Illegal migrants staying at the makeshift camp near Calais are complaining about the blandness of the food being given to them. A charitable organization that handed out meals to the asylum seekers had to cease operations after residents of the camp refused to eat their food, because it was not spicy enough.
In other news, Israel responded to an attack that wounded several of its soldiers by shelling the part of Lebanon where the attack originated. Hezbollah have claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred near Shebaa Farms in the Golan Heights. The incident had nothing to do with Islam.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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Berlin Backs Renzi on Jobs Act
But can’t comment on merits
(ANSA) — Berlin, October 7 — The German government supports Italian Premier Matteo Renzi’s controversial Jobs Act aimed at freeing up the labour market, a government source said Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s EU employment and growth summit in Milan. But Berlin “does not express judgements” on the parliamentary dynamics of a fellow EU member State or on the merits of the reform, the source said.
The Jobs Act scaling back job protection for new hires on long-term contracts and upping provisions for temps goes to a confidence vote Wednesday amid a rift in renzi’s Democratic Party.
Renzi wants to barter reforms for EU permission for greater flexibility in spending to try to lift Italy out of recession.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Chief Economist Defends ECB Plans to Buy ABS
Blanchard said program can ‘make a difference’
(ANSA) — Washington, October 7 — The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday defended a plan by the European Central Bank (ECB) to purchase asset-backed securities (ABS), saying it “can make a difference”. Olivier Blanchard said that Europe has a problem supplying credit for small- and medium-sized businesses, and this will help. The program, announced by ECB President Mario Draghi, has created controversy with some German officials saying they fear that it will put taxpayers’ money at risk.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Says Italy’s GDP to Lose 0.2% in 2014, Gain 0.8% in 2015
Debt will peak this year, begin to drop next year
(ANSA) — Washington, October 7 — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday cut its estimates for Italy’s economic growth, forecasting a recession this year averaging a loss of -0.2% in GDP followed by slow growth of 0.8% in 2015. In its latest report, the agency said that Spain and Greece will both turn in better economic performances than Italy this year and next, but warned that overall, the eurozone will be sluggish.
The IMF also warned that the unemployment rate in Italy this year will average 12.6%, slipping to 12% in 2015. That figure is higher than the average in the eurozone, but lower than in Spain and Greece where the jobless rate is above 20%, said the IMF.
The latest monthly job statistics for Italy from the national statistical agency Istat said that in August, unemployment averaged 12.3% while the youth jobless rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 44.2%.
Jobs will be the topic of a European Union summit on employment scheduled for Wednesday in Milan.
The IMF also warned that Italian debt this year will rise to 136.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 132.5% of GDP in 2013. Next year the agency forecasts debt will be slightly lower at 136.4%, falling further to 125.6% in 2019.
The IMF statistics are in line with other forecasts including those of the national government, which last month said it expected an economic decline this year of between -0.1% and -0.2%.
At the same time Confindustria, representing Italy’s largest industrial employers, was slightly more pessimistic, forecasting that after shrinking by 0.4% this year, the economy would expand by 0.5% in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Departures Up 16% 2012-2013
Britain 70% rise
(ANSA) — Rome, October 7 — The number of Italians fleeing the recession and record joblessness rose 16.1% between 2012 and 2013, the Migrantes Foundation said Tuesday.
Britain saw a 70% rise in the number of Italian arrivals.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Traders See More Losses for Gold ETF as Dollar Rallies
Gold is losing its luster in the options market. The metal has tumbled 13 percent since mid-March and traders are increasing bets that further declines are coming.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Weidmann Repeats Opposition to ABS Programme
‘Risk of monetary policy being hostage to politics’
(ANSA) — New York, October 7 — Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann on Tuesday reiterated the German central bank’s opposition to the European Central Bank’s plans to bolster the eurozone economy by buying asset-backed securities (ABS).
“There’s a risk, above all in the eurozone, that monetary policy may be a hostage to politics,” Weidmann told the Wall Street Journal.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Yoga Program Aims to Reduce Violence
CHICAGO (AP) — With their brightly colored mats spread along a sidewalk, Tameka Lawson’s yoga students try to follow her instructions: concentrate on their breathing and focus on the beauty of their surroundings.
But this is Englewood, one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where streets are dotted with boarded-up houses and overgrown lots, and residents are as familiar with the crackle of gunfire as the chime of an ice cream truck. So while the students stretch their arms to the sky, a man the size of a refrigerator stands guard over the class.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Arrests Teen Suspected of Planning to Join ISIL
Authorities in the US have arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of attempting to join the militant group known as ISIL.
Mohammed Khan was taken into custody at O’Hare airport in Chicago by FBI agents as he attempted to board an aircraft bound for Turkey via Vienna.
News of his arrest has caused concern in the normally peaceful suburb.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fiat Chrysler Merger Approved, Trading in NYC Next Week
Deal passes deadline without creditor concerns
(ANSA) — Torino, October 7 — The merger creating Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has been approved and the new company will begin trading on the New York’s Stock Exchange as of October 13, Fiat SpA said Tuesday.
The requirements for approval of the deal have all been met, as the deadline of October 4 for creditors to file any objections has passed without problems, the company said.
It is expected that the merger will become fully effective on October 12, with trading in New York as well as in Milan following on October 13.
The deal still requires regulatory approvals.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Food Stamp Recipients Top 46 Million for 35th Straight Month
(CNSNews.com) — The number of food stamp recipients has topped 46,000,000 for 35 straight months, according to data from the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Since September 2011 to July 2014, the number of persons participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has exceeded 46 million. As of July 2014, which is the latest data from the USDA, there were 46,486,434 beneficiaries of the SNAP program.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police: 4-Year-Old Took Heroin to Day Care
SELBYVILLE, Del. (AP) — A 4-year-old girl mistakenly took hundreds of packets of heroin to her day care center and began passing it out to classmates, thinking it was candy, Delaware State Police said Tuesday.
