Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/31/2015

The Islamic State has posted a video that appears to show the beheading of its second Japanese hostage, Kenji Goto. The executioner warned the Japanese government that ISIS has “an entire army thirsty for your blood”, and will continue to target Japanese citizens.

In other news, two Muslim feminists in Los Angeles have opened a women-only mosque. Women may enter it by the front door and sit in front. A woman gives the sermon, and no men are allowed inside.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Nancy, Papa Whiskey, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Greece’s New Prime Minister Says He Won’t Clash With Creditors, Will Pay Debts Off
» Italy: Troubled MPS Shares Tumble by 7.8% to Historic Low
» Podemos Rallies Spaniards With Anti-Austerity Message
 
USA
» Cheap Oil Burns $390 Billion Hole in Investors’ Pockets
» Finances Questioned at Islamic Center in Dearborn
» People Identified Through Credit-Card Use Alone
» The Hunt for Alien Extremophiles is Taking Off
» US Mulls Middle East-North Africa Category for 2020 Census
» Women-Only Mosque Opens in Los Angeles
 
Canada
» Anti-Democracy Imam Gets Cold Reception From Politicians Over Montreal Community Centre Plan
» Canada to Introduce New Anti-Terror Legislation
 
Europe and the EU
» Austria: Dozens Detained at Protests Against Right-Wing Party’s Vienna Ball
» Cyprus: Moscow Interested in a Military Base on the Island
» Dutch Prosecutor Acts on Anti-Muslim Facebook Comments
» Europe’s 1st Zero-Gravity 3D Printer Headed for Space
» France: Charlie Hebdo Delays Next Two Issues Because Staff ‘Not Ready’
» Germany: Carl Djerassi, Developer of Birth Control Pill, Dies at 91
» German Spy Agency Saves Millions of Phone Records, Says Report
» Gravitational Waves Discovery Now Officially Dead
» Islam Opponents March Through Prague
» Italy: ‘Roman’ Camorra Boss Gets Tough Jail Regime
» Italy: 28 Arrests Over Alleged ‘White Lady’ Drug Ring
» Italy: Minniti Calls for NGO Rules for Travel to Crisis Zones
» Italy: Finance Police Arrest Two, Seize 8mn in Assets
» Italy: Tourists Can Walk Milan’s Galleria Rooftop Starting in April
» Italy: Ministers Sign Decree Banning GMO Corn
» Italy: State Witness Protection Service Sees Budget Cut
» Italy: Over 160 Arrested in ‘Historic’ ‘Ndrangheta Operation
» Italy: Six Indicted for Abuse of Office in Atac Hiring Scandal
» Italy: 90% of Bank Employees on Strike Nationwide, Union Says
» Jewish Leader, Italian TV Crew Become Trapped in Auschwitz
» Leak Suggests Big Bang Find Was a Dusty Mistake
» More Open Borders for Swedish Nationals
» Sweden: Roma Denied Sleep Complain of ‘Torture’
» The Heart of Europe’s Problem With Islam
» UK: Army Sets Up New Brigade ‘For Information Age’
» Why France So Worries European Policy Makers
 
Mediterranean Union
» Italy-Tunisia: Magon Project on Wine Tourism
 
North Africa
» After Meeting With U.S. State Dept., Brotherhood Officially Declares Jihad on Egypt
» Egyptian Interior Ministry Employee Killed in Sinai
» Egypt President Sisi Warns of ‘Long Battle’ With Militants
» Egypt: Cairo Court Rules Hamas Offshoot a ‘Terrorist’ Group
» Egypt: Al-Qaradawi and Qutb Books Withdrawn From Cairo Intl Book Fair: Ministry Denies Interference
» ISIL’s Rise in Libya
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» ‘Italy Day’ In Hebron as Part of Cooperation With Palestine
 
Middle East
» Al-Qaeda in Yemen Says France Now Bigger Enemy Than US
» Bahrain Withdraws Citizenship of 72 People, Including is Preacher Turki Al-Binali
» ISIS Seizes Oil Facility in Kirkuk Producing 10,000 BPD
» Islamic State Releases Purported Goto Execution Video
» Islamic State Fighters Admit They Lost Syrian Town of Kobani, Blame US-Led Airstrike Campaign
» Islamic State Posts Video Purportedly Showing Goto Being Beheaded
» Jihadists Increasingly Wary of Internet, Experts Say
» Saudi Arabia: Blogger Raif Badawi’s Long Struggle for Freedom of Expression
» Saudi Arabia: Cooking Gas Crisis Deepens in Jeddah
» Saudi Arabia Faces ISIS Threats During Transition of New King
 
Russia
» Opposition Blogger May Have “Outed” Putin’s Daughter
» Russia’s Economy, Ukraine Put Putin in Uncertain Position
» Russia Sees Economy Shrinking 3% in 2015; Economy Ministry Forecasts 12% Inflation Rate
» Sanctions Aren’t the Key Source of Russia’s Woes
» Ukraine: Minsk Talks Crumble, Battles in Debaltseve
» Ukraine Wants UN to Label Russia as a Sponsor of Terrorism
 
South Asia
» Afghanistan: Police in Kabul Clash With Demonstrators Protesting Against Charlie Hebdo Magazine
» India: West Bengal: Two Radical Hindu Leaders Reported Over “Reconversion” of Christians and Muslims
» Myanmar: Chin Christians Ready to Go to Jail to Stop Cross Removal
 
Far East
» Beijing Sends a New Flood of Han Migrants to Lhasa: Tibetans Risk Disappearing
» China’s Man-Made Islands in Disputed Waters Raise Worries
» Chinese Government Attacks Textbooks That Promote Western Values
» ‘Western Values’ Forbidden in Chinese Universities
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» South Africa’s Soweto Area, Once Epicenter of Resistance to Apartheid, Convulsed by Looting
 
Immigration
» Sweden: ‘Immigration is Critical’ For Stockholm’s Future
» The Huddled Masses Besieging Fortress Calais
 
Culture Wars
» Indoctrination Marches on
» More Italians Favor Civil Unions But Not Gay Marriage
» Roger Scruton: Why Beauty Matters
» Why the West Rules — For Now
 
General
» Muslims Pin Offensive Caricatures on Christianity
 

Greece’s New Prime Minister Says He Won’t Clash With Creditors, Will Pay Debts Off

ATHENS, Greece — A day after Greece appeared on a collision course with its creditors, new radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has tamped down the rhetoric by vowing to pay off debts and not act unilaterally.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who had a tense meeting with Eurogroup leader Jeroen Dijsselbloem in Athens on Friday, has brought forward a trip to Paris, London and Rome to meet his counterparts.

Tsipras says he never intended to act unilaterally and expressed his certainty that Greece and the creditors will reach an agreement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Troubled MPS Shares Tumble by 7.8% to Historic Low

Shares plunge to worst ever, 0.40 euros

(ANSA) — Milan, January 30 — After being temporarily suspended, shares in the troubled Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank plunged by 7.8% Friday to reach a fresh historic low of 0.40 euros on the Milan bourse, stock exchange officials said.

Sales in shares of the beleaguered Tuscan bank were described as “violent” with as many as 60 million changing hands within an hour.

The latest fall came after a 6% loss Thursday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Podemos Rallies Spaniards With Anti-Austerity Message

Spain’s upstart leftist party drew tens of thousands of supporters to central Madrid on Saturday. In just one year, it has gone from nothing to a serious contender in the upcoming vote.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cheap Oil Burns $390 Billion Hole in Investors’ Pockets

They’ve pumped more than $1.4 trillion into the oil and gas industry the past five years as oil prices averaged more than $91 a barrel. The cash infusion helped push U.S. crude production to the highest in more than 30 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Now that oil prices have fallen below $46, any euphoria over cheaper energy will be tempered by losses that are starting to show up in investment funds, retirement accounts and bank balance sheets. The bear market has wiped out a total of $393 billion since June — $353 billion from the shares of 76 companies in the Bloomberg Intelligence North America Exploration & Production index, and almost $40 billion from high-yield energy bonds, issued by many shale drillers, according to a Bloomberg index.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Finances Questioned at Islamic Center in Dearborn

Some board members of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn are accusing the mosque’s religious leader of a pattern of financial irregularities, threatening to report them to state and federal authorities, according to letters obtained by the Free Press.

