Anjem Choudary, a.k.a. the Ilford Firebrand, has been arrested by Scotland Yard officers on charges related to his involvement with the banned organization Al-Muhajiroun. In possibly unrelated news, Attorney General Eric Holder has resigned after almost six years with the Obama administration.
In other news, mujahideen for the Islamic State blew up the Green Church in Tikrit, one of the oldest churches in the world, completely destroying it.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, JF-J, KGS, Seneca III, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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1.4 Mn Children Live in Absolute Poverty in Italy
Child poverty grew 34% between 2012 and 2013
(ANSA) — Rome, September 25 — Over 1.4 million children and adolescents, or 13.8% of all minors in Italy, are living in absolute poverty, Save the Children said Thursday. The number of children unable to access a basic selection of goods rose by 34% between 2012 and 2013, the childrens’ aid agency added.
Child poverty grew most notably in southern regions, where 19.1% of minors were living in absolute poverty in 2013 compared to 13.9% in 2012. However the numbers also rose in northern and central regions, where absolute poverty respectively now affects 11.2% and 10.2% of children compared to 8.3% and 8.2% in 2012. The number of children living in relative poverty also rose by 13% to reach nearly 2.4 million — or 23% of the total — in 2013.
“If the latest figures concerning the number of children living in absolute and relative poverty in Italy are cause for alarm, then this is perhaps all the more true for the observation that government interventions to combat the problem have been deeply ineffective in recent years,” said Save the Children Italia Director-general Valerio Neri.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Gov’t Drafts Plan to Exit From Memorandum
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, SEPTEMBER 22 — Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was in talks with his aides over the weekend in a bid to finalize Greece’s arguments ahead of a crucial meeting in Berlin on Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from whom he hopes to secure a message of support ahead of the troika’s return to Athens later this month. Greek government officials have been hammering out a “road map” foreseeing the country’s swift exit from the so-called memorandum with the emphasis on reaching an agreement with the troika without delay so that attention can be focused on resolving political problems on the domestic front.
According to sources, the ideal scenario is that a basic agreement with the troika is reached by early December. The government might then find itself in a favorable position to tackle its key political challenge — garnering the 180 seats in the 300-seat Parliament that it requires to endorse its candidate for president. With its parliamentary presence at 154 seats, and leftist Syriza keen to force early general elections by blocking its candidate, the government is far from the enhanced majority it needs. But sources suggest that a deal with the troika, if reached in good time, could win round many of the independent MPs the coalition is counting on to build support.
If the 180 votes appear to be within reach, there is a chance that procedures for presidential elections will be launched as early as January, before President Karolos Papoulias’s term ends in February. The issue of potential debt relief will take longer to resolve and Athens and Berlin are said to have agreed to put the contentious issue on the back burner until the presidential election issue is resolved.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. To Resign
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. will resign his post, the Justice Department said Thursday. Mr. Holder will remain in office until a successor is nominated and confirmed.
Mr. Holder, the 82nd attorney general and the first African-American to serve in that position, had previously said he planned to leave office by the end of this year.
Particularly in President Obama’s second term, Mr. Holder has been the most prominent liberal voice of the administration.
The Justice Department said Mr. Holder finalized his plans to leave in an hourlong conversation with Mr. Obama at the White House over Labor Day weekend.
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Domestic Intelligence Chief: Germany in “Islamic State” Crosshairs
An increasing number of German jihadists have been drawn to the IS struggle in Iraq and Syria. The greatest fear for domestic security services is that they might carry out terrorist attacks on their return.
400 jihadists from Germany are already believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join IS, Maassen explains, and the number is rising.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europol in Biggest-Ever Crime Crackdown
(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Europol has co-ordinated the biggest-ever EU crackdown on organised crime, the pan-European agency said.
Some 1,000 people were arrested.
Thirty Romanian children were saved from trafficking, and 200kg of heroin and 599kg of cocaine was seized.
Police arrested 170 people in connection with people trafficking.
About 10,000 irregular migrants were checked as part of the operation, Europol said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Tomb’s Female Forms Hint Olympias May Lie Within
The gentle female sculptures found in the massive burial complex at the Kasta Hill site at Amphipolis, Greece, might depict priestess who took part in orgies and ecstatic rites while scaring men away with snake-filled baskets, according to a new interpretation of the finely carved statues.
