosions, or give a precise number of injured…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Double Standards So Plain to See at ‘Ugly’ Mosque Protest
By Scott Sawyer
HAVING gone to high school at a Christian school on the Coast more than five years ago, I feel I’ve had a decent exposure to some sort of religion. While I am proud to have never been affiliated with any religion whatsoever, I feel the need to make a few things clear.
Yesterday’s protest against the proposed mosque in Maroochydore was ugly and embarrassing at times. Listening to a man loudly label the Islamic faith as evil, while proudly pointing out he was a member of the Catholic Church, was a stunning example of ignorance…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
AUSTRALIA, we should be embarrassed.
It can’t be just me who watched with worry yesterday as Jacqui Lambie blundered and blubbered her way through her first interview with ABC’s Insiders host Barrie Cassidy…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque ‘Is Just Like a Church’
AN ISLAMIC expert has explained when a mosque is not a mosque — and the answer is not what you might think.
Sunshine Coast lawyer and author of the Holy Quran Simply, Haset Sali, said a mosque was a “place of worship”.
“The first mosque was very basic, very humble, it was just four walls,” Mr Sali said. “To ask ‘when is a mosque not a mosque’ is like asking when is a ‘church not a church’. Once a people adopt a premise as a place of worship, that’s their church or their mosque.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque Reaction Forces Comments Shutdown
ORHAN Dilbaz’s belief the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were “fabricated” prompted a mixed reaction from the Sunshine Coast.
But again, some bloggers took their response too far, forcing the Daily to shut down comments on its website…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Leaders Say Lambie is Clueless
PALMERS United Party senator Jacqui Lambie has no clue about sharia law, Brisbane’s Muslim leaders say.
SENATOR Lambie’s comments linking Islamic law to terrorism has outraged the Muslim community.
During an ABC television interview on Sunday, Ms Lambie said those who adhere to sharia law should get out of the country. When asked what she knew about sharia law, she said: “When it comes to sharia law, to me, it obviously involves terrorism.”
The Islamic Council of Queensland president Mohammed Yusuf says ill-informed comments like Ms Lambie’s only helped fuel intolerance. “It’s clear she has no clue about sharia law. What she said was laughable,” he said. “But it’s also these types of comments that can incite hatred.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
New Zealand PM Plans 2015 Referendum on Dropping Union Jack From Flag
John Key, who won a third term on Saturday, says he favours a silver fern on a black background, like that used by the national rugby team
John Key, the prime minister of New Zealand, said on Monday he would press ahead with plans to hold a referendum to change the national flag following his election triumph.
The centre-right leader said he wanted the ballot next year on whether to ditch the current flag, which features the Union Jack of former colonial power Britain in one corner…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
New Zealand Prime Minister Wants National Vote on Changing the Flag Held Next Year
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Fresh off a big election win, New Zealand Prime Minster John Key says he wants the nation to vote next year on changing its flag.
Key told television station TV3 on Monday that he wants a national referendum held in 2015. He first raised the idea of a flag vote in March. Key’s center-right National Party won 48 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election, giving it a third term in office.
Some in New Zealand consider the flag to be an unwanted relic from a colonial past, while others feel a deep attachment to it…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Out in the Bush, Abbott Attacks Britain’s Aboriginal Sins
Australian Prime Minister tells the Telegraph the impact of early British settlers was ‘all bad’ as he spends five days living on a remote settlement in search of reconciliation
Inside a small tent in a remote stretch of outback bushland, Australia’s prime minister Tony Abbott pulled his seat up to a portable wooden desk on which sat his laptop computer, deodorant, insect repellent and sunscreen…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Put Terror Convicts in a Cone of Silence
Editorial, The Daily Telegraph, September 22, 2014 12:00AM
GOULBURN Correctional Centre, known as Supermax, is Australia’s most secure prison. This is why it is home to several of the nation’s most dangerous convicts, including several who have been found guilty of terrorism offences. Despite Goulburn’s level of security, however, it now emerges that at least some of those convicted terrorists remain capable of communicating with jihadists in the broader community.
“They are kept in isolation but that means nothing in jail,” a high-ranking former official told The Sunday Telegraph.
“Messages are passed on in many ways. They are in segregation wings but can still communicate with the outside world. It is not hard because they still get visitation rights, which are their first outlet. They can do it through mail, which they are allowed to send and receive. It is scrutinised and sent to ASIO, but there is still risk. They also receive phone calls.”
As a first step, given Australia’s justifiably heightened level of terror alert, visitation rights, mail rights and telephone contact rights for these convicts must be suspended or withdrawn entirely…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Queensland Licences Scam Has ‘No Terror Links’
A QUEENSLAND fake driver’s licence scam has no links to terrorism, the state’s anti-corruption body says.
A PUBLIC servant in the Department of Transport and Main Roads is being investigated for allegedly issuing driver’s licences to people who knowingly gave false or misleading information during their application…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Abbott Delivers ‘Security Statement’ To Parliament
TERRORISTS in Syria have been urging an attack against Australian targets “for months”.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has revealed to Parliament that the major anti-terrorist raids across Sydney and Brisbane last week disrupted an Islamic State plot, to perform a demonstration execution on home soil, that had been brewing for months.
“For some months operatives in Syria have been urging their Australian networks to prepare attacks against targets here,” Mr Abbott told Parliament this afternoon.
