A Hamas-run news agency reported today that Hamas’ leader Khaled Meshaal has been expelled from Qatar, and will relocate to Turkey. However, Hamas later denied that Mr. Meshaal had moved, and said he was still in Doha.
In other news, Turkish Airlines has stopped all flights to Libya because of the violence and chaos. It was the last foreign airline still sending planes to the country. Meanwhile, the Libyan government (one of them, at least; there are two) appealed for international help in acquiring weapons to fight the rebel militias.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, K, Phyllis Chesler, 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.
French, German Borrowing Rates at New All-Time Lows
French and German borrowing rates reached new all-time lows on Tuesday amid fears over the prospect of Greece leaving the eurozone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany ‘Working for Benefit’ of All in Eurozone
Reforms include measures to avoid contagion
(ANSA) — Berlin, January 5 — Germany is working for the benefit of all members of the eurozone, including Greece, a spokesman for the government in Berlin said Monday.
Steffen Seibert was reacting to reports of economic turmoil and political unrest in Greece.
Continued reforms are essential to improve conditions, but progress has been made, he said.
“The eurozone has made much progress — a banking union, a bailout fund and the ability to soften the contagion effect,” from economic problems in countries such as Greece, said Seibert.
Italy has been concerned about a contagion effect from Greece’s problems.
Fears are that investors and analysts may judge Italy as having the same problems as Athens, leading to downgrades.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Inflation Hits Five-Year Low in December: Data
Inflation in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, slowed to just 0.2 percent in December, its lowest level in more than five years, and averaged 0.9 percent for the whole of 2014, data showed Monday.
In a preliminary flash estimate, the federal statistics office Destatis calculated that German inflation stood at just 0.2 percent year-on-year last month, down from 0.6 percent in November.
The last time inflation in Germany was lower than 0.2 percent was in October 2009.
Taking 2014 as a whole, inflation stood at an annual average 0.9 percent, Destatis calculated…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Spooks Investors Back to German Bonds
French and German borrowing rates reached new all-time lows on Tuesday amid fears over the prospect of Greece leaving the eurozone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Euro Exit Would be ‘Lehman Brothers Squared’: Economist
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A decision by a new Greek government to leave the eurozone would set off devastating turmoil in financial markets even worse than the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, a leading international economist warned Saturday.
A Greek exit would likely spark runs on Greek banks and the country’s stock market and end with the imposition of severe capital controls, said Barry Eichengreen, an economic historian at the University of California at Berkeley.
The exit would also spill into other countries as investors speculate about which might be next to leave the currency union, he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Grexit Debate Exposes Cracks in Germany’s Grand Coalition
The German government rejects accusations of meddling in the Greek election campaign, but has not denied rumours that it considers a eurozone exit viable for Athens.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Inflation in Germany Hits Lowest Point in Five Years
In December, inflation in Germany rose by 0.1 percent, down from 0.5 percent a month earlier. German inflation, the rise in consumer prices, is now at the lowest point since October 2009.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Operation Helicopter: Could Free Money Help the Euro Zone?
Fears that the euro zone is heading for deflation refuse to abate. Now, many economists are demanding that the European Central Bank hand out money to consumers to stimulate the economy. But would it work?
It sounds at first like a crazy thought experiment: One morning, every resident of the euro zone comes home to find a check in their mailbox worth over €500 euros ($597) and possibly as much as €3,000. A gift, just like that, sent by the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt.
The scenario is less absurd than it may sound. Indeed, many serious academics and financial experts are demanding exactly that. They want ECB chief Mario Draghi to fire up the printing presses and hand out money directly to the people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: 250,000 Less Unemployed in 2014, Down 5.39%
From 2013. Most significant drop since 1998
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 5 — The year 2014 in Spain closed with 253,627 less jobless, down 5.39% from 2013, the most significant drop since 1998, according to data released Monday by the Public service employment offices. The total number of jobless in December was 4.447,711 people.
In the month of December alone, the drop concerned 64,405 jobless from the previous month, the second most significant monthly drop since the beginning of the survey series.