Sent by individual board members to the full board, the letters raised questions of legal liability for the center and called for potential government investigations into the finances at one of the biggest mosques in Michigan.

In the most recent letter, sent Dec. 21, Salah Hazimi — a board member and former longtime treasurer of the Dearborn mosque — blasted Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, the center’s religious leader, and his supporters on the board for what Hazimi called “serious and unethical financial issues.” Hazimi warned Al-Qazwini that he had 30 days to account for the money and return it or else he would report the problems to tax authorities.

           — Hat tip: Nancy [Return to headlines]
 

People Identified Through Credit-Card Use Alone

Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, a computer-security researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, and his colleagues managed to identify one individual from a sea of ‘anonymized’ credit-card data.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Hunt for Alien Extremophiles is Taking Off

The Earth’s most extreme microbes, including bacteria that eat radioactive metals, tolerate lethal doses of radiation and thrive in the planet’s driest desert, are fascinating in their own right. But it is what they are teaching scientists about how to hunt for life on other worlds that may be their most important legacy.

That search isn’t hypothetical. Scientists at NASA are planning missions to Mars and Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus that may yield conclusive evidence of life on those worlds. But to get there, the research teams first have to decide precisely where to look and what signs of life to target.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Mulls Middle East-North Africa Category for 2020 Census

DETROIT (AP) — The federal government is considering allowing those of Middle Eastern and North African descent to identify as such on the next 10-year census, which could give Arab-Americans and other affected groups greater political clout and access to public funding, among other things.

The U.S. Census Bureau will test the new Middle East-North Africa (MENA) classification for possible inclusion on the 2020 census if it gets enough positive feedback about the proposed change by Sunday, when the public comment period ends.

Arab-Americans, who make up the majority of those who would be covered by the MENA classification, have previously been classified by default as white on the census, which helps determine congressional district boundaries and how billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated, among other things.

Those pushing for the MENA classification say it would more fully and accurately count them, thus increasing their visibility and influence among policymakers.

The Census Bureau plans to test it later this year by holding focus group discussions with people who would be affected by the proposed change. Congress would still have to sign off on the proposal before the change could be added to the 2020 census.

[Hey, what a great idea! More funding and political clout for Muslims! — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Women-Only Mosque Opens in Los Angeles

Two Southern California women have started their own women-only mosque in Los Angeles.

After starting to feel unwelcome by the men they encountered the mosque they used to attend, Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib may have made history Friday during the first sermon. The Wall Street Journal says Islamic scholars and Muslim leaders do not know of any other such mosque in the U.S.

Females will no longer have to enter through a side door or sit in the rear. A woman will also be giving the sermon, which is traditionally performed by a man.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Democracy Imam Gets Cold Reception From Politicians Over Montreal Community Centre Plan

MONTREAL — A controversial imam who preaches that democracy and Islam are incompatible should think twice before trying to set up an Islamic youth centre in Montreal, politicians warn.

“I am against all forms of radicalism,” Mayor Denis Coderre said in response to news reports that Hamza Chaoui wants to open the Ashabeb community centre in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough next month.

Mr. Coderre, who met with spiritual leaders Wednesday in hopes of fostering dialogue in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, said he will consult with borough mayor Réal Ménard about the plan.

But Montreal’s mayor said he rejects Mr. Chaoui’s rigid views on democracy and homosexuality, and his suggestion that democracy and Islam are antithetical. “That is not the message of the Qur’an.”…

[Return to headlines]
 

Canada to Introduce New Anti-Terror Legislation

Canada has announced a new bill that would make it a crime to call for a terrorist attack and give new powers to the government’s spy agency. The legislation comes in direct response to last year’s attacks in Ottawa.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Dozens Detained at Protests Against Right-Wing Party’s Vienna Ball

Fifty-four people were arrested Friday night after clashes during a demonstration in Vienna, Austria. About 5,000 people were protesting against a ball sponsored by the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria.

The annual ball is sponsored by the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), whose supporters range from euroskeptics to the far-right fringe. “This is not a harmless dance event, but a meeting where Europe’s extreme right comes to network,” said Käthe Lichtner, one of the left-wing activists who organized the protests.

Radical demonstrators protesting against the Academy Ball caused considerable damage last year, estimated to have been over 1 million euros ($1.3 million). This year, businesses closed shop before the event.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cyprus: Moscow Interested in a Military Base on the Island

(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, JANUARY 27 — Russia’s ambassador in Nicosia, Stanislav Osadchiy, expressed Moscow’s official intention to reach a potential agreement with Cyprus for a military base on the island as GreekReporter website writes quoting local media. The issue’s resurgence comes just a month before the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, visits Moscow, which is scheduled for late February. Answering journalists’ questions, Osadchiy confirmed his country’s interest in an agreement providing military facilities in Cyprus, but noted that the matter is still under discussion, adding that at this stage, Moscow’s contacts with the Cypriot Foreign Ministry mostly concern the preparation of bilateral agreements to be signed during the Cypriot President’s visit to the Russian capital.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch Prosecutor Acts on Anti-Muslim Facebook Comments

The public prosecution department is beginning a criminal investigation into 12 statements made on a Facebook page set up to support the anti-Islam PVV. Police are now tracking down the identities of people who left racist and discriminatory comments on the Facebook page Steun de PVV (support the PVV). The comments were made after the page published an article from the Telegraaf newspaper about the firebombing of mosques in Sweden. A number of Moroccan organisations made formal complaints against the page for threatening behaviour and incitement to discrimination and hatred. Claims that some comments urged people to firebomb Dutch mosques were not proven, the prosecutor said. However, some of the comments were inflammatory and did urge violence against Muslims and mosques, the prosecutor said. Nevertheless, the prosecutor said, there was no question of incitement to hatred.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Europe’s 1st Zero-Gravity 3D Printer Headed for Space

Europe is set to send its first 3D printer into the final frontier this year to experiment with zero-gravity manufacturing on long space voyages.

The European Space Agency plans to deliver its new Portable On-Board 3D Printer (POP3D for short) to the International Space Station by the end of June, making it the second 3D printer in space. The diminutive 3D printer is a cube that measures just under 10 inches (25 centimeters) per side and requires a small amount of power to operate.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Charlie Hebdo Delays Next Two Issues Because Staff ‘Not Ready’

The French magazine that published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and was attacked by militants more than three weeks ago has delayed publication of its next two issues because staff are grieving and exhausted, a spokeswoman said. Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and writers “are not ready — they need some time, need to consult, need to settle in,” Appoline Thomasset of Majorelle PR & Events, which represents the magazine, said on Saturday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Carl Djerassi, Developer of Birth Control Pill, Dies at 91

American chemist Carl Djerassi, one of the main developers of the birth control pill, has died at the age of 91 in San Francisco. He synthesized a female hormone that became the basis for oral contraceptives.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German Spy Agency Saves Millions of Phone Records, Says Report

The German government was quick to announce plans to widen data retention against terrorism in response to this month’s attacks in Paris. But Berlin already collects far more telecom metadata than many suspected.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gravitational Waves Discovery Now Officially Dead

A team of astronomers that last year reported evidence for gravitational waves from the early Universe has now withdrawn the claim. A joint analysis of data recorded by the team’s South Pole telescope and by the European spacecraft Planck has revealed that the signal can be entirely attributed to dust in the Milky Way rather than having a more ancient, cosmic origin.

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced the long-awaited results on 30 January, a day after a summary of it had been unintentionally posted online by French members of the Planck team and then widely circulated before it was taken down.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Islam Opponents March Through Prague

Prague, Jan 31 (CTK) — About 500 people gathered in a central square of Prague and protested against Islamisation and Muslim immigrants in the Czech Republic today.

The crowd listened to speeches by Tomio Okamura, leader of the junior opposition Dawn of Direct Democracy, and Jana Volfová, head of the Czech Sovereignty movement. A moment of silence was held for the victims of Holocaust and Islamic terror.

With banners “We don’t want Multi Culti” and “Czech land for Czechs, not for worshippers” and flags with crossed out mosques, the protesters then marched to the Interior Ministry, calling on it on check immigrants and more control churches so that there are no intolerant people in them.