“Last week, an Australian ISIL operative instructed his followers to pluck people from the street to demonstrate that they could, in his words, ‘kill kaffirs’. Consequently, within 36 hours, more than 800 police and security agents were deployed in Sydney and in Brisbane to execute some 30 search warrants.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Australians that the balance between freedom and security “may have to shift”, given the current “troubling” and “darkening” security situation.
Addressing Parliament for the first time since last week’s major counter-terrorism raids in Sydney and Brisbane, Mr Abbott said the Government would do “whatever is possible” to keep Australians safe.
But he said that vigilance would come at a cost…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘Unrest’ At Goulburn Jail Was Not Race Related, Say Authorities
Authorities have denied that “unrest” at Goulburn jail was a race riot, saying prison officers had to use tear gas on inmates after some of their good behaviour privileges were revoked.
The Daily Telegraph on Monday reported that Muslim inmates “tore apart Goulburn jail in a racially fuelled riot” on Saturday, carrying homemade weapons and yelling “Allah Akbar”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Weekend Clash Just the Beginning: Anti-Mosque Protesters
ANTI-mosque protestors have vowed to escalate the campaign following ugly clashes between them and pro-mosque campaigners on the streets of Maroochydore yesterday.
Insults were traded and tempers flared as about 500 people — most of them opposed to mosque plans — faced off outside the proposed site in Church St.
Restore Australia chief executive Mike Holt said the protest was not a one-off and more action would be taken until the mosque proposal was scrapped.
“There’ll definitely be more protests,” Mr Holt said. “There will be more — we’re just deciding what to do next. We won’t stop until we stop the mosque.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Gender Bias Has No Place in the British Army
The time is right for women in the British army to fight in close combat alongside men
SHOULD the ban on women in close-combat roles in the British army be lifted? The clock is ticking on this question, posed by the government as it announced an expedited review in May. The rethink, to conclude by the end of the year, is backed by General Peter Wall, head of the army.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour Opens New Front in Class War …
Millions of workers in councils, schools and hospitals would be asked what their parents did for a living if Labour wins the next election.
Equalities spokesman Gloria De Piero said too many careers were dominated by middle class and private school-educated people.
She said that, starting with the public sector, the first step to increase social mobility would be to force employers to keep records on the social backgrounds of their staff to prove they were not all from privileged sections of society…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Tim Blair
Shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, President George W. Bush established a protocol still observed by politicians worldwide more than 13 years later. According to the Bush protocol, any mention of Islamic terrorism must quickly be followed by a disclaimer pointing out that Islamic terrorism is nothing to do with Islam…
By the way, this column is nothing to do with Islam.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ripples From Dawn of Creation Vanish in a Puff of Dust
A sprinkle of stardust has probably skewered what looked like one of the biggest scientific results of the year. In March, the BICEP2 collaboration claimed to have discovered the first evidence of ripples in space-time hailing from the birth of the universe. Now data from the Planck spacecraft would appear to say it’s likely all they saw was dust.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Re : ‘‘300 Soldiers Iraq Killed in ISIS Chlorine Gas Attack’ This allegation quotes Iraqi Members of Parliament and is posted by the well known Italian wire news agency ANSA.
I seem to remember that when Bashar-al-Assad a secular Baathist leader of a country where Christians and other minorities have full legal rights and are employed in the highest positions in the State allegedly used sarin gas against his opponents it was not only on all the worlds media but the US was demanding that everyone join in airstrikes against his regime. I say allegedly for several reasons. Some of the claims came from unverified smartphone footage. We do not know who the persons with the smartphones were, their geographical location or their relationship to the Syrian rebels who stood to benefit from the Western airstrikes if they had gone ahead against Assad. Another dubious item is it is known the rebels also had supplies of sarin (rebels were caught with sarin gas cylinders in Turkey a few months earlier).
Despite all the above caveats most of the world’s Press treated Assad as guilty and Obama was screaming for airstrikes.
Now we have allegations of IS using chlorine (might be old Saddam era stock – several ex Saddam era generals are serving with IS as advisors and they might know where the caches are !). Presumably the Iraqi Army can count and would know if 300 of their soldiers are dead. Where is the Western Press coverage of this ? One Italian wire service report !
Why the silence. Could be a case of having been marched up the hill once over Assad’s ‘sarin gas strike’ the editors are getting shy of this sort of story. Or it could be double standards.
Let’s get it straight. IS has been armed by the US and the West in the case of the US and some other Western countries indirectly with the weapons first being given to ‘moderate’ anti-Assad factions or issued to the Iraqi Army who threw them away in their panic stricken retreat. IS has been financed by (among others) (NATO member) Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar etc etc.
It looks and smells to me awfully like double standards. Of the two options Assad or IS I would choose Assad any day. But Obama is too busy bowing to the Saudi King. Also Assad has committed a great crime by the standards of the US and other Western powers. For decades dating back to his father’s regime and the Cold War era Syria has been an ally of Russia. That alliance continues because Russia does not dump it’s former allies like the US does regularly. So double standard’s are OK ‘cos Assad is a (former) Commie ally’ !!
Re: “Woman pays $20,000 to surgically add third breast…” I once heard of a woman who had a third breast in the middle of her back. She looked odd, but was divine to dance with.
On the radio, literally minutes before I wrote this, was a Muslim apologist trying to convince the listeners that radical, violent Muslims constitute only a tiny minority of Muslims. Yet it’s always the “radical” Muslims who call the shots. The so-called moderate Muslims just go along for the ride apparently.
I wonder if there were Muslim apologists in 1683. If there were, the white Europeans wisely ignored them.