The drop in the number of unemployed workers was the second consecutive decrease after the one registered in 2013, when the number of jobless fell by 147,000 people, after increases registered in 2007 and 2012. Social security members registered in 2014 increased by 417,574 workers, the first surge since the start of the crisis in 2007.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
1,000 Alien Planets! NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope Hits Big Milestone
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered its 1,000th alien planet, further cementing the prolific exoplanet-hunting mission’s status as a space-science legend.
Kepler reached the milestone today (Jan. 6) with the announcement of eight newly confirmed exoplanets, bringing the mission’s current alien world tally to 1,004. The telescope has also spotted 3,200 additional planet candidates, and about 90 percent of them should end up being confirmed, mission scientists say.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Proposed Agenda for Congress in 2015 to Defend America and Its Ally Israel
by Jerry Gordon
It is appropriate at the start of 2015 to take stock and make resolutions to protect against the wide ranging threats to freedom, liberty and free expression now imperiling America and those allies in the West, especially Israel, which share our values. Let us review the situation we face and develop an agenda for Congress and concerned activists to rally around with determination to defeat the enemies ranged against our national interests and those of our ally Israel. The machination against Israel by the Palestinians, the Arab League, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and EU members at the UN and now the ICC are poised to harm Israel, despite support from Americans, Australians and Canadians. In Vienna there is the appeasement by the P5+1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, seeking to rein in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s quest for nuclear hegemony providing a shield for its state sponsored terrorism.So, what can American activists do in 2015? Here are some suggested social media campaigns to alert the media and the newly-organized Congress under the Republicans to the issues involved and possible actions they should consider as an agenda:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Age of Stars is Pinned to Their Spin
Astronomers have proved that they can accurately tell the age of a star from how fast it is spinning.
We know that stars slow down over time, but until recently there was little data to support exact calculations.
For the first time, a US team has now measured the spin speed of stars that are more than one billion years old — and it matches what they predicted.
The finding resolves a long-standing challenge, allowing astronomers to estimate a star’s age to within 10%.
The work was presented in Seattle at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society and also appears in the journal Nature.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As Boston Bombing Trial Starts, Question Looms: What Did Tsarnaev’s Wife Know?
Federal investigators have questioned Russell, who married Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2010, but they haven’t revealed what she told them.
It’s one of many questions looming as the trial for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, her brother-in-law, starts this week.
Federal prosecutors will not say if Russell, 25, is a suspect, a witness or simply a noninvolved widow. There have been no charges filed against her.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Clinton’s Name Found 21 Times in Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Directory
Lawyers sifting through documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy sex offender accused of pimping out an underage girl to Britain’s Prince Andrew, stumbled across an interesting finding among the filings: 21 email and telephone contacts for former President Bill Clinton and his personal aide, Doug Band.
The contacts were found within Mr. Epstein’s electronic directory, the court documents showed, the New York Post reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Black Brunch’: Collectivism Gives Anti-Police Protests Rationale to Strike Random Targets
Anti-police protesters decided it would be a good idea to storm restaurants in New York City and Oakland, California on Sunday, targeting eateries they decided were “white spaces” based on the skin color of the patrons. This was supposed to link the current anti-cop fever to the lunch-counter civil rights protests of the Sixties — an attempted theft of moral credibility that should enrage the surviving veterans of the civil rights era.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Inspector General to Resign
Amid the cloud of controversy he helped uncover, David Buckley is set to end his tenure at the US spy agency. Last summer, CIA employees hacked into computers being used by the Senate to investigate agency abuses.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Sales Up 16% in the U.S.
Led by Jeep, some Chrysler models
(ANSA)- New York, January 5 — United States sales of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) cars rose by 16% in 2014 compared to the previous year, the company said Monday.
Annual sales broke through the two-million-unit mark for the first time since 2006, FCA said.
Sales of its Jeep brand rose by 41% while Fiat sales added 7% in the Italian division’s best showing since it returned to the US market in 2011. Both brands posted all-time annual sales records, the company said.
In December, FCA sold 193,261 units, up 20% over the same month in 2013.
Chrysler car sales rose 53% in December, the best result since 2007, spearheaded by the Chrysler 200 and the Chrysler Town & Country while sales of the Ram pickup were up by 32%.