Several children who received the packets Monday morning went to the hospital as a precaution, police said. But no packets were opened, and all of the kids were released after being examined.
Police say the child unknowingly brought the heroin to the center when her mother gave her a different backpack because the girl’s regular backpack had been ruined by the family pet. Police say the backpack contained nearly 250 packets of heroin, totaling nearly 4 grams, all labeled “Slam.”
The girl’s mother, Ashley Tull, 30, of Selbyville, was charged with three counts of child endangerment and maintaining a drug property. She was arraigned Monday in Justice of the Peace Court and released on $6,000 bond.
In a phone interview Tuesday, a woman who identified herself as Tull’s sister, Alicia Tull, said Ashley Tull would not comment. But Alicia Tull said the charges and the subsequent media attention are unfair…
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Warren Buffett on 2016: ‘Hillary is Going to Win’
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Tuesday said he expects Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States in 2016.
“Hillary is going to win,” Mr. Buffett said at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in California. “I will bet money on it. I don’t do that easily.”
Political observers say Ms. Clinton, the former Secretary of State, is months away from announcing whether she will run for president, a move that appears to be increasingly likely as she is the Democratic party’s presumptive front runner. She has said that she would make a decision after New Year’s Day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
2 Japanese: 1 American Share Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2014 was awarded to Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara, for “the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.”
The prize was announced Tuesday morning in Stockholm by Staffan Normark, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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A Vexing Mystery in Spain: How Did a Nurse Contract Ebola?
The first case of Ebola transmission outside of West Africa has raised questions about how a nurse at a Spanish hospital contracted the virus and whether sufficient protocols were in place to protect health workers there.
The nurse became infected at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital while treating Manuel Garcia Viejo, a priest who contracted the virus in West Africa. The woman, a “sanitary technician,” entered Garcia Viejo’s room only twice, according to Spanish officials.
In one case, she entered the room to change his diaper; another time, after he had died, she entered to collect his belongings, according to Mercedes Vinuesa Sebastian, Spain’s public health director. Both times, the nurse wore personal protective equipment.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ancient Male Warriors Showed Signs of Vanity
Scandinavian men who lived 3,000 years ago were buried with bronze straight-edged razors, tweezers and tools that could have been used for manicures.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Athens Adds to Nicosia’s Call on Ankara to Stop Threats
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, OCTOBER 7 — Athens has insisted that Ankara show respect for the “sovereign rights” of Nicosia after an attempt by Turkish authorities last week to claim access to certain blocks of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as Kathimerini online reports. Concerns lingered amid diplomatic circles on Monday after Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras called on Turkey on Sunday to respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus as a member of the United Nations and the European Union.
“Cyprus cannot bear any further violation of international law,” Koutras said, adding that “Turkey’s European course and the course of the negotiations in Cyprus hinge on Turkey’s conduct.” Nicosia warned on Monday that a new peace drive on the divided island could fail if Ankara continues to obstruct attempts by Nicosia to explore for gas off its coast. “We consider this development particularly serious,” Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides told reporters in Nicosia.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Kurds Demonstrate on Vienna’s Ringstrasse
Around 300 demonstrators held a protest on Vienna’s Ringstrasse on Monday night — as a sign of solidarity for Syrian Kurds who are fighting to defend the Syrian-Turkey border town of Kobane from Islamic State (Isis) militants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Salzburg Activates Ebola Emergency Plan
A young Liberian refugee who made an epic voyage to Austria after his entire family died — apparently from Ebola — has been isolated in the Salzburg Regional Hospital for observation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Doctors Without Borders Sends Ebola Doctor Home to Oslo
(AGI) Oslo, Oct. 7 — The Doctors Without Borders Norwegian doctor who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone has been taken to Oslo to be treated. Medical sources explained that the 30-year-old woman is “cheerful” in spite of being infected and will be placed in isolation and given experimental drugs.
Norway is trying to obtain a dose of the protoype Zmapp and other experimental drugs such as Avigan and Tkm-Ebola.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EC to Probe Amazon Over Luxembourg Tax Regime
Online retailer denies favours
(ANSA) — Rome, October 7 — Online retailer Amazon is to face a formal investigation into its Luxembourg tax regime, the European Commission announced Tuesday.
The EC said it suspects the deal amounts to State aid and a distortion of competition.
Amazon said it had “received no special tax treatment from Luxembourg”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Demonstrators in Helsinki, Lahti Protest Islamic State Actions
A group of about 80 demonstrators took to the streets of downtown Helsinki to protest the actions of extremist Islamic State militants. The Helsinki protest was mirrored by Lahti residents with Kurdish backgrounds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Police Detain Three Terror Suspects
The National Bureau of Investigation has detained three individuals suspected of participating in armed conflicts abroad. Investigators have been tight-lipped about whether or not the arrests Tuesday morning are related to the actions of extremist Islamic State militants in Syria.
The suspects detained by Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation have all been identified as Finnish citizens.
Tuesday’s arrests are said to be unrelated to the country’s first terrorism trial which also began in Helsinki Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First Alleged ISIL Terror Plot on UK Foiled Amid Growing Fears of Beheadings
The first alleged Isil-linked terror plot on UK soil has been foiled by police and MI5 amid fears jihadists are returning from Syria to carry out beheadings on British streets.
Four men were arrested in dramatic armed raids in London during which one suspect had to be Tasered by police.
The men are feared to have been in the “early stages” of planning a “significant” attack and it is understood one line of inquiry is whether they wanted to emulate the sort of brutal execution that has become Isil’s hallmark on a British street.
Police and intelligence agencies have become increasingly concerned that the terror group, which has already beheaded four Western hostages, is encouraging similar attacks overseas.
Fears have heightened further after the UK joined air strikes against the terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Found: Spain’s Earliest Ever Image of Jesus
One of the world’s earliest representations of Christ has been unearthed in southern Spain by a team of archaeologists, a glass plate which shines new light on the arrival of Christianity in Spain.