If true, some scholars argue the tomb would belong to the mother of Alexander the Great.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Imminent’ ISIS Attacks on Paris Metro
As well as US targets says Iraq PM
(ANSA) — New York, September 25 — Islamic State is planning “imminent” attacks on the Paris metro as well as US targets, Iraqi Premier Haider al Abadi said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Thursday.
He said the French and US governments had been alerted.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Navy ‘Seize £100m of Cocaine’ as They Storm Aboard Yacht and Arrest British Crew
Three men, believed to be British, were being questioned by Irish drugs squad officers today after a yacht was intercepted with a suspected cargo of cocaine worth £100million.
The 60ft Makayabella was stormed by the Irish Navy 200 nautical miles off Mizen Head — Ireland’s most southerly point — in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
It was towed slowly to Haulbowline naval base in Cork harbour, arriving late last night.
Customs officials aboard the yacht Makayabella in Haulbowline naval base, Cobh, Co Cork after the Irish Navy intercepted the vessel suspected of carrying around £100million worth of cocaine
The cargo of drugs, believed to be about one tonne, remains on the vessel at the dock while the three suspects are being questioned by the Garda.
More…
•1,000 gangsters rounded up, 30 children saved from human trafficking and massive haul of drugs seized in Europe-wide crackdown on organised crime
•Rob Ford’s sister told police how she smoked crack cocaine with Toronto mayor during house party that sent him to rehab
•Airport worker charged with trying to smuggle almost 100 kg of cocaine into Australia in two kite board bags and golf baggage
•Dozens of landing strips used by cocaine smugglers are dynamited in drugs crackdown in Peru
•Vicious Mexican cartels are targeting Australian drug market because they make an extra $200,000 PER KILOGRAM of cocaine they sell here
•’Buy two grams, get the third half price’: Sydney socialite’s double life as a party drug peddler selling cocaine and ecstasy in Sydney’s schmickest suburbs from the front seat of her black 4WD
The men were taken to the Bridewell station in Cork city where they can be held for a total of seven days.
The interception followed intelligence from the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK and the French custom service, through the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre based in Lisbon.
It is understood one person was arrested in West Yorkshire in a follow-up raid by the NCA in connection with the bust…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Marine Latorre Begins Rehabilitative Therapy
Returned home on four-month leave from India Saturday evening
(ANSA) — Taranto, September 15 — Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre was set to begin his rehabilitative therapy Monday after suffering a stroke-like attack on August 31 while being detained in New Delhi.
The marine has living in India with his fellow marine Salvatore Girone, detained in connection with the shooting deaths more than two years ago of two Indian fisherman.
Latorre returned to his Italian home Saturday night after India’s Supreme Court allowed him a four-month leave for medical treatment with a signed pledge that he would return.
Italy has been fighting to have the two marines, who were on an anti-piracy mission at the time of the shooting in February 2012, returned home permanently.
Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said last week that the Italian government was ready to launch an international appeal on behalf of the two marines yet at the same time Rome still had a “duty” to continue talks with New Delhi to find a political solution.
Rome has protested the many delays in the case, which has caused major diplomatic friction between the countries.
It successfully fought to ensure New Delhi took the death penalty off the table and dropped the application of a severe anti-terrorism, anti-piracy law.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: PD Whip Blasts Grillo, Minimizes Dissent With Premier
‘Your populism is the real enemy’ Speranza tells M5S chief
(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Democratic Party (PD) House whip Roberto Speranza lashed out Wednesday against Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), after the latter called on “PD comrades” to stage a mutiny against their leader, Premier Matteo Renzi.
“Dear Grillo, your populism is the true enemy of the left,” Speranza tweeted. “(We) want reforms and rights for all. You are with Farage”.
Grillo forged an alliance in the European Parliament with euroskeptic United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, whom many accuse of being a racist for his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Speranza went on to minimize dissent within PD ranks on the premier’s Jobs Act, which includes changes to Article 18 of the 1970 Workers Statutes guaranteeing people unjustly sacked the right to their job back. The Jobs Act would change this for newly hired workers so that if a court finds they were unjustly sacked, they would get compensation, rather than being rehired. A minority within the PD, led by Renzi’s predecessor as party leader Pier Luigi Bersani, are planning to file seven amendments to the Jobs Act to stop Article 18 effectively being scrapped for new hires.
“Media coverage is light years away from the substance of our debate,” Speranza said.