Jeep sales were up 19% in December in what was the brand’s 15th consecutive monthly increase. Fiat brand sales were up by 1% in the same month, the company said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Fracking Makes the Earth Shake
Seismologists in the US have found a direct connection between fracking and earthquakes. Environmentalists have opposed fracking for various reasons — is this the contentious method’s biggest fault yet?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Living With Two Penises is ‘Special and Unique’
A man with two penises has been speaking to Newsbeat about living with the condition.
Known only as Triple D, the 25-year-old from the east coast of America claims to have had 1,000 sexual partners.
He suffers from diphallia which is a rare condition where a male is born with two penises.
According to a report by the BMJ — the global healthcare knowledge provider — one-in-five million males in the world are born this way.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Manhunt on for 2 Suspected of Shooting NYPD Cops Responding to Robbery
A massive manhunt was on in New York after two NYPD officers were shot while trying to stop a robbery in the Bronx late Monday in the latest case of the nation’s largest police force coming under fire on the street.
Both Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellarano, who had just finished a plainclothes tour, were expected to survive. The men were clocking out when a report came in of a robbery at a Chinese restaurant at about 10:30, prompting them to join a response team. Although authorities said they did not appear to be targeted, as two police shot dead in their squad car in Brooklyn last month were, the incident was a sobering reminder of the dangers of policing and of the current tension between the force and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who praised them at a news conference at St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were being treated early Tuesday…
| [Return to headlines] |
Now You Can 3-D Print Chocolate
By far the tastiest new technology at CES 2015 in Las Vegas is a 3-D printer that produces chocolate.
The aptly named CocoJet, a partnership between printer maker 3D Systems and the Hershey Company, is designed to help bakers and chocolatiers craft confections that might otherwise be too difficult or too time consuming to make by hand.
CocoJet heats and squeezes out tiny rows of chocolate paste into elaborate structures, much like traditional 3-D printers produce plastic objects. One difference: The chemical composition of chocolate requires a quick cooling process to make sure you don’t end up with a deliciously messy chocolate puddle. The last thing you want is a chocolate jam in your printer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Jeb Bush to Launch PAC Before 2016 Presidential Contest
Republican Jeb Bush will launch a political action committee on Tuesday that allows him to raise money for political activities as he considers a run for his party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
The former Florida governor intends to file paperwork for the PAC, called “The Right to Rise,” on Tuesday, according to his spokeswoman Kristy Campbell.
The move, which was expected, allows Bush to talk to donors formally before a fundraiser on Wednesday in Greenwich, Conn. It also puts pressure on other potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates who are aligned with major party donors.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Lawyer Takes Legal Action in Prince Andrew Sex Claim Case
US lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who is accused of having sex with an underage girl in the case that also involves Prince Andrew, has begun legal action to clear his name.
The Duke of York and Mr Dershowitz were named in US court papers relating to the handling of a case against financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Both men deny the allegations.
Buckingham Palace says the sex claims against the duke are “without any foundation”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Some People Are So Upset Over #blackbrunch
It started as a creative method of protest against police violence in America.
The hashtag #blackbrunch hit New York City over the weekend. It was used by protesters who interrupted meals at several restaurants. They recited the names of African Americans killed by police, security guards or vigilantes, an action one organiser says was inspired by the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 60s.
The breakfast interruptions started in relative obscurity last month on the other side of the US in Oakland, California as a tactic to highlight allegations of police brutality.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
40% of Dutch Mosques Have Been Attacked, Daubed With Racist Graffiti
Almost 40% of the Netherlands’ 475 mosques have had to deal with racist graffiti, smashed windows and other violent behaviour over the past 10 years, according to Amsterdam University researcher Ineke van der Valk. Many Dutch mosques have recently increased security following the spate of arson attacks in Sweden and a Dutch Facebook page calling for people to do the same here. Van der Valk says her research shows attacks on mosques have become structural and are influenced by national and international events.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Islam Protests ‘Tearing Apart’ German Society
Amid a new wave of racist, Islamophobic demonstrations, leading migration researchers warn of a division of German society. EurActiv Germany reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Snow Blower Severs Man’s Leg
A 29-year-old man’s lower leg was severed after he collided with a snow blower in the early hours of Monday in Obertauern, Salzburg.
