In two separate attacks, Palestinian Arabs targeted Israeli Jews with their vehicles, killing one person in each incident. In the first attack, after running down several people, the Palestinian driver left his car and started hitting pedestrians with an iron bar, after which he was shot dead by police. The second driver escaped and was still at larger after killing one soldier and wounding several others.
Israeli citizens must be relieved to know that neither incident had anything to do with Islam.
In other news, intelligence agents in Norway say that they expect a major terrorist attack within the coming year.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, Papa Whiskey, Phyllis Chesler, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
All the Markets Need is $200 Billion a Quarter From the Central Bankers
By estimating that zero stimulus would be consistent with a 10 percent quarterly drop in equities, they calculate it takes around $200 billion from central banks each quarter to keep markets from selling off.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gold Plumbs Another Four-Year Low
Gold prices dived Wednesday to a fresh four-year low, as demand was dented by the soaring dollar after Republicans cruised to victory in US midterm elections, dealers said. At about 0855 GMT on the London Bullion Market, the precious metal plunged to $1,143.47 per ounce — which was its lowest level since April 23, 2010.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Delrio Says MPS Nationalization, Other Options on Table
Cabinet undersecretary says Padoan reviewing troubled bank
(ANSA) — Rome, November 4 — Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan “is considering his options” in the case of troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, including nationalization, cabinet undersecretary Graziano Delrio said Tuesday. The economy ministry has previously said that the government will steer clear of the situation and Padoan himself has said that “market operations” would be best for MPS and for Italy’s Banca Carige, both cited by the Europan Central Bank for capital shortfalls following extensive stress tests.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Among Midterm Winners Many Historic Firsts
Washington (CNN) — The 2014 midterm elections brought a historic victory for Republicans, handing the GOP its largest congressional majority since World War II. But Tuesday night also tallied an impressive list of historic firsts at the individual level.
Tim Scott became the first African-American from the South elected to the Senate since Reconstruction, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. The last black Senator was Blanche Kelso Bruce, who left the chamber 133 years ago. Scott also became the first African-American to be elected to both the House and the Senate.
Joni Ernst smashed a couple of glass ceilings of her own, becoming the first woman to represent Iowa in either house of Congress and the first female combat veteran ever elected to the Senate, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Shelley Moore Capito cruised to victory in West Virginia to become the first woman elected to the Senate from her state.
Tom Cotton is the first Iraq War and the first Afghanistan war veteran to be elected to the Senate. But he won’t be the first Iraq War veteran to serve in the Senate: Sen. John Walsh, who led a combat battalion in Iraq, was appointed to fill Montana Sen. Max Baucus’ Senate seat earlier this year but dropped his bid for a full term after a plagiarism scandal killed his campaign…
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Arkansas Elects the Youngest US Senator to Enter the 214th Congress: Rep. Tom Cotton
Just prior to last night’s resounding GOP mid-term victories in the US Senate, the House and a host of gubernatorial contests, I had an opportunity to speak with Shoshana Bryen. She is the executive director of the Washington, DC — based Jewish Policy Center. We were preparing for last Sunday’s Lisa Benson Show, which had a midterm election theme of “Vote to Protect America and its Ally Israel”. We talked about a wide range of issues. In addition to Shoshana, we had as other guests on the show, Ken Timmerman, veteran Iran watcher and author of Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happend in Benghazi, and Navy Seal veteran, Ben Smith. Listen here to the discussion on the November 2, 2014 Lisa Benson Show.
Cotton, I knew from reading a profile of him by retired Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had a career that resonated. He was a highly educated double Harvard graduate who voluntarily served as an Infantry officer in the US Army during the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict. Wisse’s WSJ op-ed was an unabashed endorsement, “Vote for Tom Cotton—and Redeem Harvard”. So, I asked Bryen on last Sunday’s broadcast to talk about Cotton and another Army veteran Lt. Col.Joni Ernst of Iowa both running for the US Senate in their respective states.
Cotton and Ernst won their respective Senate races last night. Colleague Ilana Freeman called last night from a cheering Iowa GOP celebration to give me the news about Ernst’s victory. Cotton trounced Pryor by running against “Obama’s failed policies”. He won by 16 percent. His campaign played up his Army service. Cotton, 37 years old, will enter the 314th Congress in January 2015 as its youngest member.
I asked Bryen during the preparation for last Sunday’s show where Cotton might be assigned in the newly organized US Senate under the leadership of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the presumptive GOP Majority Leader in the 214th Congress in January 2015. She thought that Cotton might end up on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I told her that would be an historic antidote to the legendary Arkansas Democratic Senator William Fulbright who opposed the Viet Nam War during the era of President Johnson after voting for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964. Cotton’s Arkansas constituents realize the importance of US leadership on national security interests and support for Israel. That will stand him in good stead.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Obama and G.O.P. Speak of Cooperation
President Obama offered an olive branch to victorious Republicans on Wednesday, congratulating them for “a good night” but saying that the message he received from Americans is that both parties need to work together on behalf of the public.