The green glass paten, the plate which holds the Holy Eucharist in churches, is the earliest depiction of Jesus found in Spain and is in excellent condition compared to similar pieces discovered around Europe.
“We know it dates back to the 4th century, in part because popes in the following centuries ordered all patens to be made out of silver,” Marcelo Castro, head of the Forum MMX excavation project, told The Local.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Israelis Urged to Enjoy the Cheap Life in Berlin
A group of Israelis living in Berlin has shocked compatriots back home by urging them to move to Germany as a much cheaper alternative to living in the Jewish state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: SoundCloud Faces Wave of Jihadi Postings
Berlin-based SoundCloud, which allows anyone to share audio files online, plays host to huge numbers of jihadi accounts and postings supporting the Islamic State (Isis). But the uploads do not contravene German law and are not being caught by the startup’s moderators.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Six Hurt in Muslim-Yazidi Mass Brawl
Almost 100 people were involved in a fight between Yazidi Kurds and Muslims in Celle, Lower Saxony, on Monday night, with six hurt. Elsewhere in Germany, hundreds of Kurds took to the streets to protest against the Islamic State (Isis).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Police Identifies Chechen Rebel Wanted for Police Murders in Russia
The Greek Police (ELAS) said on Tuesday that a man who was arrested along with another 45 migrants trying to enter the country illegally from Turkey is wanted in Russia in connection with the murder of five police officers.
The 34-year-old man, identified as a Russian national of Chechen origin, was arrested off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Chios on October 5 while trying to enter the country illegally.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: Kurds Protest Kobane, Storm EU Parliament
‘Stop massacre’, cross-continental protests, 1 dead in Turkey
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 7 — 70 some Kurdish protestors stormed the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, brandishing flags with the image of Abdullah Ocalan and shouting “Isis terrorists, Turkish terrorists”, media reported.
Kurds by the dozens charged into the EU Parliament to protest the situation in Kobane, and request the creation of a Kurdish state and the release of Abdullah Ocalan. “You didn’t want to hear us and so we came in, this isn’t a question of Kurds, it is a matter of human beings: Isis is massacring our people, our children, they are selling our women in the markets, what are you waiting for to attack, another massacre?” Arife Soysüren said to a crowd which included parliament deputies.
In other parts of Europe, protestors held sit-ins in airports and city streets including Rome’s Fiumicino airport, London’s Heathrow airport and Berlin. These followed Monday’s demonstrations and sit-ins at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and Brussels’ Zaventem airport, as well as in Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Rennes, Marseille and Milan’s Piazza del Duomo.
Kurdish party members (HDP) rallied with Turkish police on Tuesday. Police intervened with water cannons and tear gas. One protester was killed in Mus Vardo, allegedly by a bullet fired by police.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: MP Complains to Minister, Finance Regulator About Soccer
Miccoli says Consob should protect teams’ shareholders
(ANSA) — Rome, October 6 — An Italian MP said Monday that he wants the country’s financial market regulator and economy ministry to look into “errors” during a soccer game involving two teams owned by publicly-traded companies.
Marco Miccoli, a member of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) of Premier Matteo Renzi, said he will ask the regulator Consob and the economy minister to investigate the impact of officiating during Sunday’s fiery Serie A match between Juventus and Roma.
Juventus defeated Roma 3-2 in a fierce match that some complained involved controversial officiating.
Miccoli’s complaint is based on “the events recorded (Sunday) night during the game between Juventus and Roma” which he said make Italy look bad and hurt shareholders’ value.
“Remember that Roma and Juventus are publicly traded companies,” he said.
Errors of the sort seen in Sunday’s match will drive away future investors, said Miccoli.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Soccer: Juve in Fresh ‘Favouritism’ Row After Roma Win
Parliament questioned,FIGC urges FIFA tech move,Conte says calm
(ANSA) — Rome, October 6 — The old Italian soccer chestnut of alleged favouritism for Juventus was dusted off after their referee-error-strewn 3-2 win over Roma Sunday, with questions asked in parliament about the two bourse-listed clubs as the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) urged FIFA to speed technological aid for officials and Italy coach Antonio Conte vowed to help calm things down.
Champions Juventus prevailed and took sole command of the Serie A standings thanks to two dubious penalties and a winning goal that perhaps should have been disallowed for offside. Democratic Party MP Marco Miccolis said he wanted Italy’s financial market regulator and economy ministry to look into the Juve-Roma errors.
Miccoli’s complaint was based on “the events recorded (Sunday) night during the game between Juventus and Roma” which he said make Italy look bad and hurt shareholders’ value.
“Remember that Roma and Juventus are publicly traded companies,” he said.
Errors of the sort seen in Sunday’s match will drive away future investors, said Miccoli.
Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio told ANSA on Monday that he would request FIFA accelerate the introduction of technology to help referees after the storm raised by the officiating of Juventus’s 3-2 win. Tavecchio said he would be the “promoter of a request to FIFA” to accelerate the introduction of technology “for cases of doubt about the position (of a player)”. The two penalties were given for offences that appeared to be slightly outside the area, while an offside Juve player appeared to be close to the line of the winning shot. Unlike many other sports, soccer does not give referees the opportunity to use video replays to make tough decisions.
Italy coach Conte said he hoped his national team can bring much-needed calm to Italian football after the storm. “I want my lads to concentrate exclusively on the matches to be played,” former Juve boss Conte told reporters ahead of Euro 2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan in Palermo on Friday and away to Malta three days later. “We’ll try to bring calm to this climate with the national team.
“I’m not worried about the relations between the players (from the two teams),” he added. “When you represent a club, it’s right to fight for your flag, but there’s only one flag in Club Italia”. The row over Sunday’s match has resurrected long-standing suspicions about referees allegedly favouring Turin giants Juve, Italy’s most successful domestic team with 30 Serie A titles.