Despite being rushed to hospital in Schwarzach his left leg was so badly damaged it couldn’t be reattached.
The hospital said that the man is in a stable condition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Vice-Principal Bans Muslim Class From Church Trip
On the last school day before Christmas holidays, a jobsworth school director canceled a planned school trip to Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral, because ten of the 23 students in the class are Muslims — and he was afraid they might cause damage to the church and its crosses.
The vocational school in Mariahilf was winding down, and preparing for their Christmas break. The teacher of a class with 23 students carefully planned a school trip to visit Vienna’s central St. Stephen’s cathedral, so that the students could enjoy looking at the decorations, Christmas market and the beautiful interior of the church which is very popular with thousands of tourists every day.
An un-named vice-principal of the school had other plans, however. He informed the teacher that the school trip was canceled, because ten of the 23 students were Muslim, and therefore he was worried that they might misbehave, and tear down the crosses inside the Gothic cathedral.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgian Serial Rapist ‘Will Not be Euthanized’
An imprisoned Belgian serial rapist and murderer whose wish to die had been granted by doctors will not now be euthanized following a fresh medical decision, Justice Minister Koen Geens said Tuesday.
Frank Van Den Bleeken, who has spent 26 years in jail for repeated rapes and a rape-murder, will be moved from his prison in the northwestern city of Bruges to a new psychiatric treatment centre in Ghent, the minister said in a statement.
Geens “takes note of the decision of doctors treating Mr Frank Van Den Bleeken to no longer continue the euthanasia procedure,” the minister said in a statement.
He gave no reason for the decision, citing medical privacy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Bruges to Get Underground Beer Pipeline
In a bid to stop the city’s roads being clogged up with beer lorries, Bruges is to re-route its beer underground, through 3km of pipeline capable of carrying 6,000 litres per hour.
In addition to being a Willy Wonkian approach to beer transport and enabling the use of the quite wonderful measurement of litres per hour with regards to beer, the system will allow for around 500 tankers to be taken off the road.
Inevitably there are some fears that people will try to tap off the pipeline, but its creators are confident the beer will be secure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Squatters From Ebola Risk Nations in Sint-Joost
Some one hundred undocumented people are squatting in a building in the Brussels borough of Sint-Joost-ten-Node. The protesters hope their action will encourage the authorities to grant them temporary protection.
The squatters all hail from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, three countries devastated by the Ebola outbreak. At present Belgium isn’t expelling any nationals from these countries, but people are being kept in limbo because they are not being given official permission to stay in Belgium.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cyber Attackers Disrupt Finnish Bank Services
Clients of the Finnish bank OP-Pohjola have had trouble logging into their accounts since New Year, as a result of a cyber attack on the bank, YLE reports. Nordea bank was also attacked, but was quickly online again. A spokesperson for Danske Bank said its errors were unrelated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Republic: Muslim Community Weighs Charges Against Okamura Over Anti-Muslim Statements
The leader of the populist Dawn Party Tomio Okamura has found himself at the centre of a scandal, endorsing a highly questionable text by his deputy on his Facebook page. In it, he suggested Czechs should shun Muslim-owned businesses or should provoke Muslims by walking pigs in the vicinity of mosques. At first, part of the community shrugged off the rhetoric; now though, representatives are considering filing charges for hate speech.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Wind Energy Has Record Year
With 39 percent of Denmark’s electricity use covered by wind power in 2014, the climate minister says the nation is well on its way to hits its 2020 goals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Sees Sharp Rise in Criminal Tourists
A nearly 50 percent increase in the number of tourists charged with crimes as politicians once again arguing over the need for increased border controls.
In five years, the number of tourists charged with committing crimes in Denmark exploded.
Henrik Stagetorn, the head of the national association of defence lawyers, said that the largest group of offenders come from Romania.