“We want to work towards a unified position…that will benefit both the party and the government. A unified policy statement would lessen tensions and would be in Renzi’s interest,” he concluded.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Hero’ Upset by Transfer After Role in Concordia Disaster
De Falco being moved to desk job despite praise
(ANSA) — Rome, September 25 — Gregorio De Falco, the Italian Coast Guard commander called a “hero” for ordering the captain of the sinking Costa Concordia to return to his ship to help his 3,000 passengers, said he is being forcibly transferred to an administrative desk.
De Falco, who ordered Francesco Schettino to return to the cruise ship he crashed on rocks resulting in 32 deaths and plunging thousands into the seas off Tuscany, said that at the end of September, he will be transferred to a desk job after 10 years on the operational side of the Livorno port authority.
“What happened to me saddens me as the last piece of a journey that began long ago,” De Falco told ANSA, adding his experience will be wasted in administrative work.
“I’m pretty disappointed,” he added.
“I do not understand why they would remove an officer with my experience from operational roles and send to another assignment,” he said.
De Falco is famous for ordering Schettino to “get back on board, dammit” during the rescue operations during the January 2012 disaster.
Federico Gelli, parliamentarian with the Democratic Party (PD), asked Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi to explain the transfer that comes after De Falco served for 10 years managing the Livorno maritime port and region.
He praised De Falco’s work in helping to rescue passengers during the sinking of the cruise ship and said the move may be linked the ongoing trial of Schettino that has led to De Falco’s transfer.
Senator Maurizio Gasparri of the Forza Italia (FI) party said De Falco was a “star” on the night of the disaster and that he also wants an explanation.
De Falco said he appreciated politicians trying to get to the bottom of his transfer. The Concordia disaster occurred when an allegedly rash maneuver by Schettino resulted in the Concordia hitting a rock reef as the ship sailed close to Giglio Island to ‘salute’ local people.
Schettino, who continues to maintain the crash and subsequent deaths were not his fault, is on trial charged with multiple counts of manslaughter in the shipwreck that killed 32 people as well as plunging thousands into the seas off the Tuscany.
During the trial, De Falco described how he “urged Captain Schettino to get back on the ship but I did not succeed,” adding that he thought Schettino did not grasp how serious the situation was.
But calls to police from passengers told De Falco another, more grim story, he testified in court in December 2013.
“I called the ship because the situation seemed more worrisome than what they had claimed,” De Falco told the court. “It was only after this that they admitted there was a leak and not only a blackout. We then sent out boats and helicopters”.
He told the court that on the evening of January 13, 2012, “while the ship reassured us that all was well on board, the Prato carabinieri police told us that a relative of a passenger had called to say that there were no lights on board, that passengers had been told to put on their life jackets and that things were falling over.
“This was inconsistent with what the ship had declared,” he added.
“This made us think that the situation was more serious, (but) no one from the Concordia called us to ask for help”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The radical Muslim preacher was arrested by police this morning, after claiming Britain will “never defeat Islamic State by bombs from the air” and that further military strikes would be a “rallying call” for Muslims
Anjem Choudary, the radical preacher arrested by Scotland Yard officers as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism, sent a series of tweets shortly before his detention claiming that airstrikes on Islamic State were a “war on Islam”.
The extremist was one of nine men arrested this morning by the Metropolitan Police as part of a major Islamist terrorism investigation.
The men were detained on suspicion of being members of, or supporting, a banned organisation, a police spokesman said.
Al-Muhajiroun is understood to be the banned organisation in question, according to sources, and the police inquiry is also thought to be examining potential publication of illegal terrorism material.
Mr Choudary, 47, a lawyer, has established a reputation for being careful to stay on the right side of the law when he makes controversial comments about race relations and religion.
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UK: Anjem Choudary Among Nine Men Arrested by Counter Terror Police
Anjem Choudary, the radical preacher, was one of nine men arrested today by Scotland Yard officers as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism.
The men were arrested this morning on suspicion of being members of, or supporting, a banned organisation, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
Al-Muhajiroun is understood to be the banned organisation in question, according to sources.
Mr Choudary, a lawyer, has established a reputation for being careful to stay on the right side of the law when he makes controversial comments about race relations and religion.
He has long-standing links with Omar Bakri Mohammed, the hate preacher who was involved in banned groups Al-Muhajiroun and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Anjem Choudary, the radical preacher, was one of nine men arrested today by Scotland Yard officers as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism.