“The American people sent a message — one that they’ve sent for several elections now. they expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference in the East Room. “They want us to get the job done.”
In his own news conference in Louisville, Ky., Mitch McConnell, who is likely to lead the new Republican majority in the Senate next year, vowed a spirit of cooperation and compromise with Mr. Obama even as he cautioned that a more starkly divided government in Washington would inevitably lead to sharp partisan disagreements.
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Republicans Take (Almost) All in US Midterm Elections
Republicans have taken the Senate from Barack Obama’s Democrats in US midterm elections, claiming a majority of at least 52-48. With a Republican majority in Congress, Obama will find it difficult to run the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Feds Cracking Down on ‘Barbaric’ Cultural Practices, Immigrant Polygamy
TORONTO — Legislation aimed at curbing “barbaric” cultural practices from occurring in Canada would be introduced on Wednesday, Citizenship Minister Chris Alexander has announced.
Although he refused to provide details, Alexander said the legislation would also take aim at “honour-based” violence against girls and women.
“We intend sending a very clear message to anyone coming to Canada that such practices are unacceptable,” Alexander said.
“We will be standing up for women and girls who have come to Canada for a better life.”
The legislation, entitled the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act,” follows cases in which Afghan men in Canada were accused of killing female relatives.
The minister said provisions in the bill will do away with the ability of perpetrators to argue provocation or cultural differences as a mitigating factor.
“Honour-based killings are nothing more than murders,” Alexander said.
“We will be working through this bill to make sure that such killings are considered the murders that we know them to be. There is absolutely no room for ambiguity.”
Among other measures, the legislation would eliminate early and forced marriage from the country’s immigration program as well as domestically, Alexander said.
The measures would not include arranged marriages…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
English Town to Burn Alex Salmond Effigy
Alex Salmond has criticised plans to burn an effigy of him during bonfire night celebrations in an English town. Thousands of people are to watch the effigy of the Scottish first minister being burned in the East Sussex town of Lewes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Regions Who Don’t Spend EU Funds Will be Substituted
Delrio presents 2014-2020 EU Partnership funds
(ANSA) — Rome, November 4 — Cabinet Undersecretary Graziano Delrio said Tuesday local entities that deal irresponsibly with European Union funds will be substituted. “Whoever fails to spend EU funds will be substituted, (as will) whoever fails to act with honesty,” Delrio said while presenting the 2014-2020 Partnership Agreement between the EU and Italy.
Delrio went on to berate regional administrators who “use waivers and deferments to block funds for 10 years without investing them”. Unused funds will be promptly invested in other projects, Delrio added. The government will place no limitation on the use of those funds, so regions “mustn’t complain”, he added.
As well, Delrio said that as of October 31, regions had spent 62% of the EU funds allocated to them under the 2007-2013 Partnership Agreement.
“We must make our EU target of 70% in the next month and a half,” Delrio explained. “We risk losing those resources if we don’t speed up investments, but I am confident” that will happen, the undersecretary said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ENI Does Not Rule Out Leaving South Stream Pipeline Project
Four partners ‘having difficulty’ finding funding
(ANSA) — Rome, November 4 — Italian oil and gas giant Eni cannot rule out leaving the South Stream natural gas project carrying energy from Russia to Europe, CEO Claudio Descalzi said Tuesday. “ENI will continue to engage in South Stream if required investment does not exceed 600 million euros, otherwise it will consider leaving the project,” Descalzi said.
“The four participants in the project are having difficulty finding funding,” he continued.
“But ENI would never be able to put up 2.4 billion euros, as this would be too risky for its financial balance,” Descalzi said. Russian energy giant Gazprom is the majority shareholder in the South Stream natural gas pipeline project, which it is building along with Italian state-controlled energy conglomerate Eni.
Other partners are France’s EDF and German oil and gas Company Wintershall.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Marino Says Danger of Rome Bus Services Being Halted
Order for 77 million euros to be seized from ATAC
(ANSA) — Rome, November 4 — Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said Tuesday that there is a risk that the capital’s bus services could be halted because of a legal dispute that has led to an order to seize 77 million euros from the city’s public transport company ATAC. “There a real risk,” Marino told reporters when asked about the possibility of buses being grounded because of the dispute between ATAC and another transport company, Roma TPL.