“I typically see Romanians — who neither live nor work in Denmark but can come here under EU rules — commit pickpocketing and cons and spy on credit card pin codes. There is also a bit of organized burglary,” he told Metroxpress.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Eurozone Membership is ‘Irrevocable’, EU Says
(BRUSSELS) — A country’s membership in the eurozone is “irrevocable,” a European Commission spokeswoman said Monday when asked about Greece’s possible exit from the single currency union following elections this month.
“Euro membership is irrevocable,” spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told reporters, saying the rule was enshrined in article 140, paragraph 3 of the Lisbon Treaty.
But, asked whether such an option was feasible, Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said: “We are not going to enter into speculation and scenarios which risk being interpreted in a context that is not put forward.”
The Commission, the EU executive arm, was questioned after the German weekly Der Spiegel said Saturday the German government believed it was inevitable that Greece would leave the eurozone if Syriza, the far-left anti-austerity party, wins the January 25 elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Take to the Streets to Protest Anti-Islamization Movement
Anti-Islamist ‘Pegida’ supporters have had to cancel their appearance in Cologne, where thousands of demonstrators showed solidarity with migrants. However, thousands of anti-Islamists showed up in the city of Dresden.
Overwhelming support for immigrants and asylum seekers in Cologne led to the Pegida demonstrators cancelling their appearance. Citizens in Cologne shouted out in jubilation, the sole goal of their demonstration being to prevent the Kögida- the name of the anti-Islam movement in Cologne- from marching in their city.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Anti-Islam Demo Flops in Berlin — But Not Just Thugs
On Monday night, activists tried to bring the so-called “Pegida” movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) to the German capital — and failed miserably.
Some 300 rain-bedraggled “patriotic Germans”, xenophobes and outright racists stood forlornly outside Berlin’s town hall, hemmed in by around 5,000 anti-racist activists and several hundred riot police, their hopes of a march to the iconic Brandenburg Gate frozen in their tracks — just like the bitterly damp January weather.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle. Whilst the anti-Islam marches in Dresden, which is a neo-Nazi stronghold and has hard-right politicians elected to its regional parliament, can draw up to 18,000 supporters, Berlin is a different matter altogether.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany PEGIDA Protests: Rallies Over ‘Islamisation’
Supporters and opponents of a group campaigning against what it sees as the “Islamisation” of Europe have held rival rallies across Germany.
There have been weekly protests by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida) since October.
A record 18,000 people turned out on Monday at one rally in Dresden.
But counter demonstrations have sprung up and the group has been condemned by senior German politicians.
Thousands of people marched in Berlin, Cologne, Dresden and Stuttgart.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: FDP Pin Revival Hopes On… New Flag
After a drubbing in the polls which has seen them wiped out in the Bundestag, Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) are pinning their hopes of a revival on a new… er… flag.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Roulette: What Would Syriza’s Victory Mean for Europe?
Greek Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has many observers across Europe scratching their heads. What does the head of the radical left party, who may become Greece’s next prime minister, really want -the euro or the drachma?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fassina Says Tax-Reform Reversal ‘Embarrassing’ For Renzi
Premier withdraws changes over Berlusconi annulment concerns
(ANSA) — Rome, January 5 — Premier Matteo Renzi has embarrassed his government with the sudden reversal of a major tax law reform considered to be faulty, a critic within Renzi’s own Democratic Party (PD) said Monday.
Stefano Fassina spoke following the surprise announcement by Renzi on Sunday that his tax reforms would be reconsidered by cabinet in light of concerns that the changes could be used to annul the August 2013 tax-fraud conviction of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.
In a newspaper interview, Fassina said that the reforms were “chilling” and Renzi had “forced his hand” by pushing them through cabinet just before Christmas.
On Sunday, Renzi said the tax-reform measures, which include change to how tax crimes are punished, would be reviewed before going to parliament.
Renzi said in a television interview that he wanted to avoid any perception of a “backroom deal” to benefit Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is helping Renzi with electoral reforms.