In his speech in the square, Okamura called on the country to defend itself against the enemy ideology of Islam that wants to abolish democratic principles.

Earlier this week, President Miloš Zeman called for joint international military operation against Islamist radicals. Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek rejected Zeman’s call, labeling such a crusade nonsense. Zeman said Zaorálek’s view reminded Zeman of the policy of appeasement of the 1930s, when the Western powers made concessions to the Nazi Germany.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘Roman’ Camorra Boss Gets Tough Jail Regime

Michele Senese sentenced to life for 2001 murder

(ANSA) — Rome, January 30 — A boss in the Neapolitan Camorra mafia who operated in and around Rome was on Friday placed under Italy’s toughest prison regime, known as 41-bis.

Michele Senese, 58, was recently sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Rome gangland boss in 2001.

Italy’s most dangerous mafiosi are held under 41-bis.

The regime, covered by article 41-bis of penitentiary law, means mobsters are held in isolation and prevented from receiving family visits or parcels.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: 28 Arrests Over Alleged ‘White Lady’ Drug Ring

Ex-Berlusconi aide stopped last March with 24 kg cocaine

(ANSA) — Rome, January 29 — Twenty-eight were arrested on Wednesday following the conclusion of an investigation into an international drug ring sparked last March when an ex-Silvio Berlusconi aide was stopped at Rome’s Fiumicino airport with 24 kg of cocaine in her luggage.

Federica Gagliardi was dubbed the “white lady” because she was seen dressed all in white as she descended ex-premier Berlusconi’s plane as part of the G8 Toronto delegation in June 2010.

Gagliardi had reportedly helped with the election team behind Berlusconi’s now-defunct People of Freedom (PdL) party victory in regional elections in Lazio and had asked to then be included in an international event.

During the investigation, police arrested various drug smugglers allegedly involved in the international ring that investigators said is connected to South American drug cartels, and seized a total of 93 kg of cocaine and 930 kg of hashish, with an estimated street value of at least 35 million euros.

Investigators said the drugs were destined for sale mainly in the Campania region.

Finance police in Naples and Frosinone on Wednesday were also in the process of seizing assets and property totalling approximately four million euros.

One of the 28 people arrested on Wednesday was out under house arrest.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Minniti Calls for NGO Rules for Travel to Crisis Zones

Undersecretary cites case of Italian aid workers in Syria

(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Undersecretary for Intelligence Marco Minniti on Wednesday said he is favorable to the idea of regulating travel by members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to global crisis zones.

He spoke after controversy over two aid workers abducted in Syria and released earlier this month amid ransom claims the government denied.

Critics, who called for new ground rules for NGOs in war zones, said the pair may have endangered themselves lightly.

“Non-profits do extraordinary work, but I would put forward the idea of having rules on travel in crisis zones, in order to avoid individual initiatives in difficult areas,” Minniti said. In the recent hostage crisis, two 21-year-old Italian women were abducted last year by Islamist militants while doing aid work in northern Syria.

The women, Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo, were later released, and returned to Italy in mid-January.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Finance Police Arrest Two, Seize 8mn in Assets

Company manager, accountant ‘evaded 8.2mn in taxes’

(ANSA) — Messina, January 28 — Finance police in the Sicilian city of Messina have arrested two men and seized eight million euros on suspicion of criminal association and multiple counts of fraud, sources said Wednesday.

Manager Andrea Currò, 38, and accountant Michele Nigrelli, 55, were placed under house arrest on charges that include issuing fake invoices, false accounting, and destruction of company books in connection with Currò Trasporti srl transportation company.

Officers also seized assets and real estate worth eight million euros.

The suspects are believed to have evaded 8.2 million euros in taxes.

The arrests came under a joint operation by the Palermo and Messina finance police called Dark Truck 2.

Operation Dark Truck 1 in 2012 led to the shutdown of five Palermo-area cooperatives and the seizure of 62 million euros.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Tourists Can Walk Milan’s Galleria Rooftop Starting in April

Restoration to building’s catwalks to total 2 mn euros

(ANSA) — Milan, January 28 — Beginning in April and just in time for the start of Expo 2015, Milan visitors will be able to walk the city’s iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II from above, along catwalks perched on the roof of the 19th-century shopping mall.

The catwalks, which will undergo a two-million-euro restoration project sponsored by Seven Stars Hotel and Alessandro Rosso Group, were included in the building’s 1861 plan by architect Giuseppe Mengoni to allow for maintenance of the arcade’s vaulted glass ceiling.

The city of Milan is renting out the roof space to the hotel group until the end of 2016 for 118,000 euros a year, with part of the ticket proceeds to be donated back to the city of Milan.

Public works assessor Carmela Rozza said investment in the building’s restoration totals 10 million euros, between the city’s investment of 5 million euros in a concurrent restoration project, with an additional 3 million provided by corporate sponsorship from Prada, Versace and Feltrinelli, and the 2 million that Seven Stars Hotel will contribute to restore the roof’s walkways.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Ministers Sign Decree Banning GMO Corn

Move after EU regulation giving States freedom of choice

(ANSA) — Rome, January 23 — Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin, Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina and Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti have signed a decree banning the cultivation of MON810 GMO corn, ANSA sources said Friday. The move extends by 18 months a ban introduced on July 12, 2013, after the recent approval an EU directive giving member States freedom of choice on whether to allow GMOs. That directive has not yet been incorporated into Italian law.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: State Witness Protection Service Sees Budget Cut

‘Quality of service behind choice to collaborate’ says Mattiello

(ANSA) — Rome, January 22 — The budget of the central protection service handling prosecution witnesses and criminals who have turned state’s evidence has been cut by around 25 million euros in 2015, MP Davide Mattiello of the Democratic Party (PD) and a member of the House justice and antimafia committees said Thursday.

“This is money that is needed to protect people who have chosen to entrust themselves to the state to see justice served,” Mattiello said. “I do not understand and am extremely concerned about this development: the quality of the protection service is behind the sustainability of such choices, which are always traumatic for those who make them,” he continued, putting the blame directly on Interior Minister Angelino Alfano who under the budget law is responsible for allocating funds within his own ministry. “Meanwhile the most recent collaborations, such as that of Vito Galatolo in the context of (Sicilian mafia) Cosa Nostra, who revealed the plans to murder (Palermo prosecutor Nino) Di Matteo, but also of Gianni Cretarola who has told us about a part of the ‘ndrangheta in Rome, which goes hand in hand with the Mafia Capitale system, should leave no room for doubt about the importance of this instrument,” Mattiello said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Over 160 Arrested in ‘Historic’ ‘Ndrangheta Operation

Reggio Emilia-infiltrated clans busted in ‘unprecedented’ op

(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Italian police on Wednesday arrested more than 160 people in the biggest-ever operation against a northern business arm of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia, Italy’s richest and most dangerous criminal organisation.

The op showed how far the one-time southern kidnapping gangs — long poor relations to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra but now grown plump on cocaine cash — had infiltrated the economy of Italy’s most affluent regions, especially the thriving economy of Reggio Emilia around Bologna.

National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Prosecutor Franco Roberti said the Bologna-based operation was “historic and unprecedented”.

It was “imposing and decisive in the fight against the mafia in the north,” he said. “I can’t recall an intervention of this type to combat a strong and monolithic criminal organisation, deeply infiltrated (in the northern economy)”, Roberti said.

As well as economic crimes and attempted bribery of politicians, those arrested were charged with mafia offences ranging from racketeering to weapons possession, and some 100 million euros in assets were seized.

Among other things, two of the alleged mafia members were captured in a wiretap laughing at a deadly Italian earthquake and planning how to take advantage of reconstruction contracts.

Prosecutors said the conversation between suspected ‘Ndrangheta members Gaetano Blasco and Antonio Valerio caught them laughing at the 2012 disaster in Emilia Romagna.

They joked about building collapses and how they would be able to take advantage of construction work in the conversation that dates from May 29, 2012 — the second day of disastrous tremors in the region that ultimately killed 12.

Among those arrested Wednesday was Giuseppe Iaquinta, the building-contractor father of 2006 World Cup-winning striker Vincenzo Iaquinta.