“That’s why we are using all the instruments possible to avoid this. “It’s clear that there is a great deal of concern”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fight Against Tax Evasion Yields 759 Mn Euros
More taxes paid, despite Italian economic woes
(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — Italy’s economy ministry said Wednesday that its fight against tax evasion was yielding results, with revenues seized from the crackdown on tax avoidance jumping by 14.5% in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period in 2013.
That increase was worth 759 million euros.
Meanwhile, the total tax revenue intake jumped by 0.1%, or 164 million euros, in the first nine months of the year compared with last year, to reach almost 291 billion euros.
Over the same period, the total VAT take rose by 3%, or 2.257 billion euros, while increases attributable to internal consumption jumped by 3.7%, or 2.398 billion euros.
The VAT on internal trade provides a good barometer of consumption.
The economy ministry said that in September, the figures fell by 0.6% from the previous month, a trend that shows the impact of the economic slowdown.
The fall is more dramatic when compared with an increase of 4% reported in August and an 8.3% rise reported last February.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Enel to Sell 17% Stake in Spain’s Endesa Beginning Friday
Could boost offering to 22%, targeting Spanish investors
(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — Italian energy giant Enel said Wednesday that it will sell a 17% stake in its Spanish subsidiary Endesa.
The announcement came following board approval of the plan to sell shares in Endesa, which is 92% owned by Enel.
The offer, aimed mainly at retail investors in Spain as well as Spanish and international institutional investors, could eventually be increased to 22% of the company.
The public offering is set for Friday. “We are now…unlocking new value within the group and increase our focus on the new energy market framework that emerged in the Iberian Peninsula,” Chief Executive Officer Francesco Starace said in a statement.
Shares in Enel, Italy’s largest utility, rose on the news, gaining 2.49% by mid-afternoon Wednesday to trade at 3.948 euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi-Berlusconi Electoral Law Reform Meeting Inconclusive
Renzi urged speed, Berlusconi stepped on the brakes
(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — Ex center-right premier Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday had a working lunch with center-left Premier Matteo Renzi at the premier’s office.
The two leaders wanted to talk about possible amendments to an election-law bill that is a result of an agreement the pair reached earlier this year, ANSA sources said. The two leaders apparently failed to agree, with sources in parliament saying Renzi told Berlusconi speed is of the essence in changing Italy’s current electoral law, which has been ruled unconstitutional — but the older leader reportedly put the brakes on the process.
Reforms Minister Maria Elena Boschi later remarked that the government will “evaluate” a proposed change to the electoral law calling for voters to elect 70% of MPs directly and the other 30% via blocked party lists.
“I wasn’t at today’s meeting between the premier and Berlusconi, but we propose a bonus for parties that reach 40% and setting the bar for minority parties at 5%,” Boschi told ANSA.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Juncker Says He Has No Renzi Problem, But Will Defend EC
President says he will ‘never accept unjustified’ jabs
(ANSA) — Brussels, November 5 — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that he had “no problems” with Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, while stressing that he wanted to defend the EC from “sabotage”. Juncker had triggered a furor on Tuesday when he hit back at Renzi’s criticism of the EU, saying he was not the head of a “gang of bureaucrats” in response to questioning from the European People’s Party in the EU parliament.
On Wednesday, Juncker continued by saying that it was wrong of Renzi to suggest that bureaucrats were responsible everything done by the organization. “To say the Commission is made up of bureaucrats or to say that you do not accept lessons from bureaucrats is not something that I like,” said Juncker.
“I’m the head of 27 political commissioners and we are not bureaucrats, we are politicians”. Renzi, who has previously complained about bureaucrats, has said the Commission should “resolve problems, not create them” and that Italy “won’t go to Brussels hat in hand, to be told what to do”.
Renzi has lobbied hard for the EU to relax budget rules for recession-bound countries such as Italy, to allow them more room for spending on infrastructure and projects designed to boost the economy.
That had set him on a collision course with some of the bureaucracy of the relevant EU bodies.
Outside the latest meetings of EU leaders, Renzi said that the European Union’s main problem was not extra budget costs but “technocracy and bureaucracy”. And in a television interview with American network CNN on October 3, Renzi said that much of Europe’s problem lies with its “management”. “Reducing the power of bureaucracy in Europe is of the utmost importance. I think it is absolutely crucial to reduce the level of power of the technocrats in Brussels,” the premier said. Juncker said he will never accept unjustified criticism but will instead “energetically counter” such comments. He said he expects more attacks on the Commission but “I am not a guy who holds back,” he said, in response to Renzi’s criticism of the EU.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Troops Go Wild in England
They were supposed to be the ‘new’ Libyan army. Instead they allegedly went crazy in the streets of Cambridge, assaulting strangers and brutally raping one young man.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Intel Agents Say Terror Attack ‘Likely’ Within Year
Intelligence agents in Norway said their country is “likely” to be attacked by terrorists — or at least, field a threat of attack from terrorists — in the next year. The Joint Counter Terror Center said the Islamic State, as well as other terrorist groups, has called for acts of aggression against those nations that have joined with the United States to launch airstrikes over Syria and Iraq, The Associated Press reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rosetta Spacecraft: To Catch a Comet
Rosetta is a spacecraft on a 10-year mission to catch a comet. Launched in 2004, the spacecraft arrived at its target Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Aug. 6, 2014. For our latest story on the historic arrival, visit: Europe’s Rosetta Spacecraft Makes Historic Arrival at Comet.