The men were arrested this morning on suspicion of being members of, or supporting, a banned organisation, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
Al-Muhajiroun is understood to be the banned organisation in question, according to sources.
Mr Choudary, a lawyer, has established a reputation for being careful to stay on the right side of the law when he makes controversial comments about race relations and religion.
He has long-standing links with Omar Bakri Mohammed, the hate preacher who was involved in banned groups Al-Muhajiroun and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
A Look Inside the Secret Deal With Saudi Arabia That Unleashed the Syrian Bombing
Saudi Arabia to “bless” US airstrikes and make them appear as an act of some coalition, is the removal of the Assad regime. Why? So that, as we also explained last year, the holdings of the great Qatar natural gas fields can finally make their way onward to Europe, which incidentally is also America’s desire — what better way to punish Putin for his recent actions than by crushing the main leverage the Kremlin has over Europe?
| — Hat tip: JF-J | [Return to headlines] |
Gulf States Declare Linguistic War on Islamic State
Refuse to call jihadists ‘Islamic’
(by Alessandra Antonelli) (ANSAmed) — DUBAI, SEPTEMBER 25 — While involved in efforts to destroy the Islamic State (IS) by providing air support and logistics to the US-led international coalition, Gulf states want the ‘Islamic’ part of the jihadist group’s name to be removed, urging that it instead simply be referred to as a ‘terrorist’ organization. Though initially cautious, the oil-rich monarchies taking part in the US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq are gradually confirming their participation in the bombings while distancing themselves from unyielding ideologies. “We are facing a particularly dangerous situation, in which terrorist cells have been transformed into armies stretching from Libya to Yemen,” Saudi prince and foreign minister Saud Al-Faisal said. These armies have nothing in common with Islam, noted Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, urging theologians and religious scholars to “denounce the corruption of the ideas and actions of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, or ISIS, a name previously used by the group, Ed.) that damage the image of Islam by distorting its message and making it seem a religion of assassins and decapitations.” The position was echoed by other monarchies in the region. “Every religious figure and every place of worship and study of the Muslim religion must clearly state that this is not Islam, and that these people are not Muslims. It is a deviant doctrine,” said Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s foreign minister. Jordan’s King Abdullah said that the jihadists should not call themselves Muslims. “To hear them proclaim to speak in the name of Islam is terrible and shocking,” he said in an interview with television broadcaster CBS. The policy not to call the name it has chosen for itself extends beyond the region.
The French foreign ministry, for example, has said that it will from now on use the Arabic ‘Daesh’ to refer to the group. The issue is under debate in UK media as well, and UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said on Wednesday during a Security Council meeting in New York — chaired by US president Barack Obama — that the group should instead be called the ‘non-Islamic State’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: ISIS Blow Up Tikrit’s Green Church
‘Completely destroyed’
(ANSA) — Cairo, September 25 — Islamic State (ISIS) militants have “completely destroyed” the iconic Green Church in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, the MENA news agency reported Thursday, citing Iraqi security sources.
The Islamists packed the church — one of the oldest Christian monuments in the Middle East — with explosives before detonating them.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Is the US Going to Save Syrian Kurds and Others in Besieged Kobani?
Upwards of 400,000 Syrian Kurds, Turkmen, and Christians are besieged in Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) in Syria’s north closed off from the Turkish border crossing. They are ringed by tanks, mortars and artillery, some of it American equipment which was captured when Iraqi forces fled before the ISIS assault on Mosul in Iraq. There is also Russian equipment captured from Assad forces. As we now know, the ISIS military command structure is led by former Ba’athist officers of the late Sadaam Hussein. Hence we are dealing with the equivalent of at least a reinforced division headed by experienced military. While the US and the coalition of five regional Arab sunni states have struck at targets in Raqqa, near Aleppo, the Deir es-Zor oil fields and refineries and the open Syrian border crossings, the possible fall of Kobani would create a massive humanitarian disaster surpassing Sinjar and Mosul in Iraq. With no forward air controllers on the ground in the vicinity of Kobani, it is unlikely that US/Arab coalition air contingents, even with precision GPS guided weapons, could provide close air support to attack ISIS military strong points. Moreover, should ISIS forces penetrate Kobani, they would have the cover of an urban center to slaughter the encircled population. Syrian Kurds and other regional Kurdish fighters probably lack the anti-tank, counter-battery detection and weapons to stave off the siege. The surrounded population lacks adequate food and water as well. This is the air mission of the day. It is also the diplomatic mission of the day to force the Turks to open a humanitarian corridor to alleviate the looming debacle. However, as we come to learn with this White House, politics count. That along with support of the very extremists that the President spoke of in his UN address yesterday.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
ISIL: Turkey to Build ‘Camp’ For Syrian Refugees’ Cattle
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, SEPTEMBER 24 — Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) is planning to build a ‘camp’ for cattle that were left on the Syrian side of the border by refugees fleeing jihadi militants as Anadolu Agency reported. Many Syrians who fled the clashes between Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces in Rakka’s Tel Abyad district, had to leave their cattle, sheep and goats in Syria, but have urged AFAD to take measures to rescue them. AFAD head Faruk Oktay said they were now working to designate an area on the border where the animals can be safely kept. “We don’t pay attention only to the humanitarian side of the incident. There is a mined area on the other side of the border and many animals are waiting there.