It has also brought back painful memories of the 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, which saw Juve stripped of two league titles and demoted to the second tier for a year for involvement in attempts to arrange compliant referees for some teams’ matches. AS Roma captain Francesco Totti said Juve had been winning “by hook or by crook” for years and suggested they go and play in a tournament of their own as “we’ll always come second when they are in it”. Roma coach Rudi Garcia said it appeared that the Juve penalty areas were “17 metres long” and said the row had “hurt football”. Conte, who led his former side Juve to three consecutive scudetti before leaving the club in the close season, refused to say whether he was happy to be outside the row.
“Now I’m above everything, I’m Italy coach,” Conte told reporters at Italy’s training base near Florence.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Camusso Says Union Opposition to Jobs Act Unchanged
‘Only news’ from meeting with Renzi is that they will meet again
(ANSA) — Rome, October 7 — Susanna Camusso, leader of Italy’s largest trade union federation CGIL, on Tuesday dismissed the content of a meeting with Premier Matteo Renzi, saying he did nothing to change unions’ “negative judgement” of his new Jobs Act reforms to labour law. She said the unions appreciated the meeting, but learned nothing new.
“The only real news of the meeting today is that there will be other meetings,” she said after the session. Camusso said this was the first meeting between organized labour and Renzi since he became premier seven months ago.
Unions are strongly opposed to many measures in the Jobs Act, which Renzi is sending for a confidence vote in the Senate as early as this week.
They are especially concerned with government plans to amend Article 18 of existing legislation which protects against unfair firings.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Soccer: FIGC Chief Tavecchio Gets 6-Mth Commission Ban
UEFA punishment for banana-eating comments
(ANSA) — Rome, October 7 — Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio will be banned from UEFA commissions for six months as punishment for his comments on “banana-eating” foreign players before his election this summer, sources at European soccer’s governing body said Tuesday. This means he will not be able to attend the UEFA congress in March 2015. Tavecchio will, however, be able to keep representing the FIGC, including at international matches, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
More Cases of Ebola Spreading in Europe ‘Unavoidable’, WHO Says
(Reuters) — More cases of the deadly Ebola virus will almost inevitably spread in Europe but the continent is well prepared to control the disease, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director said on Tuesday.
Speaking to Reuters just hours after Europe’s first local case of Ebola infection was confirmed in a nurse in Spain, the WHO’s European director, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said further such events were “unavoidable”.
Spanish health officials said four people had been hospitalised to try and stem any further spread of Ebola there after the nurse became the first person in the world known to have contracted the virus outside of Africa.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nobel Physics Prize for LED Light Inventors
The Nobel Prize for Physics 2014 has been won by Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for the invention of LED lights.
The scientists — who are based in Japan and the US — were praised “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources”. Normark said that their work “triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway to Get World’s Last Dose of Ebola Cure
The Norwegian woman, infected by the Ebola in Sierra Leone and currently receiving treatment in Oslo, will get the last dose of the virus treatment medicine ZMapp available in the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Push to Ban Swedes Buying Sex Abroad
Sweden’s new coalition government is trying to make it an offence for Swedes to use prostitutes when they are on holiday or working in other countries.
In Sweden it is legal to work as a prostitute, but it is illegal for customers to pay for sex. Police say the number of sex workers has dropped by two-thirds since the strategy was introduced fifteen years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Lars Hedegaard
At the same time as the new Swedish government under Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Foreign Minister Margot Wallström has announced that it will recognize Palestine as a sovereign country — as part of a two-state solution, says Löfven — an opinion poll shows that most Palestinians reject the two-state solution.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The ‘Curie Couple’ of the Nordics
Norway’s “Curie couple”, May-Britt and Edvard Moser, have been virtually inseparable since their university days, but when news broke they had won the Nobel Medicine Prize, they were hundreds of miles apart.
More than a century after Pierre and Marie Curie, who won the physics prize in 1903, the Mosers are the fifth couple in history to receive a joint Nobel award, and the first Norwegians to get the medicine distinction.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Four Terror Suspects Arrested in London
Searches in western, central London
(ANSA) — London, October 7 — British people on Tuesday arrested four men aged 20 and 21 on suspicion of Islamist terrorism in London.
Searches are being carried out in the west and centre of the British capital, police said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
WHO Reports Other Ebola Cases Inevitable in Europe
(AGI) Copenhagen, Oct. 7 — The World Health Organisation’s director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, has said that it is inevitable there will be other cases of Ebola in Europe, adding that European countries are the best prepared in the world to deal with this threat. Zsuzsanna Jakab added that following the case reported in Spain and other similar ones, it is very probable that there will be more in the future.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Serbian Chairman Strong Network Radical Islamists in Kosovo
‘At least 150 in Syria and Iraq’ says chairman
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, OCTOBER 7 — Kosovo has a “strong network of radical Islamists and terrorists” with several fighting in Syria and Iraq, Milovan Drecun, in Serbian parliament’s Kosovo and Metohija committee chairman, said on Tuesday in Belgrade.
Speaking to Serbian news agency Tanjug following a closed-door commission session, Drecun said “there is no information on preparations for terrorist acts against Serbs or other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija” where the vast majority of the population is ethnic Albanian and Muslim.
In its Tuesday meeting, the parliamentary committee discussed threats and security of Serbs and other non-Albanian ethnic groups in Kosovo due to the presence of radical Islamists and jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq. According to several sources, there are at least 150 Islamist Kosovars fighting alongside the jihadists in Syria and Iraq. 15 Kosovars were killed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: Caliphate and Black Flags in Derna, Libya
Ansar al Sharia parades in armed pickup and praises ISIS leader
(ANSAMED) — CAIRO, OCTOBER 7 — Ansar al Sharia militia paraded the streets of Derna, Libya in armed pickup trucks displaying the black flag of Islamic militant jihadists ISIS and chanting praise to caliph Abu al Baghdadi, in a video posted on Al Arabiya news.