Rosetta is the first spacecraft to accompany a comet as it enters the inner solar system. After meeting up with the comet, it will begin a two-year study of the comet’s nucleus and environment, observing how a frozen comet changes as it approaches the heat of the sun. Rosetta will also deploy a robot to make the first controlled landing on a comet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Åkesson Unlikely to Return to Work Before 2015
The leader of the Sweden Democrats party, Jimmie Åkesson, is not likely to be back at work before 2015, according to the party’s press secretary Martin Kinnunen, who was interviewed by the tabloid Aftonbladet today.
Shortly after the party was voted as Sweden’s third largest in national elections this fall, Åkesson went on sick leave due to burn-out.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The European Central Bank is supposed to guarantee stability, but it’s undergoing a revamp itself. Not only is it facing new responsibilities, it is also set to relocate to new premises. More than 2,000 staff members will be moving into new offices in a 185-meter double tower block in Frankfurt. The cost: about 1.2 billion euros.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘You Don’t Frighten Me’: Jean-Claude Juncker Taunts David Cameron
Speaking after the first weekly meeting of his new Brussels administration, the president of the European Commission bragged that he was “not the type who trembles, in front of prime ministers or at any other time”.
“I’m not frightened of any prime ministers,” he said.
The Conservative leader was humiliated at a summit in July when he tried to stop Mr Juncker, a passionate federalist, from becoming president of the commission.
Mr Cameron was out-voted, after being betrayed by the German Chancellor and Mr Juncker was installed in the commission, taking up his new post this week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Four Tunisian Soldiers Killed in Suspected Islamist Attack
Four Tunisian soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded on Wednesday in an attack by suspected Islamist militants on a bus carrying soldiers in Kef near the Algerian border, the Defense Ministry said.
The attack came while Tunisia was preparing its first free presidential election on Nov. 23 and only ten days after parliamentary elections won by secular party Nida Tounes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tripoli Statue of Nude Woman Disappears, ‘Sabotage’
Italian-era icon ‘The Gazelle’ long threatened by Islamists
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, NOVEMBER 5 — An iconic Italian-era statue of a naked woman and a gazelle mysteriously disappeared between the night of November 2 and the next morning from its pedestal on the seafront of the Libyan capital.
The culture minister of the transitional government confirmed on Wednesday the disappearance, calling it “an act of sabotage that aims to erase Libyan history and destroy its antiquities”. Eyewitnesses say that the statue, known as ‘The Gazelle’, was taken away at dawn on November 3 by an unknown group, saying that it violated religious principles. The statue had been threatened by Islamic extremists as far back as 2012, when it was put under police surveillance. Since last summer Tripoli has been prey to Libya Dawn Islamist militias, which have set up a different government and parliament from the ones recognized by the international community. The latter have been forced to relocate to the eastern city of Tobruk due to the fighting.
In August during clashes for control of the airport and capital, the statue was severely damaged by a rocket that hit its stomach, leaving a gaping hole.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Two Police Officers Dead, 11 Injured in Egypt Train Blast
Egypt’s state television announced on Wednesday night that at least two police officers have been killed and 11 people have been injured after a bomb exploded inside the Menouf train station in Cairo. The explosion occured in front of the station’s police unit. Five fire trucks rushed to the scene and put the fire out. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Amnesty: Israeli Army Defies War Laws
Foreign ministry accuses NGO of propaganda for Hamas
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, NOVEMBER 5 — Amnesty International has accused Israeli forces in Gaza of “brazenly flouting the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused”, said Philip Luther, the director of the organization’s Middle East and North Africa program, based on a report published Wednesday.
The report accused Israel of displaying “callous indifference” for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were not pre-warned of attacks nor given the possibility to flee, he noted.
Israel responded through its foreign ministry accusing Amnesty of propaganda in favor of Hamas and other terror groups after the publication of the report on last summer’s conflict in Gaza.
The report, which heavily criticizes the conduct of the Israeli army, provides no evidence, the ministry said.