We want to help Syrians who want to come here with their animals, and it is a problem to leave the animals there. They can die of hunger and thirst,” Oktay said, stressing that officials from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock were working on the project. “We are building an area where their needs can be provided for,” he said, also underlining that all the animals will be comprehensively examined and “all necessary measures” will be taken against possible diseases.
(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Planned Attacks on Subways in U.S., Paris: Iraq Prime Minister
The Associated Press said newly installed Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had revealed the alleged scheme.
The Iraqis have uncovered a plot to attack American and Paris subways.
The source of the Associated Press report Thursday was newly installed Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Details were scarce about the alleged scheme to cause mayhem in the two countries that have been leading the charge against the murderous Islamic State militants.
The revelation came hours after Abadi met with President Obama to discuss the ongoing bombing campaign against ISIS, a murderous Muslim militant group that has gobbled up huge swaths of Iraqi and Syrian terrority.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Makes 3-6 Mln Dollars Per Day From Oil Revenue
Jihadists control about 11 wells
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — Eleven oil wells in Iraq and Syria are believed to bring in over three million dollars per day to Islamic State (IS) coffers.
Israeli intelligence sources claim that the amount may be higher, as much as six million dollars per day. This is the reason behind the US airstrikes Wednesday evening on oil installations in the Deir Az-Zor province, eastern Syria. The ‘Islamic Caliphate’ proclaimed by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi uses the funds — which make it the largest terrorist economic powerhouse ever — to stock up on weapons, pay its fighters well and buy off local Sunni tribes. IS controls four of the five main oil fields in Deir Az-Zor, the region with the most energy resources in Syria.
By selling oil at sharply reduced prices, say several sources in Syria, IS has been able to secure the support of armed tribal clans in both Deir Az-Zor and Raqqa, the only Syrian province entirely in its hands. In the Himrin region of Iraq’s Diyala province (near the Iranian border) alone, IS is thought to be earning 600,000 dollars per day, the mayor of a city in the region, Oday Al-Khadran, stated in recent days. Khadran said that the jihadists fill about 100 tankers of oil per day and deliver it “to ruthless retailers in Mosul or Syria. Here it is sold to foreign mediators at some 4,000 dollars for each tanker, some 80% less than market prices in Europe”.
The smugglers are then believed take it in several different directions — to Turkey, Iraq or Syria — but the end destinations are unknown.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Reason Five Arab Countries Teamed up With Obama
[…]
The real reason for the war in Syria is from September 3, 2013. A natural gas pipeline through Syria would break the Russian monopoly in Europe so this little “war” against the JV team could easily escalate into World War III under the auspices of the weakest US commander in chief in our nation’s history. As winter approaches, watch for the ramifications in Ukraine as their people start to freeze. Literally. If Russia limits or raises the price of energy to Europe, their economy will collapse. This war is about Europe’s energy supply.
| — Hat tip: JF-J | [Return to headlines] |
Italy, Europe ‘Won’t Freeze’, Russian Ambassador Says
Gas companies are ‘reliable’ despite Ukraine crisis
(ANSA) — Turin, September 25 — Italy and Europe are not going to freeze this winter as a result of interruptions to gas supplies caused by the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov said Thursday.