One of those probed was the driver of the Reggio Emilia police chief. The man is suspected of tipping off clans.

The prosecutor who led the probe said the group had its epicenter in Reggio Emilia and was primarily focused on business, unlike ‘Ndrangheta groups in other northern regions that still cling to core Mob activities — while trying to get into big events like Expo Milan 2015, where their attempts were thwarted. “In Emilia we don’t have clans like in Lombardy or Piedmont, but rather the presence of an organization purely entrepreneurial in content,” said Bologna prosecutor Roberto Alfonso.

Alfonso said the group had its origins on June 9, 1982, when Antonino Dragone arrived in Emilia and went on to develop the group’s activities for the next 32 years.

“The association developed, growing like a metastasis in a healthy body,” Alfonso said.

Businessmen, public administrators, public safety officials, and a journalist were among the almost 170 arrested after investigations revealed the group’s primary mafia-related business activities were in the building and construction sector.

Alfonso said Marco Gibertini, a journalist arrested as an accomplice to the organization, gave TV and print media space to members of the group, allowing them interviews and public declarations, and also connected members of the group with politicians and businesspeople he knew.

Meanwhile, back home down south, “via a number of professionals”, the Cutro clan showed it had contact with top judicial and ecclesiastical circles,” said Catanzaro prosecutor Vincenzo Antonio Lombardo.

Wednesday’s op was the biggest against the Calabrian Mob since a major Italian-FBI bust last February which showed that ‘Ndrangheta was muscling in on the drug operations of one of Cosa Nostra’s historic five families in New York, the Gambinos.

Before that, in July 2010, a massive police operation netted the head of the ‘Ndrangheta and 300 others.

Domenico Oppedisano, 80, anointed the equivalent of the ‘boss of bosses’ in Cosa Nostra at a Calabrian shrine to the Madonna a year previously, was caught along with their reputed head in Lombardy, Pino Neri.

‘Ndrangheta is so secretive that the replaceent for Oppedisano is not known.

RICHEST AND MOST IMPENETRABLE.

‘Ndrangheta (from a Greek word meaning ‘heroism’ or ‘virtue’) once lived in the twin shadow of Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Camorra in Naples.

While those two syndicates, notably the Sicilians, were growing fat on the transatlantic heroin trade through operations like the infamous ‘French connection’, ‘Ndrangheta was only just emerging from its traditional stock-in-trade of kidnappings in the Calabrian highlands.

It has since become a highly sophisticated global network with a chokehold on the European cocaine trade and control over swathes of its home turf where police fear to tread, Italian officials say.

As well as being the richest, ‘Ndrangheta is also regarded as the most impenetrable of Italy’s mafias, with its close-knit family-based organisation outdoing the Sicilian mafia in its ability to defeat police efforts to turn members into State witnesses.

The European law enforcement agency Europol has identified the ‘Ndrangheta mafia as one of the “most threatening” organized crime groups on the global level, due to its “enormous financial might” and “immense corruptive power,” with a presence in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, US, Colombia and Australia, where ‘Ndrangheta turf wars have gained headlines.

In Europe, ‘Ndrangheta really only came into the public eye in 2007, when six clan members were gunned down on the midsummer Ferragosto holiday in the German city of Duisburg in a feud that began as a wedding spat in 1991.

A string of ‘Ndrangheta-linked businesses have been seized in the last few years all over northern Italy, and especially in the affluent Lombard belt around Milan, and a Lombardy regional councillor was placed under investigation for buying votes from transplanted clans.

On the Italian Riviera, the town councils of Bordighera and Ventimiglia were dissolved for ‘Ndrangheta infiltration in 2011 and 2012, the first non-Calabrian municipalities to be wound up because of such penetration.

In Rome, the Calabrian Mob has laundered money in a string of plum properties, as attested to by recent seizures police say are only the tip of the iceberg.

In November 2013 Grand Hotel Gianicolo, a former monastery converted into a four-star hotel for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee in 2000, was seized from Calabrian businessmen linked to the ‘Ndrangheta.

It is one of the swankiest properties on the hill, Gianicolo or Janiculum, that affords one of the most breathtaking views over Rome.

Six years ago a former Dolce Vita-era bar and restaurant on the storied Via Veneto, the Caffe’ De Paris, turned out to be in the hands of the Calabrian Mob.

More recently, leftwing cooperatives involved in a hitherto-unknown Rome mafia organisation that allegedly had fingers in a web of business and political operations were said to have links to ‘Ndrangheta.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Six Indicted for Abuse of Office in Atac Hiring Scandal

Ex Alemanno alderman, five former execs to stand trial

(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — A court on Wednesday indicted five former executives of Rome’s ATAC public transport company and an ex alderman for abuse of office in connection with the hiring of some 50 highly-paid staffers in spite of the fact they were not qualified for the job.

The former executives to stand trial beginning May 11 are Adalberto Bertucci, Antonio Marzia, Luca Masciola, Vincenzo Tosques and Tullio Tulli.

Also among the defendants will be Marco Visconti, the former alderman in charge of the environment under ex rightwing mayor, Gianni Alemanno.

Ex ATAC human resources director Riccardo Di Luzio and former personnel administrator Mario Marinelli have been exonerated.

Among the questionable hires was that of a former waitress and night club hostess with a high school diploma to a specialized post with yearly gross salary of 30,000 euros. Investigators also took exception to the hiring of Visconti’s wife, Barbara Pesimena, to a mid-level management post with a salary of 73,000 euros a year.

Pesimena got the job in spite of the fact that “she clearly lacked the necessary qualifications for a highly complex executive position”, prosecutors wrote in their indictement request. The case dubbed locally as ‘Parentopoli’ (Nepotism-ville) first surfaced in 2010.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: 90% of Bank Employees on Strike Nationwide, Union Says

Protesters call for national collective bargaining

(ANSA) — Milan, January 30 — Banks were closed across Italy on Friday as 90% of unionized employees participated in a strike for renewal of a national contract, said Lando Sileoni, national secretary of bank employee’s union Fabi.

Bank staff all over the country protested in squares including the Piazza della Scala in Milan against the Italian Banking Association’s (ABI) decision to rescind a national collective bargaining contract.

“There will be 7,000 people (in Piazza della Scala), 130 buses are on their way,” said Susanna Camusso, leader of the CGIL union federation and co-organizer of the strike.

“If ABI doesn’t change its mind, we’ll continue our protests and strikes,” Camusso said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Jewish Leader, Italian TV Crew Become Trapped in Auschwitz

Diplomatic intervention after crew opened window to escape

(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — A minor diplomatic incident was resolved early Wednesday after three members of an Italian TV crew, as well as journalist David Parenzo and president of Rome’s Jewish community Riccardo Pacifici, became locked in Auschwitz overnight, ANSA sources said.

After filming a live episode of the TV program Matrix from the Holocaust concentration camp in Poland, for which they had authorized access, the group found themselves locked in at around 11 pm without any response to their calls for help. After several hours, the five eventually escaped by opening a window, which set off a security alarm that sent police to the scene.

Italian diplomatic authorities intervened to secure the release of the group, who then departed for their return to Rome.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Leak Suggests Big Bang Find Was a Dusty Mistake

Last year’s big bang breakthrough has finally bitten the dust. In March last year, researchers using a telescope called BICEP2 at the South Pole made a splash when they claimed to have discovered primordial gravitational waves, a signal from the very early universe.

Now details of a new analysis of their results have leaked, and they seem to reveal that galactic dust is the likely cause of their observations.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Open Borders for Swedish Nationals

From this summer, Swedes may be be able to leave their passports at home when travelling to the UK and other non-Schengen countries within the EU.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Roma Denied Sleep Complain of ‘Torture’

A group of Roma immigrants have complained of “torture” and “terrorism” after security guards at a Malmö night café for homeless people refused to let them sleep on the premises.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Heart of Europe’s Problem With Islam

By Steve Sailer

Westphalian nationalism was a solution to the Wars of Religion that depopulated some of the more fertile parts of northwestern Europe in 1618-1648.