Israel also accused Amnesty of ignoring “documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas”. It cited, among others, the use of human shields and systematic rocket attacks against Israeli civilian targets launched “from schools, hospitals and mosques” in the Strip. The Amnesty report, Israel also noted, does not mention that Hamas is considered a “terrorist organization” at an international level.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Attack, One of Those Injured Dead
Ynet, attackers is from Hamas
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, NOVEMBER 5 — One of the Israelis wounded in the attack in Jerusalem Wednesday has died, according to local media including Haaretz.
“The terrorist” who carried out the attack has been identified as a Hamas operative from Shuafat, in East Jerusalem, the website Ynet reports.
From Gaza, the Islamic organization said through its television network that it saluted “someone who today sacrificed himself to defend the Al Aqsa Mosque” and called on others “to follow the example”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Driver Hits Soldiers in Gush Etzion
Arab driver runs over IDF soldiers in the second hit-and-run attack in 8 hours. Three soldiers injured
Three IDF soldiers were injured in a second terror attack on Wednesday evening — this time, in an attempt to run over soldiers in Gush Etzion.
In the latest attack, a terrorist driving a Palestinian Arab commercial vehicle attempted to run over the soldiers as they were on duty near a guard stand outside of Kafr Al-Arub.
The driver then fled from the scene, driving southward. Security forces located the car a short time later, but the driver was nowhere to be found.
Paramedics and Magen David Adom staff gave medical treatment to the three wounded; of the three, one of them is wounded critically, with chest and limb injuries, and two were wounded moderately.
They have been evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Attack in Jerusalem, Car on Passersby
Netanyahu and Plo trade accusations
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, NOVEMBER 5 — A car ran over passersby in East Jerusalem in what some sources say was a possible Palestinian attack modeled on a deadly attack carried out two weeks ago.
A number of people have been injured in the incident in Sheikh Jarrah district, and one of the people injured has died later in the hospital
According to Radio Jerusalem, the Palestinian driver has been killed.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld also spoke of a possible terror attack.
The car hit several people and several ambulances are reaching the location, he added.
The Palestinian reportedly first ran over people near a tram stop right next to an Orthodox Jewish district. He then got into a mixed neighbourhood, Sheik Jarrach, and ran over other Israelis. Finally, he got off the car and hit a number of people with an iron rod. Police subsequently killed him.One of the Israelis wounded in the attack in Jerusalem Wednesday has died, according to local media including Haaretz.
“The terrorist” who carried out the attack has been identified as a Hamas operative from Shuafat, in East Jerusalem, the website Ynet reports.
From Gaza, the Islamic organization said through its television network that it saluted “someone who today sacrificed himself to defend the Al Aqsa Mosque” and called on others “to follow the example”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Albu Nimr Tribe Reports 500 Members Killed by ISIS
(AGI) Baghdad, Nov. 5 — Over 500 members of the Sunni Albu Nimr tribe in western Iraq have been killed by Islamic State in recent days, as reported to the press by the tribe’s leader Naim Gaod Nimrawi, who begged people living in the Anbar Province to continue to revolt against the jihadists. According to Nimrawi, there were at least 20 women and 26 children among those murdered. A spokesman for the tribe said that killings mainly occurred in the cities of Hit, Furat and Jazeera.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Darkness at Noon Prayers: Inside the Islamic Police State
Stalin, Castro, Pol Pot came before. The techniques of totalitarianism are not unique to ISIS. But here’s the scariest thing about them. They work.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan Presidential Palace Cost Soars for Turkey
A controversial new 1,000-room palace built for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will cost about £385m ($615m) — nearly twice the previous estimate, Turkish officials say.
Known as Ak Saray (White Palace), it was built on a forested hilltop on the edge of the capital Ankara, on more than 150,000 sq m (1.6m sq ft) of land.
Mr Erdogan opened the palace on 30 August after becoming president.
His AK Party has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade.
The palace is bigger than the White House in Washington, the Kremlin in Moscow and even the Palace of Versailles near Paris.
The palace has sumptuous marble corridors and atriums, as well as high-tech systems to prevent electronic eavesdropping.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Forbes Puts ISIS Leader on World’s Most Powerful List
Al-Baghdadi in 54th place after Putin, Obama, Xi, Pope Francis
(ANSAmed) — NEW YORK — Russian president Valdimir Putin remains ahead of his US counterpart, Barack Obama, for the second year in a row as the world’s most powerful leader on the list published annually by US magazine Forbes. Obama is followed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The only Italian to make the list is once again European Central Bank (ECB) governor Mario Draghi, in 8th place.