“Our energy companies are reliable, Italy and Europe won’t freeze,” said Razov during a seminar organised by credit institution Intesa Sanpaolo and the association Know Eurasia in Turin. “Everyone is concerned about the supply of gas, but it must not be forgotten that Russia guarantees energy security in Europe and, as far as Italy is concerned, has deep trade relations, a long history of partnership that I hope will continue,” he said.
Strained relations between Moscow and Kiev over the ongoing pro-Russia separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine have raised fears of a new ‘gas war’ between the neighbouring countries, with consequences for supplies to Europe. Russian gas travels to Europe via a pipeline that passes through Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Rawalpindi: Christian Leader Accused of Blasphemy Murdered in Prison
The 42-year old Reverend Zafar Bhatti, President of the Jesus World Mission, was accused (on false charges) of violating the “black law”. He was shot to death died in his cell. In recent weeks he had been subjected to threats from prison guards and fellow prisoners. AsiaNews Catholic sources promise “legal battle” for justice.
Rawalpindi (AsiaNews) — There has been yet another case of an extra-judicial murder in Pakistan, this time involving a Christian leader who was falsely imprisoned years ago on blasphemy charges. The 45 year old Reverend Zafar Bhatti’s lifeless body was found this morning in his cell in the Adyala prison Rawalpindi. The past and president of the Jesus World Mission had been under investigation since July 2012, for having allegedly violated the “black law”, although there was no evidence to prove his guilt.
Catholic sources in Rawalpindi, speaking on condition of anonymity to AsiaNews of this “terrible story” say legal action “will be publically taken as soon as the autopsy results are in”. The sources add that they are also demanding greater protection for those who are on trial for blasphemy. Associations and human rights activists are calling for a thorough investigation to shed light on yet another act of “barbarism” in Pakistan.
The Rev. Bhatti was a native of Karachi, but in 2010 moved to Lahore’s Nawaz Sharif colony where he lived for two years. He worked extensively in defense of the rights of Christians and religious minorities. On 10 July 2012, he moved with his family, to the capital Islamabad. The next day, surprisingly, a complaint against him was lodged with the police in New Town, Rawalpindi, by Ahmed Khan, vice-secretary of the Islamic movement Jamat Ehl-e-Sunnat.
According to the police report, Khan received text messages containing offensive language towards Muhammad’s mother from a visible number, but not among his contacts. He went to the police, threatening to rouse the extremist wing if they did not open an investigation for alleged blasphemy under section 295-C of the Penal Code.
There are many unclear aspects to the case including the charges against the Christian pastor. By law, anyone who violates Articles 295 B and C of the Code of Criminal Procedure also risks the death penalty. However, the offense against the prophet’s mother is governed by section 295 A and provides for milder punishment. On July 16, officials arrested Bhatti and his sister-in-law Nasreen Bibi, and during the pre-trial detention, subjected him to torture and abuse to extort a confession, which he never made because he always indignantly rejected the accusations declaring himself innocent.
During the investigation it was found that the phone number belonged to Ghazala Khan, cousin of Christian leader and collaborator within his association, who also ended up on trial for blasphemy. In December 2012, the woman was released on bail, with the obligation presenting herself at court during the hearings; in recent months, activists and organizations have launched appeals for the trail to take place in prison, for fear of attacks against the defendants who were under constant threat.
However, attempts to pressure authorities were not enough and last night Rev. Bhatti was killed, reportedly shot to death by the prison officers responsible for his security. In recent weeks he had told his family several times that he feared for his life not only from the other prisoners, but the same prison officers.
With a population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim), Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest Muslim nation after Indonesia.
About 80 per cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6 per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per cent).
Scores of violent incidents have occurred in recent years, against entire communities (Gojra in 2009, and Joseph Colony, Lahore, in March 2013), places of worship (Peshawar, September last year) and individuals (Sawan Masih, Asia Bibi, Rimsha Masih and Robert Fanish Masih, who died in prison), often perpetrated under the pretext of the country’s blasphemy laws.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: New Attacks in Xinjiang, 12 Dead and Over 100 Injured
The attacks targeted government buildings and police stations in the Bugur county. Chinese authorities blame separatists from the Uyghur minority, who have long complained of being subjected to ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and social boycott.
Urumqi (AsiaNews / RFA) — At least 12 people are dead and over 100 wounded following a series of bomb attacks against government buildings and police stations in Bugur county (Xinjiang region). The attacks date to September 21, but details only emerged today. The police suspect that the bombs were the work of separatists from the Uyghur minority, who have long complained of being subjected to ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and social boycott.