On Saturday, Derna’s Islamic Youth Council proclaimed allegiance to ISIS. Derna is considered a historical stronghold of Islamic extremism.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Government Frees 24 Foreign Gaddaffi Supporters
(AGI) Tunis, Oct 7 — The Libyan government has released 19 Ukrainians, three Byelorussians and two Russians, imprisoned for three years for being supporters of the late dictator, Muammar Gaddaffi, the Libyan newspaper Al Wasat reports.
“Freedom is a beautiful word,” said former prisoner Vladimir Dolgov on a social network site. “Russia freed us,” said Sergei Backov, the second Russian freed today. Both Dolgov and Backov had been sentenced to 61 years and 53 years respectively in 2011.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Israel Bashers’ Phony Contrition
Dr. Richard Horton, the editor of the English medical journal The Lancet, was not transformed by his visit to Israel last week.
Horton came to Israel last week the guest of Rambam Medical Center in a bid to dig himself out of the hole he dug himself into. On August 19 Horton published a 1,600-word letter criminalizing Israel. In it, Israel was accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The authors called for a boycott of Israel, including Israeli academia. Since its publication on Lancet’s website, the letter has garnered 20,000 signatures.
The letter made no mention of the fact that the war this summer was initiated by Hamas through its illegal missile, mortar and rocket offensive against Israeli population centers. The esteemed medical professionals who wrote the letter failed to mention that Hamas’s operational headquarters was located in Shifa hospital in Gaza. And of course, they ignored the underlying fact that Hamas’s entire campaign against Israel was a crime against humanity.
Immediately following its publication, Prof. Gerald Steinberg, the head of NGO Monitor, exposed that the letter’s principal authors are frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Semites. Dr. Paola Manduca and Dr. Swee Ang disseminated a video entitled, CNN, Goldman Sachs & the Zio Matrix. It was produced by the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Hezbollah Claims Responsibility for Attacks on Israelis
Ali Hassan Martyr Unit carried out car attacks
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 7 — A Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s armored car attacks in Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms that injured Israeli soldiers, Lebanese media reported.
According to media reports, the attacks were carried out by a group called Ali Hassan Martyr Unit.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Flags Found in Nazareth Illit
Twenty-five Islamic State (ISIS) flags were found in Nazareth Illit, Walla! News reports Tuesday, giving further rise to concerns over the jihadist terrorist group’s popularity with Arab citizens of Israel.
City employees found a bag filled with the tiny black flags on the side of a highway, according to the daily, and turned it over to the local police.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
News of the find surfaces just two days after an Israeli Arab teacher was sentenced to one week of house arrest and a 5,000 shekel (approximately $1,350) fine for possessing ISIS materials.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Soldiers Injured on Lebanon Border, Israel Responds
2 or 3 soldiers wounded in armoured car explosion
(ANSAMED) — TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 7 — Two or three Israeli soldiers were reportedly wounded on Tuesday in an explosion in the Golan Heights, near the Lebanon border causing Israel to respond with artillery strikes, media reported.
Israel is reported as firing “tens of shots” of artillery shells into Lebanese territory in response to a charge explosive that struck an armored vehicle carrying a group of Israeli soldiers in the occupied territory of the Shebaa Farms and wounding three soldiers, an on-location correspondent of Lebanon’s Al-Manar television, which is aligned with Hezbollah, reported. According to the the same source, the Israeli army targeted the hills near the Shebaa Farms and the village of Kfarchouba.
An Israeli military spokesman reported two wounded soldiers, while Lebanese television station Al Mayadin, reported three Israeli soldiers as injured.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced it had “open fire” on the army announcement had opened fire on “suspicious people”who had attempted to infiltrate Israeli-controlled territory by entering from Lebanon.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
As Monk, Parishioners Are Abducted in Syria, Gregory Calls on the World to Stop Extremists
Overnight on Sunday, jihadi militants seized Fr Hanna Jallouf and some of his parishioners from the village of Knayeh, northern Syria. For now, their fate remains unknown. Antioch patriarch tells AsiaNews that everyone faces the same threat, calls on Christians and Muslims to demonstrate against such violence.
Damascus (AsiaNews) — “The whole world should be against these extremists,” who commit violence and constitute “a threat to all”. Muslims and Christians “must express strong condemnation”. In this regard, “unity” of intent “with Islam and the Arab world” is essential, said Mgr Gregory III Laham, patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkites, in reaction to the kidnapping in Syria of a Franciscan priest Sunday night.
This morning, the Custody of the Holy Land confirmed in an official statement that Fr Hanna Jallouf was abducted by members of the Jihadist al-Nusra Front in the village of Knayeh, in the north of the country near the border with Turkey, together with other Christians.
At present, their fate remains unknown. The number of kidnap victims is also unknown, although local sources suggest that perhaps up to 20 Christians might have been taken by force, including three women.
“The nuns who were in the convent” at the time of the attack “found refuge in some homes in the village,” the Custody of the Holy Land said.
After several hours, there have been no official contacts with the kidnappers nor are there any news about the abducted priest and Christians.
In view of the situation, the Franciscans renew their call to “pray” for Fr Hanna, his faithful and “all other victims of this tragic and senseless war.”
Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, jihadi militias have kidnapped several prominent local Christian figures, most notably two bishops, Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi (Orthodox Church of Antioch) and Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim (Syrian Orthodox Church) in April 2013
Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian-born Jesuit priest, was also kidnapped in Syria on 29 July 2013.
Contacted by AsiaNews, Patriarch Laham slammed the abduction, calling on Christians and Muslims to organise a common front against a “threat” that touches “the whole world”.
Syria, where “attacks against Christians” are taking place, is “the cradle of Christianity”, a land “where Christianity was already present in the year 33 AD.
In an address to the kidnap victims, he said they should “hold on and not be afraid”. They should feel “hope”, which can help “overcome this difficult situation.”