The biggest surprise this year is the entrance of Islamic State (ISIS) leader and self-proclaimed ‘caliph’ Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi — the US’s top enemy — in 54th place. On the magazine’s choice of Baghdadi, it noted that “as the self-proclaimed caliph of a largely-theoretical pan-Islamic state, al-Baghdadi might appear to be the weakest new member of our list of the World’s Most Powerful — especially if you judge by his probable life-expectancy. But in a remarkably short period of time, al-Baghdadi’s ISIS fighters have seized significant portions of eastern Syria and western Iraq, commandeered the planet’s attention with a series of barbaric beheadings and earned non-negligible amounts of cash, largely through black-market oil sales said to total $1 million a day.
He has gotten our attention — and also that of the people at the very top of this list”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State: Diary of Life in Mosul
The northern Iraqi city of Mosul fell to Islamic State (IS) in June, bringing the population under the harsh rule of the jihadists. The militants swiftly introduced a regime in accordance with their radical version of Islam, including brutal punishments, strict rules for women and intolerance of any dissent.
In an exclusive series of diary instalments, residents describe what life is like in Mosul since IS took over. The diarists’ names have been changed to protect their identities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 90 “Extremists” Tweets Posted Per Minute in Saudi Arabia
The figure emerges from a statistic published by the Ministry for Islamic Affairs. Over 500 accounts that promoted extremist organizations closed. A a religious television network also shut down.
Riyadh (AsiaNews) — More than 90 “extremists” tweets are posted per minute in Saudi Arabia, almost 130 thousand per day. The figure emerges from a statistic made public by the Ministry for Islamic Affairs, about which Abdul Moneim Al-Mushawwah, director of Peace Campaign, conducted by the Ministry, spoke of dwindling numbers than in previous months, although the statistic has a margin of error of 30 percent, because the data was manually collected.
According to Arab News, he claimed that extremist groups like Al-Qaeda are weakening geographically and intellectually, even on the Internet. However, unrest and chaos in some areas “are reviving their activities.”
Al-Mushawwah said more than 500 accounts have been shut down belonging to individuals promoting the activities of organizations including Jabhat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham. In this context, he called for the creation of a national body to monitor, analyze and provide information on messages that promote extremism on social media.
In the fight against extremism, it seems that the Ministry for Culture and Information has decided to close Al Wesal, a religious television network. The Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja did not specify the reasons for the decision, but said that “the ministry, in collaboration with the security officers and brave citizens, with strong determination, those who incite conflict”. “Terrorism — he added — has no religion and terrorists are enemies of all religions and mankind.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Yazidi Slave Trade Video Latest Proof of Radical Islamist Cruelty Against Women
by Phyllis Chesler
For years, many of us have described Islamist terrorists as “barbarians.” And for years, we have been attacked as “racist Islamophobes” for doing so.
What exactly is a “barbarian?”
A barbarian is someone who finds joy in inflicting pain and death. Doing so makes them laugh. Literally. Thus, culturally and psychologically, Islamist barbarians are the equivalent of Western-style sadistic, sociopathic serial killers—only the barbarians do not work alone or in secret. They work in large theological-military paramilitary gangs and they do their grisly work quite openly.
Western serial killers are hunted down and are not valorized. Groups like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Al-Shabab, Hamas, Boko Haram, and ISIS are considered fearless and heroic warriors, purists, religious freedom-fighters by their followers and by a strong minority— some say a majority— of Muslims world-wide who have called for Sharia law. What these terrorist groups are doing satisfies the tenets of Sharia law—a law which has not been refined, modified, or re-interpreted to render it compatible with Western concepts of human rights and jurisprudence.
By making and releasing videos, such groups wish to terrorize onlookers as well as their captives. Terror is meant to subdue any opposition.
Beheading helpless captives and then playing football with their severed heads is a sport to them. Giving severed heads to children, forcing children to watch the beheadings (so as to de-sensitize them to the suffering of others), positioning guns in the hands of five-year-old boys and photographing them as future warriors—all creates a torture-oriented and death-oriented culture. Such behaviors characterize not only ISIS but also Hamas and the Taliban.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Iatseniuk Asks for Peace Talks Without Rebels
Ukrainian government suspends funding to occupied regions
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The most efficient approach to ending conflict in Ukraine would foresee excluding the separatist militants from the peace talks between the United States, the EU, Russia and Ukraine, as in the Geneva model, said the country’s prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk while opening the meeting of the Council of Ministers.
“There is no perspective in negotiating with the rebels”, he added. The agreement signed in Geneva on April 17th, so far not applied, envisioned disarming armed troups and amnesty for the insurgents.