In turn, excessive French popular nationalism was a problem in Europe from roughly the Revolutionary Era into the 20th Century. But intense French nationalism was already breaking down from about 1930 as the French came to reflect more honestly on the horrible cost they had paid to win the Great War. By May 1940, Europe’s problem was more a lack of French nationalism, which encouraged and enabled German predation.

Today, French nationalism is far less a problem for Europe (there are no disputes with Germany anymore over Alsace and Lorraine) than a solution for how to peaceably preserve Europe from demographic inundation from an Africa that the UN forecasts will have 4 billion people by the end of the century.

But we remain slaves to obsolete prejudices, even when returns on them have diminished to little.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Army Sets Up New Brigade ‘For Information Age’

The Army is setting up a new unit that will use psychological operations and social media to help fight wars “in the information age”. Head of the Army General Sir Nick Carter said the move was about trying to operate “smarter”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why France So Worries European Policy Makers

by James Forsyth

But the country that most worries European policymakers isn’t Greece or Spain but France. Its economy is showing no signs of recovering and its politics are threatening to become very ugly indeed.

A new poll published this week shows the Front National’s Marine Le Pen topping the first round of the French presidential election. The poll by Ifop for Marianne magazine has Le Pen on 29%, Sarkozy on 23% and Hollande on 21%. Now, the polls do show her losing in the second round to both men. But, in a sign of how much has changed since 2002 when her father polled a mere 18% in the final round against Jacques Chirac, she is on 45% against Hollande and 40% against Sarkozy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy-Tunisia: Magon Project on Wine Tourism

Cultural and food itinerary between Sicily and Tunisia

(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JANUARY 30 — Promoting the “culture of wine” as a common European and Mediterranean identity, expression of a millennial existence that dates back to the Greek-Punic-Roman world, and as a factor of economic development combined with Mediterranean wide and food traditions and archaeological heritage is the idea behind the Enpi CBC Med project of trans-border cooperation Magon called “Le chemin de la vigne méditerranéen sur les traces de Magon entre la Sicile et la Tunisie”.

Co-funded by the EU, Magon provides for the creation of a trans-border touristic and cultural circuit based on the joint exploitation of the archaeological heritage, of the culture of wine and of Mediterranean wine and food traditions. It is named after Carthaginian agronomist Magon, author of the famous treaty in 28 volumes which the Roman Senate ordered to bring to the Urbe and translate into Latin when Carthage was conquered.

Cultural tourism circuit Magon will promote the area in western Sicily between the ancient city of Selinunte and its Chora, characterized by one the largest concentration of vineyards in Europe, and landscapes between Carthage and Kerkouane (the two archaeological sites recognized by Unesco as world heritage), which have the most famous Aoc of north-east Tunisia.

The new circuit Magon will become part of itinerary culture “Iter Vitis-Les Chemins de la vigne” recognized by the Council of Europe in 2009, which refers to history and culture of wine in its ancient origins, and crosses an extraordinary variety of ecosystems and vineyard regions from the Caucasus to the Atlantic, along 13 countries (seven members of the European Union and six non-members).

This process of valorization of wine-making areas modelled by nature and men has in some cases been listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

Specifically, the Magon project, explained to ANSAmed the head of the Association Strada del Vino Terre sicane, Franco Aurelio Coppola, wants to create two territorial centers in the network of itineraries “Iter Vitis”, one in south-west Sicily and one in north-east Tunisia, connected by a joint heritage of the ancient Mediterranean border between Selinunte and Carthage, the “limes” on which for centuries the Greek and the Phoenician-Punic cultures confronted each other before they became part of a common space in the Roman Empire.

The project is coordinated by the Associazione Strada del Vino Terre Sicane, together with international association Iter Vitis les Chemins de la vigne, the national association città del Vino, the archaeological park of Selinunte-Cave di Cusa, the cultural and archaeological superintendency of Agrigento, the councilors of agriculture, rural development, Mediterranean fishing Soat in Sciacca, Chambre syndicale nationale des producteurs des vins, bières et alcools (Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie du Commerce et de l’Artisanat — Utica), Agence pour la Mise en Valeur du Patrimoine et de Promotion Culturelle (Amvppc), Federation Tunisienne des Agences de Voyages et de Tourisme and Institut National de Patrimoine (Inp).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

After Meeting With U.S. State Dept., Brotherhood Officially Declares Jihad on Egypt

By Raymond Ibrahim

Connections between U.S. leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood — which is banned as a terrorist organization in many countries — have always been there, for those with eyes to see.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Interior Ministry Employee Killed in Sinai

An Egyptian interior ministry employee was killed in North Sinai, security officials said Saturday, two days after jihadists aligned with the Islamic State group killed 30 people in the peninsula.

The 50-year-old, who worked for the road traffic department, was shot in the head in his home in the regional capital of El-Arish on Friday night, the officials said.

The Sinai has witnessed a surge in attacks against security forces claimed by jihadist groups since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt President Sisi Warns of ‘Long Battle’ With Militants

Egypt faces a long and difficult battle with militants, the country’s president has said, in his first remarks since a deadly attack in the Sinai region.

Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke a day after a group linked to Islamic State said it killed at least 32 soldiers and police.

“This battle will be difficult, strong, evil and will take a long time,” he said in comments broadcast on state TV.

Reports say he ended the meeting by issuing a presidential decree to form a new military command for Sinai with the aim of tackling the growing militant threat.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Cairo Court Rules Hamas Offshoot a ‘Terrorist’ Group

An Egyptian court has designated the military wing of Hamas a terrorist organization, signaling further strains between Egypt’s government and the movement that rules the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian territories.

On Saturday, an Egyptian court banned the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which had recently been removed from an EU terror list, and designated it a terrorist organization. Hamas officials have repeatedly denied involvement in cross-border attacks in Egypt, and a spokesman in Gaza described the court’s decision as political.

Ties between Egypt and Hamas have soured since 2013, when the army overthrew President Mohammed Morsi, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which the Palestinian political faction is an offshoot. Egypt has already outlawed and listed the Brotherhood as a terrorist group. A government crackdown on Morsi’s supporters has killed more than 1,400 people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Al-Qaradawi and Qutb Books Withdrawn From Cairo Intl Book Fair: Ministry Denies Interference

The Egyptian Ministry of Culture denied in a statement released early Saturday, 31 January, that it had confiscated books of the Qatar-based Muslim cleric Youssef Al-Qaradawi from the Cairo International Book Fair that started Wednesday, 28 January, saying they were removed by the publisher, Dar El-Shorouk.

Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric who has close links to the Muslim Brotherhood, has been critical of Egypt’s government, accusing President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of betrayal for ousting President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, a Muslim Brotherhood leader. He also called for protests in Egypt on the anniversary of the January 25 Revolution.

Books of the late radical Islamist author Sayyed Qutb were also withdrawn by El-Shorouk.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIL’s Rise in Libya

The Islamic State announced its arrival in Libya in brutal fashion this week with the slaying of an American contractor in a suicide attack on a Tripoli hotel, an act that will make it harder for Washington to continue ignoring the conflict and chaos raging in this North African country.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Italy Day’ In Hebron as Part of Cooperation With Palestine

Held by Jerusalem consulate; Genoa mayor calls for recognition

(ANSAmed) — HEBRON, JANUARY 28 — Cooperation between Italy and Palestine in the fields of innovation, private sector development, environmental protection and relations between universities was the focus of ‘Italy Day’ held in Hebron on Wednesday ahead of the Milan Expo 2015.

The initiative was organized at the Hebron Polytechnic University by the Italian consulate in Jerusalem. Participants included Genoa mayor Marco Doria and representatives of the Milan and Turin municipalities. Through the decentralized cooperation program ‘Ali della Colomba’ (‘The Dove’s Wings’), managed by the Italian foreign ministry alongside local authorities, some 60 plans have been implemented over the past ten years, including the flagship ‘Technopark’ project — a technological hub to provide modern services to industries in the city and serve as an incubator for start-ups, alongside a system for waste water treatment and renewable energy — in which all three of the Italian municipalities are involved. Consul General Davide La Cecilia noted that two healthcare facilities would soon be built in Dura and Hahlul in the Hebron district by the Italian Cooperation.

Italy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) also have created a center for stone and marble in the Palestinian city.