Knayeh was under Islamic State (IS) control for some time. Since it was seized, Christians have been forced to submit to many restrictions, including removing crosses from their churches, a ban on bell ringing, covering of statues and Christian women forced to wear the Islamic veil.
Eventually, IS redeployed to the east, leaving the area to the al Qaeda-affiliated Jahbat Al-Nusra brigades. Not long ago, the militias occupying the village confiscated Father Jallouf’s passport.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-French Agent is Syria Jihadist, Report Says as Paris Denies
A former French intelligence officer who defected to Al-Qaeda was targeted by US air strikes in Syria last month, US media reported Monday, in an account promptly denied by Paris.
The alleged defector was associated with Al-Qaeda militants in Syria suspected of plotting to smuggle non-metallic bombs aboard passenger aircraft bound for Western countries, ABC television reported, citing two unnamed intelligence officials.
The targeting of the defector was first reported by the McClatchy news service.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Asks World to Join Damascus in Battle Against ISIS
(AGI) Tehran, Oct. 7 — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marzieh Afkan, as reported by the Irna news agency, has said that U.S. air strikes need Syria’s support or Kobane will be lost. Afkan asked the international community to not be passive in the fight against ISIS, stating that the Syrian government should be supported in its battle against terrorism.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
‘IS’ Militants Abduct Thousands of Yazidi Women and Girls
In attacks on the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq, “Islamic State” militants are said to have abducted up to 5,000 women and girls. Five survivors tell DW what they endured in 23 days of captivity.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS is Cutting Off Water to Uncooperative Villages
As the Islamic State pushes through Syria and Iraq, the group has adopted an alarming tactic—it works hard to gain control over a region’s water supplies and then uses access to food and water to control the local population.
Over the summer, the group starved around 12,000 people in Amerli, Iraq, of water, food, and medicine for months, says CNN, before the siege was broken by the Iraq army. ISIS has also used its control over four dams that block the Tigris and Euphrates rivers—two of the most important rivers in the region—to “displace communities or deprive them of crucial water supplies,” says the Washington Post.
In August, the group took control of the Mosul Dam, blocking the Tigris. That dam produced electricity for the region, says Business Insider, and its “destruction would wash away Mosul in a matter of hours and send 15-foot high floods to Baghdad within three days.” That dam was soon reclaimed by Iraqi and Kurdish troops, with American support, says the Post.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: Turkey Wants a No-Fly Zone Declared Over Syria, PM Says
As a condition to participate in ground operations
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 7 — Turkey will take part in ground operations against Islamic state (IS) militants in Syria if the airspace over the country is announced a no-fly zone, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with CNN. “The increased violence and intensified activity of the terrorists in Syria is caused by the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad,” Davutoglu said as reported by Cihan news agency. “As long as President Assad remains in power, the IS controls most of the Syrian cities,” Davutoglu said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Take Kobane, Thousands Flee to Turkish Border
After days of siege, the militants have occupied three neighborhoods of the town, between Syria and Turkey, raising the black flag on buildings and hills. At least 2 thousand people have fled their homes, seeking shelter across the border. The Kurdish resistance is getting weaker, amid Ankara’s inertia and ineffectiveness of Arab-American air raids.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) — The Islamic State (IS) militia has taken three quarters of the town of Kobane, on the border between Syria and Turkey, after a long battle fought street by street with the Kurdish peshmerga. It is a center of enormous strategic importance, and had been held by the Kurdish troops for two years when they took control of the area after the retreat of the Damascus army.
Earlier this year the militants had seized the surrounding areas, laying siege to the city on three different fronts; the final offensive began on September 16 and has caused the mass exodus of more than 100 thousand refugees over the Turkish border.
The Islamist fighters penetrated from the eastern districts, raising their black flag on the buildings and the surrounding hills. Local sources report that at least 2 thousand civilians have fled the city, heading for the border with Turkey, bringing the total number to over 180 thousand displaced persons.
According to experts control of Kobane will give the Islamic State a large chunk of the border that separates Syria from Turkey, at least 100 km of territory to add to their stronghold, Raqqa.
The Kurdish fighters are pleading for help and support from Ankara, although so far the Turkish government has shown little interest in halting the advance of the IS.
This morning in al-hassaka (in northern Syria, some 220 kilometers east of Kobane) at least 30 Kurdish fighters of the Unit for the Protection of the People (YPG) died in a double suicide bombing.
From the Turkish front there is news of a prisoner exchange with the Islamic State: over 180 fighters in the jihad — including French, British, Macedonian, Swedish and a Swiss national- were released in exchange for 46 diplomats from Ankara, seized in recent months. This is according to sources for the Times, whom the British government believes “credible”.
This latest IS military success in Kobane reveals the ineffectiveness of the strategy fielded by the coalition, supported and guided by the White House to stop the militants. Kurdish Officer Idris Nahsen confirms that the Arab-American aerial bombing “is not enough to defeat the terrorists on the ground”, that they can count on inertia, if not the connivance of some non-hostile governments such as Turkey .
The drama of the situation on the ground is confirmed by the testimonies from doctors and the medical staff at the Suruc hospital, not far from the battlefield of Kobane. A little more than two weeks of battle have caused hundreds of deaths on both sides, including women and civilians; the conditions of the wounded are often too severe for the limited resources available. The hospital corridors provide the terrible reality of abandoned elderly in wheelchairs, children clinging to their mothers already deeply and permanently marked by the tragedies of war.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 3 Million Syrian Refugees, UN
(ANSAmed) — NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 30 — Over three million Syrian refugees are registered in the neighboring nations of Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, noted UN humanitarian operations chief Valerie Amos on Tuesday. The figure was underscored at a UN Security Council meeting on the country. Amos noted that 11 million Syrians were in need of assistance and that civilians continue to be systematically targeted. On the issue of access for aid workers, she noted that slight progress had been made.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Priest and 20 Others Abducted ‘By Nusra’, Italian Nun Escaped
Kobane to fall, airstrikes not enough against ISIS, Erdogan
(ANSAmed) — ROME — A Syrian parish priest and some 20 other Christians have been abducted in the northern Syrian village of Knayeh close to the border with Turkey, Catholic news agency Fides reported on Tuesday, quoting bishop Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for Latin rite Catholics.