Yatseniuk also announced that the Government has decided to suspend financing to the South East territories currently under control of pro-Russian separatists.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Actor and Putin Critic Found Dead in Moscow
Police suspect foul play after Alexei Devotchenko, critic of Vladimir Putin, discovered “in pool of blood”
A well-known Russian actor who was a vocal critic of the Kremlin has been found dead in suspicious circumstances at his home in Moscow.
Alexei Devotchenko, 49, was discovered in his apartment in the north of the city, police told Russia news agencies.
“There is reason to suppose that the artist’s death is of a criminal character,” said one law enforcement source.
Mr Devotchenko was know for his roles in several popular television drama series such as “Bandit Petersburg” and “The Street of Broken Lamps” and in performances at the highly regarded Moscow Art Theatre.
Some reports said the actor was found by a friend in a pool of blood outside his home while others said he was inside the apartment.
Police said the scene was being investigated and there was no immediate confirmation of whether he had been murdered, or the potential motives of a killer.
However, Mr Devotchenko’s outspoken criticism of the rule of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, is likely to provoke intense scrutiny over how and why he died.
In 2011, the actor said he was renouncing two state acting prizes “received from Putin’s hands”, saying he was “ashamed”. “I’ve had enough of all this tsar-state stuff,” he wrote in a blog post. “With its lies, its cover-ups, its legalised theft, its bribe-taking and its other triumphs.”…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Two Teens Die in East Ukraine Shelling
Four wounded on school playing field
(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — Two teenagers died and four were wounded Wednesday when an artillery shell hit a school playing field as they played football in eastern Ukraine.
The attack in Donetsk came as both sides in the Ukrainian conflict accused each other of tearing up a peace deal.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 5 September, although hundreds of people have been killed since then.
Fighting erupted in April after pro-Russian separatists seized control in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
More than 4,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitoring mission has warned that the “bloodletting” is still going on, with numerous incidents of shelling.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
44 Arrested in Pakistan for Burning of Christian Couple
More than 460 participated, Punjab Governor opens investigation
(ANSA) — Islamabad, November 5 — Pakistani police arrested 44 suspects in the burning death of a Christian couple in a village south of Lahore, media reported on Wednesday.
More than 460 people reportedly took part when Christian couple Shahzad and Shama were burned alive.
The couple were killed for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran, local sources said.
Punjab Governor Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, set up an investigation commission and increased security in neighborhoods with Christian minority populations.
Additionally, the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) condemned the crime and asked for more information.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
After the Attack at Wagah, Taliban “Ready to Attack India”
The group that claimed responsibility for the attack on Pakistan border slams prime minister Narendra Modi “murderer of hundreds of Muslims”. Taliban spokesman promises: “We will avenge the innocent people of Kashmir and Gujarat.”
New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) — The Tehereek-e-Taliban Pakistan Janaat Ahrar (TTP-Ja), who were behind the October 2 Wagah suicide attack, say they will target India. In a tweet in Urdu militia spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said: “ If we can attack this side, the other side could also be attacked”. He also tweeted in English: “You (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) are the killer of hundreds of Muslims. We willl take the revenge of innocent people of Kashmir and Gujarat”.
In the attack at Wagah, the only border crossing via land between the two countries, more than 60 people were killed and at least 200 were injured. Most of the victims were Pakistani nationals, since the bomber blew himself up on the Pakistani side of the border.
The TTP-Ja is a Taliban group that formed last September immediately announcing its support for the Islamic state (IS). The TTP-Ja’s clear anti-Indian rhetoric, say some analysts, is different from that of the Pakistani Taliban, whose actions focus mainly against the Pakistani security forces in the tribal areas north-west of the country.
The Muslim majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, has been claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, for over 60 years. In 1949 — at the end of the first Indo-Pakistani conflict — the territory was divided: New Delhi took Jammu and Kashmir (which became a special status state, ed), the Islamabad took the Northern Territory and Azad Kashmir. A division that has not stopped the tensions, setting the two nations into a spiral of “war” without end.
The current prime minister Narendra Modi is considered by many partly responsible for the violence between Hindus and Muslims that erupted in 2002 in the state of Gujarat, when he was chief minister. In the massacres the Islamic community paid the highest price, with more than a thousand victims.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens Arrested in Slaying of Pakistani Couple Accused of Desecrating Quran
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistani police say they have arrested up to 40 people in connection with the killing of a Christian couple in Punjab province who were beaten, then pushed into a burning kiln after being accused of desecrating the Quran.
Local police officials said a mob from neighboring villages formed Tuesday after a local mullah declared the couple were guilty of blasphemy.
The mob allegedly marched to the couple’s home, broke down their door, dragged them outside, beat them and threw them into the brick kiln where they both worked.