“This collaboration,” the diplomat said, “is based on the longstanding friendship, transparency and sincerity between the Palestinian people and their Italian counterparts.” La Cecilia noted the difficult situation in Gaza and said that the “international community is fully aware that Palestinian institutions, which we are trying to consolidate, are well-placed for the establishment of a state.” Genoa mayor Doria added that “it is now necessary to recognize the Palestinian state as stimulus for the peace process”. “My presence here,” he said after highlighting the importance of the water management center in Hebron, “is to show the attention Italy and its citizens give to the problems and rights of the Palestinian people.” The Italian presence in the Palestinian city — in addition to the sizable one of carabinieri involved in the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), an unarmed force monitoring the situation between Palestinians and Israelis in the flashpoint West Bank city — has recently seen the addition of coach Stefano Cusin (also present at the event) after he took on the role of training Hebron’s Ahli Al-Khalil football team.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Al-Qaeda in Yemen Says France Now Bigger Enemy Than US

Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) has named France as its top enemy over the US, AFP has reported.

The group’s chief ideological leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish said this was because of the “weakening” of the US in recent years. He made his comments in an audio message published to YouTube by AQAP.

One of AQAP’s senior leaders recently claimed that the group was behind the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris that left 12 people dead.

Al-Rubaish on Friday called for further attacks against the West and singled out France. He also urged Muslims to target anyone who criticized the Prophet Mohammad.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bahrain Withdraws Citizenship of 72 People, Including is Preacher Turki Al-Binali

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahraini authorities say they have stripped the citizenship of a senior member of the Islamic State militant group and dozens of other people.

The Ministry of Interior said Saturday the government revoked the citizenship of 72 Bahrainis as part of its responsibility to “protect the security and stability of Bahrain.”

The list includes Sunni and Shiite Bahrainis.

Among those affected is Turki al-Binali, a 30-year-old Sunni preacher who has emerged as one of the Islamic State group’s leading ideologues.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Seizes Oil Facility in Kirkuk Producing 10,000 BPD

A small crude oil station has been seized by ISIS militants in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, security and oil officials told Reuters news agency on Saturday, adding that 15 employees were missing.

“We received a call from one of the workers saying dozens of Daesh fighters were surrounding the facility and asking workers to leave the premises. We lost contact and now the workers might be taken hostage,” an engineer from the North Oil Co told Reuters, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Khabbbusaz is a small oilfield 20 km southwest of Kirkuk with a maximum production capacity of 15,000 barrels per day. It was producing around 10,000 bpd before the attack, according to Reuters.

Last year, ISIS began selling crude oil and gasoline to finance their operations after seizing at least four small oilfields when it overran large areas of northern Iraq.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic State Releases Purported Goto Execution Video

The Islamic State group posted a new video on the Internet Sunday claiming it has killed Japanese hostage Kenji Goto and showing what appears to be the beheaded body of the freelance journalist who went missing in Syria last fall.

The video — the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed by The Japan Times — shows a masked man speaking in British-accented English standing beside Goto kneeling down on the ground, wearing an orange jumpsuit.

“To the Japanese government. You, like your foolish allies in the satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah’s grace, are a large Islamic caliphate with authority and power and an entire army thirsty for your blood,” the man said, brandishing a knife.

“Abe, because of your decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji but will carry on and also cause carnage wherever your people are found. So let the nightmare for Japan begin.”

Then the man applied the knife to the throat of Goto and the video switched to a still image of what appears to be the beheaded body of Goto…

[Return to headlines]
 

Islamic State Fighters Admit They Lost Syrian Town of Kobani, Blame US-Led Airstrike Campaign

The Islamic State group has acknowledged for the first time that its fighters have been defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani and vowed to attack the town again.

In a video released by the pro-IS Aamaq News Agency late Friday, two fighters said the airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were the main reason why IS fighters were forced to withdraw from Kobani.

On Monday, activists and Kurdish officials said the town was almost cleared of IS fighters, who once held nearly half of the town.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Islamic State Posts Video Purportedly Showing Goto Being Beheaded

The Islamic State group released a video Saturday purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.

In it, Goto is seen kneeling, dressed in an orange outfit, as a masked man standing beside him with a knife blames the Japanese government for his “slaughter.”

It ends with a still photo of the body with the head resting on the back.

The executioner appears to be the man known as Jihadi John, speaking with a southern English accent and addressing the Japanese government.

“You, like your foolish allies in the Satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah’s grace, are an Islamic Caliphate with authority and power, an entire army thirsty for your blood,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Jihadists Increasingly Wary of Internet, Experts Say

After having used the Internet profusely for propaganda and recruitment, jihadist organisations have realised that investigators are gleaning crucial information online and are increasingly concealing their web presence, experts say.

Apart from recent orders given to fighters to limit their exposure, erase the footprint of their online activity and avoid revealing too many place names or faces, the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front groups are increasingly using the “Dark Web” — the hidden part of the Internet protected by powerful encryption softwares.

“Sometimes we get the geographical location of some fighters thanks to Facebook,” Philippe Chadrys, in charge of the fight against terrorism at France’s judicial police, said earlier this week.

“They are resorting more and more to Skype or WhatsApp, software that is much harder to intercept.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia: Blogger Raif Badawi’s Long Struggle for Freedom of Expression

Saudi blogger and activist Raif Badawi started criticizing his country’s regime more than six years ago. Since then, his family has been threatened and fled to Canada and his lawyer has been arrested.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia: Cooking Gas Crisis Deepens in Jeddah

Jeddah residents are complaining about the shortage of cooking gas for the third day in a row as outlets in the city have halted supplies.

A source said that the National Gas Company has laid off a number of its employees in a bid to streamline the company, which has led to the delays in the supply and delivery of the cooking fuel to the residents. Trucks have also been forced to wait for long periods of time at distribution points, they said.

Decline in production and a shortage of gas cylinders is also affecting the distribution process while the packing and filling departments are no longer fully operational due to being understaffed, the source said. “A staffing problem exists across all branches of the company with more than 30 employees having been laid off at the Jeddah branch alone,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia Faces ISIS Threats During Transition of New King

ISIS recruits from Saudi Arabia have their sights set on seizing their oil-rich homeland, and may be preparing to strike while the Kingdom’s throne is changing hands, according to Middle East intelligence experts.

A division of the Islamic State, or ISIS, reportedly released a video stating its intention to invade Saudi Arabia, a powerful U.S. ally transitioning after the death of its former king. The threat was issued by a group of Saudi militants who have joined the militant group in Iraq and Syria, and also urged sympathizers inside the Kingdom to attack from within, SITE Intelligence, an organization that tracks jihadist propaganda, reported.

The grim warning underscores the terror organization’s desire to annex the Middle East’s wealthiest nation, said experts, as well as the country that is home to the most holy site in the Muslim world, Mecca.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Opposition Blogger May Have “Outed” Putin’s Daughter

(Reuters) — One of Vladimir Putin’s main opponents may have broken a taboo by publishing what he says is the pseudonym used by one the Russian president’s daughters to stay out of the spotlight.

Putin has made his and his family’s private life little less than a state secret, keeping his rarely-photographed daughters Yekaterina, 28, and Maria, 29, out of sight and managing his divorce with the minimum fuss.

But opposition blogger Alexei Navalny on Thursday published on his Facebook page an online report which identified a certain Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova as the head of an organization working with Moscow State University.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia’s Economy, Ukraine Put Putin in Uncertain Position

What are Russia’s options in dealing with the West?

The stalemate in Ukraine and downturn in the Russian economy have experts debating the impact on President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

Fox News National Security Analyst KT McFarland spoke to George Friedman, founder of the geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor, about Russia’s strategy toward the West.

Friedman, who just returned from a trip to Moscow, where he met with senior foreign policy and intelligence officials, says morale there is low. “They feel that they have been defeated in Ukraine, they feel the United States staged a coup d’état and imposed a government against the clearly elected president and that Russian intelligence clearly failed.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Sees Economy Shrinking 3% in 2015; Economy Ministry Forecasts 12% Inflation Rate

MOSCOW — Russia’s economy minister said Saturday that the country’s gross domestic product is expected to shrink by 3% in 2015 with oil prices at $50 a barrel and an estimated capital outflow at $115 billion, Russian news agencies reported.