Victims include three policemen and the seven attackers. All of these died in the attack on a police station in Yengisar. The other cities affected are Bugue and Terekbazar, but the official number of the victims is not yet known.
Bugur County Hospital has admitted the people with serious injuries. “There are at least 100 — says a nurse — because the beds are full”. Patients being treated include 20 policemen and a man suspected of being part of the group of attackers.
The Xinjiang region is one of the most turbulent in all of China. Its Uyghur Muslim minority, who number about nine million, have long sought independence from China. The central government, for its part, has brought in hundreds of thousands of settlers to make Han Chinese the dominant ethnic group. At the same time, it has severely curtailed Muslim religious worship as well as the teaching of the local language and culture.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Many Asylum-Seekers Try to Pass Themselves Off as Children to Gain Entry
More than half of the asylum-seeking unaccompanied ‘children’ who arrived in Denmark in 2011 and 2012 were actually over 18 and therefore not children after all.
According to state medical examiners, 327 out of the 637 who applied for asylum between 2011 and 2012 lied about being under 18.
Unaccompanied children get more benefits and have an easier time having their asylum applications approved.
The police and the immigration services, Udlændingestyrelsen, use medical examiners from Retsmedicinsk Institut to examine unaccompanied children to establish their ages by x-raying their bones and teeth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Mayor Says All Neighborhoods Must Take in War Refugees
Including upscale ones ‘like Parioli’ says Marino
(ANSA) — Rome, September 25 — Mayor Ignazio Marino said Thursday he will redistribute a total of 7,400 refugees and asylum seekers in a more equal way among Rome’s neighborhoods and outlying villages.
“Of the total, 500 people were assigned to (the village of) Corcolle, while other neighborhoods don’t have any refugee reception centers,” Marino said.
“I’m thinking of the (wealthy) Parioli neighborhood, for example”.
The mayor said he has requested an overhaul of the refugee reception and distribution plan.
“We need to find solutions that won’t add urban disruption to the difficulties of those fleeing from war zones,” he said.
Authorities are weighing the possibility of offering citizens 30 euros a day to host or foster a refugee child or adult, Marino has said.
An estimated 150,000 refugees fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East are expected to reach Italy by the end of the year, according to the interior ministry.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Approximately 2.5 million immigrants from “predominantly Muslim countries” reside inside the U.S. right now, a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies found.
The four-page report, which details which countries and world regions from which immigrants in the U.S.—both legal and illegal—came to this country, found that since 2000 nearly a million more immigrants from such Muslim countries came to the U.S.
In 2000, there were 1,518,755 immigrants from Muslim countries in the U.S. In 2010, That number stood at 2,184,664, and in 2013 it stands at 2,480,407.
Between 2010 and 2013, there was actually a greater increase in the number of immigrants from the Middle East than from Central America.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Immigrant Population Hits All-Time High: 41.3 Million People
By Ryan Lovelace
The number of legal and illegal immigrants living in the United States reached an all-time high, at 41.3 million people, in 2013, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
The U.S. immigrant population has doubled since 1990, while the general population has risen just over 20 percent, and quadrupled since 1970, while the general population has risen just over 50 percent since then. The greatest increases over the last three years in the immigrant population over the last three years, between July 2010 and July 2013, came not from Latin America from the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean.
The number of immigrants from Mexico and Europe living in the U.S. has actually declined slightly since 2010, but Mexicans still make up the largest immigrant population in the United States, with 11.6 million legal and illegal immigrants residing here.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anjem Choudary, the radical preacher arrested by Scotland Yard officers as part of an investigation into Islamist terrorism, sent a series of tweets shortly before his detention claiming that airstrikes on Islamic State were a “war on Islam”.
I hope they throw away the key and that this evil traitor never again sees the light of day. I’d like to see him sent to Guantanamo Bay but its my guess that he will walk very soon. He always has.
At least he acknowledged that the Islamic State is, um…… Islamic!
Well, I would like to see him deported to his favorite Islamic country of choice along with his entire family. Never to return again.
Who was the guy that was living in Lebanon that tried to get on to a UK rescue boat? Was it Mr. Choudary?