[Such a peaceful, tolerant creed. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Renames Mubi ‘City of Islam’
(AGI) Lagos, Nov 5 — Within hours of army orders to retake Mubi, Boko Haram fighters have defied the Nigerian authorities by renaming the shopping centre and second biggest city in Adamawa state Madunital Islam (City of Islam). Mobi North and Mobi South and the Michika and Madagali centres are currently firmly in extremist hands. Local sources reported that the Islamists had set up road blocks and urged local residents not to flee but to remain in the areas under Boko Haram control, safer than the Nigerian territory. One of the trapped residents said that, despite reassurances, thousands of frightened residents had already fled the city.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Africans’ Daily Struggle With Violent Crime
South Africans are still reeling at the murder of their national football team captain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa last week. Violent crime claims some 50 lives a day in South Africa.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Gay Men Are More Misogynistic Than Straight Men’: An Insider’s Point of View
Rose McGowan has declared an “indictment” of the gay community, claiming that homosexual men are “more misogynistic” than their straight counterparts and dismissing those who boycotted the Brunei-owned Dorchester Hotel collection as “delusional idiots”.
The American actress, who claims to have lived a life “heavily entrenched” in LGBT, was discussing the protest against the hotel chain with gay author Brett Easton Ellis in his weekly podcast when she made the comments.
The Dorchester Collection, which is owned by the Sultan of Brunei, has been the subject of boycotts since the controversial change to the penal code was scheduled to come into effect on 22 April 2014 that made homosexuality punishable by stoning to death.
| [Return to headlines] |
How Stress Can Harm Your Heart
Stress is just as harmful as smoking. New research is looking at the role psychological factors play in the development of heart disease. The results indicate that mental trauma, the loss of a partner or problems at work can impact cardio-vascular health and even cause heart attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
More on the training of libyan forces in england fiasco:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/cameron-plan-train-libyan-soldiers-problems-money
“When training finally began, the then UK defence secretary Philip Hammond hailed it as a major step. “Over the next 24 weeks the British army will deliver world-class training to the Libyan soldiers, which will better prepare them to support Libya’s transition to a stable and open democracy,” Hammond said.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
How do toffy people like Cameron and that other truly strange (just departed) mechanical looking sounding and acting individual, Libyaandsyriaman William Haigue, come up with these responses to the the real world? My God what do we not know? Doing the same the the same thing over and over expecting a different result is insanity.
In 1942-5, Bassingbourn was home to the Flying Fortresses of the USAAF’s 91st Bomb Group, helping preserve our democracy. Enough said…
@Libyan Troops Go Wild in England
Thursday night was riot night’ at Bassingbourn base.
“A bunch of militamen were in control of a British army base in the UK”.
A whistleblower gives his shocking account of the Libyan army training fiasco.
@ Juncker v Cameron & the EU
Mr Juncker tells, tells mind you, Mr Cameron to pony up by December 1 the UK’s freshly elevated annual contribution to the EU of 2.17 billion euros, concluding in his instruction after making pejorative references to Mr Cameron: “There is nothing to be done [in delaying/avoiding payment]”
Au contraire Monsieur/Herr Juncker there is indeed something to be done.
1. The UK holds a referendum next week on staying in or leaving the EU. Cameron, Brown and Blair before him refused to hold such a referendum because they knew what the result would be. Each applying the unspoken maxim of the new bureaucratic “aristocracy” that rules Western countries to a greater or lesser degree : better not to let the people make such decisions.
2. The UK then leaves the EU; much to the betterment and social and economic welfare of the British people – they could remain part of the European Free Trade Area and retain the benefits that brings. The Irish people would then demand another referendum on the same subject and Ireland would leave too. The Netherlands, Denmark and Austria may well also do the same; in the former case a certainty if Geert Wilders attains the necessary degree of political power to force the issue.
And what Monsieur/Herr Juncker would happen if every EU member country simultaneously gave 7 days notice they were leaving the EU. And it then ceased to exist. Certainly there would be no adverse economic consequences whatsoever for the wealthier ones. The scores of billions of euros wasted annually on sustaining a vast bloated pointless EU apparatus – bureaucracy and “parliament” – in Brussels and Strasburg would be saved. Europe, indeed the world, would be spared the likes of you, Barroso, Ashton, that Dutch non-entity whose name I forget and scores more like you and them. Making Europe and the world a better place.
And you Monsieur/Herr Juncker would have to pay for the expensive cognac that you drink watered down each morning with your breakfast out of your own pocket by making a living by working at a real job.
Sent from my iPad
I can’t stop laughing.
No wonder a couple of million plus muslim settlers are having their way.
In two separate attacks, Palestinian Arabs targeted Israeli Jews with their vehicles, killing one person in each incident.
As usual no mention of these crimes in the western media at all. Just wait until a Palestinian gets scratched.