The government previously predicted the decrease in GDP at 0.8%. Inflation in 2015 is now forecast to stand at 12%, up from the previous estimate of 7.5%, Alexei Ulyukayev said, Russian news agencies reported.

The announcement comes a day after the Russian central bank unexpectedly lowered its key interest rate by two percentage points, sending the ruble lower. Russia was also recently downgraded to “junk” level, below investment-grade, by the credit rating company Standard & Poor’s amid the mounting violence in eastern Ukraine.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sanctions Aren’t the Key Source of Russia’s Woes

Russia has been heading towards a heavy recession for a long time. Now the EU is discussing new sanctions against Moscow. What part do sanctions from the West actually play in this crisis?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine: Minsk Talks Crumble, Battles in Debaltseve

Peace talks between separatists and Kyiv have broken down. Fifteen Ukrainian soldiers died in fighting from Friday to Saturday, marking the highest one-day death toll for the country’s military in almost five months.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Wants UN to Label Russia as a Sponsor of Terrorism

Ukraine wants the United Nations to brand Russia a terrorism sponsor amid bloody clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN told Fox News he plans to submit a draft resolution asking the UN General Assembly to formally label “Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.”

Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev gave no timetable for when he would present the resolution to the UN. He said government officials in Kiev are working on the text.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Afghanistan: Police in Kabul Clash With Demonstrators Protesting Against Charlie Hebdo Magazine

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan police say a protest in the capital, Kabul, against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, turned into a violent confrontation between demonstrations and riot police.

Farid Afzeli, chief of the Kabul police department’s criminal investigations division, said several hundred demonstrators gathered in eastern Kabul Saturday afternoon to protest the magazine’s ongoing practice of running satirical caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Afzeli says the protest started peacefully, but says a group of armed infiltrators began blocking roads and shooting at police officers on the scene. Police responded by firing in the air, he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

India: West Bengal: Two Radical Hindu Leaders Reported Over “Reconversion” of Christians and Muslims

Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the Indian state, demands investigation of Praveen Togadia, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its secretary general. The militants have forced dozens of tribal families (12 Christian and Muslim 7) to convert to Hinduism, with yet another “coming home”.

Calcutta (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Police in West Bengal are investigating Praveen Togadia, national president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, Hindu radical group), for “inciting hatred”. The police have accepted a second complaint against Jugal Kishore, general secretary of the VHP, accused of “inciting hatred and use of force on tribal people”. The investigations started yesterday on the orders of Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state, after yet another case of “coming home” ghar wapsi (reconversion to Hinduism).

The “homecoming” ceremony as the Hindu radicals call it, took place on January 28 in the tribal village of Rampurhat (Birbhum district). About 17 Christian and two Muslim families have been “reconverted” to Hinduism, through shuddhi havan (purification) and other rituals. Togadia and other VHP leaders attended the event. However, two young tribal present in the program have decided to press charges.

After the news spread, other cases of ghar wapsi conducted in recent weeks emerged, along the border between West Bengal and Jharkhand.

They include a new complaint filed by the missionaries of the Society Don Bosco operating at Baropahari (Jharkhand). According to Fr. Agapit Minj, at least 15 Christian families have been “reconverted” by the VHP.

The Church of Don Bosco Baropahari is the only Catholic church to work among the tribal population of the area, scattered in 73 villages. According to the church, at least 164 families have converted to Christianity in the last two years. “We do not baptize people like they do — explains Fr. Minj to Indian Express — we invite them to start coming to church, and to send their children to school and hostels. If people are spiritually and mentally convinced to embrace Christianity, then we baptize them”.

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

Myanmar: Chin Christians Ready to Go to Jail to Stop Cross Removal

Built by members of the Christian community in Hakha, the 16-metre cross targeted by local authorities stands on a hill that overlooks the state capital. Since it lacked the proper permit, the authorities ordered the cross’ removal and said that they would prosecute its builders. “If the authorities say I have to go to jail, I am not afraid; I am ready to go to jail for this case,” a Chin Christian said. For human rights activists, such an action “continues a decades-long pattern of religious discrimination against Chin Christians.”

Yangon (AsiaNews) — The authorities in Chin State, western Myanmar, have issued a demolition order for a 16-metre cross (pictured) built by a group of Christians on a hill overlooking Hakha. They are also pressing ahead with charges against a local Christian, Tial Cem, a Chin elder who was involved in building the Christian symbol.

In reporting the latest case of religious freedom violation in Myanmar, the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) said that local authorities also imposed a deadline, tomorrow, for the removal of the cross on Caarcaang hill.

For the State Government, backed perhaps by Myanmar’s central authorities, the cross was built last April “without the necessary permits.” What is more, the pinewood used in the structure was cut illegally and without prior permission from state authorities.

For these two “crimes,” some members of the local Christian community could go trial, including Tial Cem himself, and JP Biak Tin Sang, another Christian involved in the project.

A CHRO report indicate that Chin Christians’ right to worship was subject to restrictions and constraints in the past. The authorities have not allowed them to build churches or use religious symbols and have torn down at least 13 crosses in various parts of the state, four under the current government alone.

For this reason, Christians in the state capital of Hakha did not seek permission before putting up of their cross, knowing full well that it would not be granted.

Now Tial Cem faces up to two years in prison for “illegally” cutting pine trees, this despite the fact that they were taken from the property of JP Biak Tin Sang, who is also Christian.

Tial Cem himself has no intention of giving his work and insisted that he “would not remove the cross”.

“We will have to face whatever it takes,” he explained. “If the authorities say I have to go to jail, I am not afraid; I am ready to go to jail for this case”.

Against this background, Chin Christians are planning a major rally in defence of religious freedom, even if the authorities seem unwilling to issue the necessary permit.

For CHRO’s Executive Director Salai Bawi Lian Mang, “This order to dismantle and remove the cross continues a decades-long pattern of religious discrimination against Chin Christians”.

Still, he hopes the authorities will “allow the cross to remain where it is and drop the charges against Tial Cem.”

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

Beijing Sends a New Flood of Han Migrants to Lhasa: Tibetans Risk Disappearing

The central government pushes 280 thousand citizens to move in the Tibetan capital to “support the advancement of the region”. The government in exile: “With this excuse, they are in fact marginalizing the natives from every sphere of influence”. Since the launch of migration policies to date, non-Tibetans living in the region have increased tenfold.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China’s Man-Made Islands in Disputed Waters Raise Worries

China is rapidly building five man-made islands from tiny reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, U.S. officials say, sparking concern that Beijing is growing more assertive in the disputed waters even as the United States boosts its own forces in the western Pacific.

U.S. officials worry that the buildup indicates a Chinese push to establish de facto control over the resource-rich waters and islets also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam.

Except for Brunei, those nations all maintain small airstrips or symbolic military outposts in the Spratlys, but the Chinese military dwarfs others in the region and could undermine the tense status quo. Confrontations have broken out over fishing, oil and gas drilling and military maneuvers in recent years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Government Attacks Textbooks That Promote Western Values

For Education Minister Yuan Guiren, high schools and universities should shun or ban textbooks that promote “non-Chinese” values. Previously, President Xi Jinping had also attacked freedom of thought. Teachers who speak out are hounded, fired and even jailed.

Beijing (AsiaNews) — Chinese universities should shun textbooks that promote Western values, maintain political integrity and keep criticism of China’s leaders or political system out of the classroom, said Chinese Education Minister Yuan Guiren in a recent statement widely covered in local media.

Yuan’s comments came at an educational forum, Xinhua reported. According to the news agency, the Education minister said that tertiary education institutions should “never let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes”.

For him, “slander[ing] the leadership of the Communist Party of China, smear[ing] socialism or violat[ing] the country’s constitution and laws must never appear or be promoted in college classrooms”.

Late last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping himself called for greater ideological supervision in universities, urging the Communist Party to step up its “leadership and guidance”, and “improve the ideological and political work” that it must perform in society.

Clearly, Xi means what he says. Under his rule, ideological repression has intensified compared to Hu Jintao’s ten years of power. Educators have especially borne the brunt.