‘Danskere skammer sig skam ikke’
…with about this meaning:
‘Danes do not feel ashamed for not being shameful’
– – – – –
Martin Führ, Institut forKommunik
Center for Developmental & Applied Psychological Science
Aalborg University
http://vbn.aau.dk/services/protected/clippingPrivateUrl?id=40332241&index=0ation
http://vbn.aau.dk/da/clippings/danskere-skammer-sig-skam-
ikke(7bab0b7d-eb24-47eb-9f8c-2bae9bcfac31).html
– – – – –
summery:
Humor researcher and psychologist Martin Führ at the Aalborg University has studied how sensitive the Danes are to the scorn of others. He has done so by measuring a particular social phobia called gelotofobia, which means that one fears the ridicule of others and consider it humiliating. Gelos is Greek for laughter, and according to this study from 2010 in 72 countries, humor researcher and psychologist Martin Führ and his colleagues have established that the Scandinavians are the least gelotofobic peoples in the world.
Least afraid of being laughed at are the Danes – only 1.67 percent of those being investigated by Führ were considered to be gelotofobic. In comparison, between 11 and 13 percent of British, Germans and Spaniards are gelotofobic, and in Asia and the Middle East the figures are as high as one in six up to one third of the citizens. Muslims in the Middle East – with 33 percent, is the most gelotofobic people in this world! Exactly where (native) Swedes ended up on the list is not clear.
Thus Denmark is one of the nations in the world, that is the least gelotofobic. – The results suggest that in countries where the feeling of shame is used as a social or societal rule, there are a very large number of gelotofobic people in comprison to in “open” societies.
A person suffering from gelotofobia is touchy and has a difficult to endure jokes, not just those that they consider concerning themselves. Gelotofobs takes sarcasms and ironies very seriously. The researchers’ conclusion is that the more open a society is, the less gelotofobic the citicens are. In societies that use shame as a social and societal precept, gelotofobia is significantly larger.
The Danish researcher Martin Führ noted that this means that those that take with them such a set of values to the Scandinavian countries, will find these nations shamelessly. It was not particularly surprising that the Muslims in the Middle East reacted so violently to Kurt Westergaard’s image of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban – they simply lack self-irony.
Muslim culture’s major focus on honor and shame creates low self-esteem and a constant fear of appearing ridiculous. The explanation can be found in both the Qur’an and the Hadiths, for example vers 22.31: “Do not think that God’s message is something you can joke about!” And since everything is from Allah, it is easy to get wrong.
Here is another verse 49.11: “Oh, you who believe! Men should not make fun of other men – it can happen that those who they make fun of are better than themselves. And women should not make fun of other women – it can happen that those who they make fun of are better than themselves. And do not slander one another and do not give each other shameful nicknames; it is [filthy], believers in between, to use nicknames that are reminiscent of sin and depravity, and those who [are behaving so and] do not regret it are guilty of a serious injustice.”
The more we can learn about the age of our world; how long humans have been around; and our development as a animal species over time, the more we are able to explain our world without religion. We can enhance our awareness in this by continuing to push sciences, and archeology, and history. The more we learn about ourselves, the closer to the truth we will be.
Rather, the more convinced we are that we ‘know ourselves’, the more distant we are from (eg unaware of) the truth–and the more of a danger we are to ourselves.
Romans Chapter 1.
Read it. Better yet, memorize it. It’s in the Bible, the New Testament.
Was for anonymous. Sorry Steven.
It’s okay. I abide by the TANAKH….the Hebrew Bible.
I’m sure you mean well, Harriet, but asking people repeatedly to read something, which they find illogical is unlikely to work- indeed may simply put their backs up, which is hardly your intention, I’m sure.
Verse sixteen, by the way, says the Gospel is “…the saving power of God for everyone who has faith- the Jew first, but the Greek also…” Paul may mean that the Jews were the first to hear the Gospel, but I’d read it that God plays favourites (as in “The Muslims are the best of people”), which is unfair, so I’m afraid he’s disqualified himself.
“A thinking that is not suspicious of thought has not yet begun to approach thought.”
Eric will be remembered as Obama’s place “Holder” with the question that is just begging to be asked, “How much of what he did was Eric and how much was O’bama?”
Supreme Court next for Holder?
Paul Golding has an interesting take on the recent arrests in the U.K. by Central Terrorism Command of Choudary and friends, with his opinion on the reasons behind them, at http://www.britainfirst.org .Vlad Tepes also put Paul’s speech up at his blog.