The bishop was quoted by the news agency as confirming the abduction of Father Hanna Jallouf OFM, Syrian parish priest in the village of Knayeh, who has been kidnapped with some 20 Christians. The collective abduction, Khazen added, occurred in the night between Sunday, October 5 and Monday, October 6.
A Franciscan nun, Sister Patrizia Guarino, is among clerics living in the village of Knayeh, the Apostolic Nuncio in Syria Mario Zenari told ANSA on Tuesday. But 80-year-old nun is reported as safe and residing with a family in the village of Knayeh, sources from Rome’s General House of Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary announced on Tuesday.
Father Hanna Jallouf, the abducted Syrian priest, was one of two parish priests in the area of Knayeh, where some 700 Catholic families live. Three Franciscan nuns, like the priests, also live in the village and are in charge of a youth centre and a dispensary. Among them is Sister Patrizia.
Up until last Christmas, Knayeh was under the control of ISIS militants, who had imposed a number of limitations on Christians, including the removal of crosses over churches, a ban on ringing church bells, covering statues and an obligation for women to cover up with the Islamic veil. Then Islamic State jihadists then moved further east and were replaced by al Qaeda militants from Al Nusra. Recently, militants in charge of the village had seized Father Jallouf’s passport.
The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land confirmed allegations claiming the abduction of Hanna Jallouf was carried out by jihadist brigades linked with the al Nusra front. “Nuns at the convent found shelter in some village homes”, said a statement of the Custody quoted by Fides. The Custody confirmed that no information is currently available on where the hostages are being held and that attempts to contact the abductors and abductees have so far failed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Kurdish-Syran border city Kobane is “on the verge of falling” into the hands of Islamic state jihadists ISIS and feels a ground invasion in Syria and Iraq is necessary.
Turkish newspaper Hurryet reported Erdogan as saying that Kobane “is about to fall” in the hands of the jihadist, while visiting a refugee camp in Gaziantep, southern Turkey. “The air strikes will not stop the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL]. We need a no-fly zone, safe havens and to train and equip the moderate opposition in Syria,” Erdogan added. Approximately three weeks ago, the self-styled ISIS militants began to advance towards Kobane, quickly capturing surrounding villages and forcing approximately 186 thousand Syrian Kurds to seek refuge across the Turkish border.
Turkish parliament recently approved military intervention by Turkey, and is evaluating with the United States the role it can play in the campaign against ISIS. But, according to Hurriyet, Ankara insists on the need for a complete plan which also includes striking out at the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu emphasized Turkish position in a Monday interview with CNN. “We are ready to do everything if there is a clear strategy that after ISIS, we can be sure that our border will be protected. We don’t want the regime anymore on our border pushing people against -towards Turkey. We don’t want other terrorist organizations to be active there”, Davutoglu said. “If al-Assad stays in power and ISIL goes then another radical organization may come in. Our approach should be comprehensive, inclusive and combined”, he added. In recent years and following its split with Turkey, the Turkish government has been accused by many of having supported, or at least encouraged, Islamic militias (including jihadists) in Syria placed at the inside of an anti-Assad front.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Free Syrian Army, Our ‘Moderate Islamist’ Ally, Continues to Ally With Al-Qaeda in Syria
By Andrew C. McCarthy
At the Long War Journal, Caleb Weiss reports on how the Free Syrian Army is continuing to ally with al-Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Turkey and the Administration Have Doomed the Kurds in Kobani
This was a tough day in Kobani, Syria for the 2 to 3,000 Kurdish YPG fighters desperately trying to stave off with light arms the onslaught of ISIS forces equipped with US and Russian tanks and artillery pouring fire into the shrinking city center. According to a Bloomberg October 4, 2014 report, those fighters in Kobani “feel furious and deserted by the US” according to Faysal Sariyildiz, a pro-Kurdish legislator. The siege is now past 14 days, and many believe the end of the Kurdish town bestride the Turkish border may be at hand. The desperation of the brave YPG fighters was reflected in a female commander who undertook the first suicide attack on an ISIS outpost in the eastern area of Kobani, detonating a grenade, killing her and a number of Salafist jihadis. Flags of ISIS emblazoned with the Shahada, the Muslim profession of faith now do the hilltops overlooking the embattled town. But no coalition ‘partner’, neither the Turks ringing the border with tanks, while tending to the huddled mass of more than 180,000 Kurdish refugees, nor the US-led coalition of allegedly 40 countries are coming to the relief of these valiant Kurdish YPG fighters. The possible imminent fall of Kobani underscores the failure of the Obama strategy of relying solely on an air campaign that so far has been a failure to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. A Wall Street Journal analysis indicated that ISIS has proven to be resilient in the face of the coalition air assaults, held onto territory and potentially may expand it further with the imminent fall of Kobani. A Pentagon briefing today estimated the cost of the air campaign to date at over $1.1 billion.It was a tough day for Jen Psaki, the State Department spokesperson fending off questions from reporters during the Daily Press Briefing about why no US relief or resources aren’t coming to the aid of the embattled Kurds in Kobani. Moreover, there were nagging questions as to why Vice President Biden had to apologize to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the Saudis for telling the truth. The truth about their complicit behavior that allowed ISIS to metastasize into the terrorist Army of the self-declared Caliphate of the Islamic State.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Ebola Isn’t the Big One. So What is? And Are We Ready for it?
The Black Death swept into Europe on boats from the East in the 14th century, killing as much as half the population of the continent, somewhere between 75 and 200 million people worldwide.