In December, law professor Zhang Xuehong said he was sacked by the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai after refusing to apologise for writing articles criticising the government.

In October, Peking University economist Xia Yeliang was expelled for his support of Charter 08, a pro-democracy declaration co-authored by jailed Nobel Peace Liu Xiaobo.

Also last year, prominent Uighur academic Ilham Tohti — who had urged better dialogue between Beijing and the Uighur minority in Xinjiang — was jailed for life for separatism. Several of his students were also jailed.

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

‘Western Values’ Forbidden in Chinese Universities

China’s education minister has vowed that “western values” will never be allowed into the country’s classrooms as the Communist party steps up efforts to consolidate autocratic rule and stave off demands for democracy and universal human rights.

“Never let textbooks promoting western values enter into our classes,” Yuan Guiren said, according to an official account of his remarks. “Any views that attack or defame the leadership of the party or smear socialism must never be allowed to appear in our universities.”

China has tightened controls over all aspects of public life and clamped down hard on freedom of expression since President Xi Jinping took over as leader in 2012.

Hundreds of activists, dissidents, journalists and academics have been detained and some have been given lengthy prison sentences for the peaceful expression of political views that clash with the party’s official stance.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

South Africa’s Soweto Area, Once Epicenter of Resistance to Apartheid, Convulsed by Looting

JOHANNESBURG — South African youths recently swept through an intersection in the heart of Soweto township, breaking into immigrant-owned shops and grabbing whatever they could — soda, a loaf of bread, sometimes even the shelves. Nearly 40 years ago, at the same intersection, young blacks marched to protest the white racist rulers of the time, drawing a bloody crackdown that shocked the world.

The recent looting and unrest that hit Soweto and other areas around Johannesburg was not as bloody as the anti-apartheid demonstrations and the ensuing bloodshed in 1976. But it alarmed a nation built on the ideals of racial reconciliation and underscored that, two decades after apartheid was replaced by the promise of a “rainbow nation,” many South Africans remain marginalized by a lack of economic opportunity.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: ‘Immigration is Critical’ For Stockholm’s Future

Stockholm’s business community gathered on Friday to discuss the future of the city’s labour market. While housing and education were mentioned, it was another theme that reigned supreme.

“If we look at the trends we can see that Sweden will have a population of 10.9 million by 2035,” Karin Grunewald from Sweden’s statistics agency (SCB) explained.

“Up to 70 percent of the labour force today is over age 45,” Grunewald said. “We need a surplus of immigration, or we will have a shortage of doctors, despite the efforts that have been made to increase education.”

Asplund from the jobs agency agreed.

“Immigrants are totally necessary for the healthcare sector,” she said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Huddled Masses Besieging Fortress Calais

Thousands of people are living in makeshift camps in Calais hoping that one day they will make it to the UK. Many once had good jobs — but fleeing from war and persecution most now have no money, and little dignity, in a town that is fed up with them.

“Life in Calais? It’s close to animal life. From early morning you’re just thinking about food and then, to sleep again.

“You start thinking about basic needs — to take a shower, to take a shave, to cut your hair. And you’re just close to animal life.”

The speaker is Osman — a gentle, well-educated Sudanese man in his late 20s. He’s quietly explaining how his life has been shattered.

“I don’t know what to say, I think I lost everything. I am just now on empty. An empty guy, I don’t have a plan, I don’t know where to go.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Indoctrination Marches on

After 1968, education gradually fell into the totally-controlling hands of unionized demagogic pedagogues and social engineers. You could run from it for a while, but eventually there was no place left to run to. Homeschooling is the only answer.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Italians Favor Civil Unions But Not Gay Marriage

Huge majority supports legalizing prostitution

(ANSA) — Rome, January 30 — Most Italians support same-sex civil unions and quickie divorces, but not gay marriage or adoption, a new survey on a number of social issue by Eurispes pollsters showed Friday.

While 86.6% favored new norms allowing fast-track divorce and 64.4% said de facto couples of any gender should enjoy juridical protection, another 59.2% said they they are opposed to gay marriage (up from 50.7% in 2014).

The percentage of people against gay couples adopting children was stable at 72.2%.

In terms of reproductive rights, 47.2% said they favor achieving pregnancy through donor gametes — a technique which was recently legalised in Italy — and 49.8% said it’s OK to turn to a surrogate mother. A majority, or 58.1%, are in favor of the so-called day after pill to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

As far as the end of life, 55.2% of Italians said they support euthanasia while 66.5% are against assisted suicide.

One in three, or 33%, support legalising soft drugs and a whopping 65.5% said prostitution should be decriminalised.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Roger Scruton: Why Beauty Matters

For better or worse I have been identified by the British establishment as the person who can be relied upon to defend the indefensible, and who might be allowed to defend the indefensible even on state television (that is, the BBC) provided the defense is sufficiently diluted by others defending the obvious. In official code, “indefensible” means “conservative,” while “obvious” means “left-liberal.” Hence when the BBC asked me to contribute to a television series on beauty it was expected that I would argue that there really is such a thing, that it is not just a matter of taste, that it is connected with the noble, the aspirational, and the holy in our feelings, and that the postmodern culture, which emphasizes ugliness, despondency, and desecration, is a betrayal of a sacred calling. So that is what I said, since after all they were paying me.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why the West Rules — For Now

Why the West Rules belongs in the same category as Guns, Germs and Steel, Empire, The Emperor’s New Clothes, What it Means to be 98% Chimpanzee and The Skull Measurer’s Mistake. The authors don’t always claim that their motivation, in writing their books, was to combat “racism” — but the ignorant masses have been citing them, as weapons against “racism” nevertheless. Professor Morris quotes Guns, Germs and Steel and Empire several times in his book.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Muslims Pin Offensive Caricatures on Christianity

By Raymond Ibrahim

Although Western media have reported about the many protests against Charlie Hebdo all around the Islamic world, they have failed to point out that, once again, Muslims are conflating Western behavior with Christianity — blaming offensive caricatures of Muhammad on Christianity — without realizing that the satirical magazine habitually pokes fun at Christ and all other religious figures.

In the above picture from Palestinian territories, for example, protesters hold up a sign with pictures of the Muslim gunmen who murdered a dozen people at Charlie Hebdo with the caption saying “Expect more from the champions of Islam, O you slaves of the Cross.”

“Slaves of the Cross” is a common epithet Islam and Muslims use to describe Christians, past and present.

At any rate, here again we see how secular Western actions are immediately interpreted as “Christian” actions, and go on to fuel Muslim persecution of Christians, in the context of collective punishment.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

13 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/31/2015

  1. Does this now mean the Japanese also will be opening the door wide to muslim immigrants and all the baggage they bring with them. That seems to be the way it works. The more islamic koranic muslim atrocities the fewer border checks and the more visible the hijabed Japanese frontline. Mental illness on a national scale?

  2. With all the recorded evidence that is now available and that has been collected and catalogued for over 100 years – and it is evidence that any court of law would use as witness testimony and documentary evidence to convict a criminal – that NASA chooses to insult those of us who would bother to look – we still have NASA downplaying all that it has found out there in the universe to Mr. and Mrs. Average rather than informing all of us, who have a stake in this planet as part of our existence, of the real and fundamental findings that NASA has discovered – is truly a slap in the face of reality that could do away with wars, famine and the need to rely on those we elect to office and it is done, simply because those who control us do not want to relinquish their power.

  3. Dear Baron and Dymphna,
    It is Candlemas tomorrow (2nd). I know that Bach wrote a cantata for this but I do not know which one. Your help in directing me to this would be much appreciated.

  4. Hi Euclid,

    It’s one of Bach’s most famous and beautiful, No 82 “Ich habe Genug” (It is Enough). Hope that helps!

  5. Many thanks to everyone for their input. Ich habe genug is bliss. Light your candles tonight. Pegida have been silenced tonight (2nd) but Bach shines through the darkness.

    • I remember the crossed candles of Feb 2nd, St. Blaise’s Feast Day. Ah the bells and incantations we had to ward off disease…in this case, sore throats and the diseases they portended.

      • and you should have mentioned that St.Blaise’ s crossed candles help against swallowed fishbones in your throat,a real nasty problem.In one case I witnessed it really helped,even decades after the blessing!

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