Though Ebola has a high fatality rate when contracted, it is not the thing that keeps most epidemiologists up at night. It could theoretically become pandemic — that is, an out-of-control global epidemic — but experts say that is unlikely.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Four Possible Cases of Ebola in Madrid, Says Hospital
One confirmed after nurse treated ill missionary
(ANSA) — Madrid, October 7 — A hospital in Madrid said Tuesday it is dealing with three suspected cases of Ebola in addition to one confirmed case of the deadly virus.
The three new cases are being closely watched, said Rafael Perez-Santamarina, manager of the hospital Carlo III-La Paz.
The nurse who has been confirmed with the disease is believed to be the first health-care worker outside of Africa to be infected.
She had dealt with a Spanish missionary who returned home for treatment after becoming infected in Sierra Leone.
The missionary died in late September, according to Spain’s health ministry.
Hundreds of health-care workers, as well as more than 3,400 patients in parts of Africa, have died of the disease.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark to Limit Family Reunification for Refugees
Hoping to stem the tide of refugees from Syria, the government will now only allow for family reunifications if refugees’ initial one-year resident permit is renewed.
As a follow-up to its decision to introduce a new temporary residence permit for asylum seekers, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday that refugees fleeing civil wars like the one in Syria will only be able to bring their family members into the country if their original one-year resident permit is extended under the new rules.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Calais Migrants Reject ‘Bland’ Food Handout
French cuisine is definitely not known for being hot and on Thursday some migrants in Calais turned down food handouts from a charity because they claimed it wasn’t spicy enough for their tastes.
A charity for migrants in the French port city of Calais was forced to scrap a food handout after some refused the meal because it was not spicy enough, the group said on Tuesday.
Jean-Claude Lenoir, from aid association Salam, described Monday night’s incident as “very disappointing”.
“The leaders staged a small coup, and prevented the others from coming to eat,” Lenoir said. He said the attitude was “unacceptable”.
He admitted that the meal was “a lot less salty and not very spicy” compared with what was usually served but stressed that “personally, I think that spices are very expensive, and I find that they’re a bit too pampered by now.”
He told them that “many people in France don’t even have an evening meal” and that while they were “happy” to help the migrants, “there are limits with regards to what we can propose.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Human Trafficking a $7 Billion Business
Smugglers rake in $7.0 billion (€5.6 billion) every year from human trafficking between Africa and Europe and between Latin and North America, even as thousands continue to die in search of a better life, a new UN estimate showed Monday.
But global revenues were probably “significantly higher,” Yury Fedotov, head of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime told journalists, calling for closer international cooperation to help quash smuggling networks, according to Agence France-Presse.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates some 40,000 migrants have died since 2000 trying to make their way illegally to a new country, with 3,000 perishing while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2014 alone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Triton to ‘Complement’ Italy’s Mare Nostrum Operation
Expansion to EU Frontex border agency has 2.9 mn initial budget
(ANSA) — Brussels, October 7 — Triton, the European Commission’s sea rescue operation to expand EU border agency Frontex in the Mediterranean, will begin in November as a complement, not a replacement, to Italy’s Mare Nostrum operation, officials said Tuesday.
The program will have an initial budget of about 2.9 million euros and operations will take place within a jurisdiction of 30 miles beyond Italian territorial waters.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘French Feminism Sees Breastfeeding as Slavery’
French women breastfeed at a far lower rate of other European countries, a new study has revealed this week. A trend in French feminism may be playing a role in the phenomenon, one campaigner for breastfeeding tells The Local.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Marriage Indissoluble, Prefect of Pontifical Household Says
Gaenswein reaffirms Church doctrine on fringes of synod
(ANSA) Rome, Oct 7 — A senior prelate insisted Tuesday that marriage cannot be dissolved and that “starting a new union contradicts what the Lord has indicated”.
Msgr George Gaenswein, Prefect of the pontifical household and private secretary to former pope Benedict XVI, made the remarks in an interview with Chi magazine, excerpts of which were released in advance on the fringes of a synod of bishops on the family that opened Monday in the Vatican.
“Gays must be received with respect but their acts are contrary to natural law,” he continued.
“The Church must have the courage to express its convictions as otherwise it would not be in the service of truth,” he added.
Asked about the question of possibly allowing divorced people to take communion, Gaenswein said “this is a very delicate question, at stake is the sacramental matrimony that according to Catholic doctrine cannot be dissolved, just like the love of God for man”.
“As far as I can see Pope Francis is following the line of his predecessors whose teaching on matrimony is very clear”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Oh, my heart bleeds buckets of salty tears for those poor illegals. Fancy their free food not being fancy enough for them.
Those mean bastards, don’t they know they should be waiting on them hand and foot.
Let them eat hay. Let them go out and forage for themselves. Let them be sent back to where they came from — there, that’s the best solution.
Amazing they haven’t queried whether it’s halal!
@WHO Reports Other Ebola Cases Inevitable in Europe
Epidemiology and a multicultural bias maybe not a desirable conflict of interests for containment.
I really hope that the Calais migrants are not from Algeria, a country with the blandest, lowest quality food you can imagine.
I always get a hearty chortle (on the inside of course) when they rave about their locally made boxed fruit juice that is pure concentrate and sugar. I prefer to call it ‘diabetes in a box’ when describing it to other expats.
Chicago Yoga aimed to reduce violence YEAH,SURE tell me about it.4 year old takes herion to school and they probibly wont suspend her. Warmer Buttmuffins HILLARY WILL WIN 2016 typical this idiots got a chip on his shoulders and its the big block of wood on top of his neck
Contacted by AsiaNews, Patriarch Laham slammed the abduction, calling on Christians and Muslims to organise a common front against a “threat” that touches “the whole world”.
This is what Laham REALLY thinks:
The leader of the Greek Catholic Church, Gregorios III Laham,
declared after the synod, that the terrorism against Christians in
Arab countries is part of a “Zionist conspiracy.” – Giulio Meotti – J’Accuse [quoted from National Review, December 13, 2010]