Fassina said the tax-reform measures were rushed by Renzi and were not supported by Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi ‘Backtracks’ On Controversial Tax Measure
‘Pro-Berlusconi’ article sparks outcry
(by Stefania Fumo). (ANSA) — Rome, January 5 — Unions and opposition politicians on Monday blasted what many have dubbed a Save-Berlusconi article contained in a government tax reform measure passed by cabinet on December 24. The controversial article would depenalize tax fraud “when the sum of evaded taxes does not exceed 3% of declared taxable income”. On Sunday, Premier Matteo Renzi in a surprise announcement said his tax reforms would be sent back to cabinet in light of concerns that the measure could be used to annul the August 2013 tax-fraud conviction of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, thus allowing him to run for office once more. A dissenting leftwing minority within Renzi’s own party had harsh words for its leader on Sunday, calling the withdrawn article “preposterous” and a “dirty trick”. On Monday, labor and opposition figures chimed in. “Such questionable measures must be expunged from the government agenda for good…in the name of fighting tax evasion and promoting tax equality,” said CISL trade union federation chief Annamaria Furlan. “Renzi didn’t know about the law that would have helped Berlusconi. Do you believe him?” tweeted Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant, anti-euro and separatist Northern League party. “(The premier’s office) is like one of those Camorra mafia-held neighborhoods where no one knows what’s going on,” said Lower House MP Alessandro Battista, who is from the anti-establishment, anti-euro 5-Star Movement (M5S). M5S leader Beppe Grillo followed this up on his popular blog, calling Berlusconi “the ventriloquist” and Renzi “his dummy”. “In a fully liberal democracy, someone would have resigned the day after #SaveBerlusconi,” tweeted Left Ecology and Freedom (SEL) House whip, Arturo Scotto. “Instead, they’re still playing hide-and-seek”.
In a newspaper interview, leading PD dissenter and MP Stefano Fassina said the reforms were “chilling” and Renzi had “forced his hand” by pushing them through cabinet just before Christmas.
Renzi said in a television interview that he wanted to avoid any perception of a “backroom deal” to benefit Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia (FI) party has gotten behind the premier’s electoral reform bill.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
PhDs Confiscated by Nazis to be Restored
A Polish university said Monday it will restore doctorate degrees to 262 people, most of them Jewish, decades after Nazi Germany annulled them in the run-up to World War II.
“It’s a symbolic gesture,” said University of Wroclaw spokesman Jacek Przygodzki, explaining that border changes have made official restitution impossible.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philae Comet Lander Failed in Sample-Drilling Attempt, Might Try Again
The European lander currently hibernating on a comet did not successfully sample the icy body using a drill after the probe made its historic comet landing in November.
The Philae lander’s drill did not deliver any samples of the comet to instruments on the lander after the probe touched down on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Nov. 12
All hope is not lost for Philae and its drill, however. It’s possible that ESA officials might be able to re-deploy the drill if the lander wakes up later this year, Weissman added, but it depends on the position of the lander. Scientists hope to use the drill in order to learn more about the composition of the comet itself.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Record Turnout Expected for Annual Davos Meet
The Geneva-based World Economic Forum says its annual gathering at Davos this month will draw a record number of participants, including more than 300 heads of state and government bigwigs.
The January 21st-24th meeting of the rich and powerful at the posh Swiss ski resort comes amid a spate of global crises, including the worst post-Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West and renewed fears of financial turmoil.
“In addition to the 1,500 top business leaders from over 140 countries, more than 300 heads of state, heads of government and government members are also expected to participate,” the organization said.
“In particular, most European countries will be represented by the prime minister, president or chancellor and will be accompanied by strong government delegations.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sicily Bridge Collapses Within Days of Opening
In a further embarrassment to Italy over its public works, a €13 million viaduct in Sicily collapsed within ten days of opening.
There are hundreds of unfinished public projects around Italy, so those behind the Scorciavacche viaduct, which lies on a stretch of highway between Palermo and Agrigento, had reason to celebrate when it opened on December 23rd — three months ahead of schedule.
But less than two weeks later the bridge had to be closed after part of it collapsed, Corriere reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Accident Could Have Caused Mosque Fire
Swedish police cannot rule out the possibility that an accident rather than arson was the cause of a fire at a mosque on Christmas Day — one of three fires at mosques across the country in the space of a week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Police Targeted by Gangs
It can’t be easy trying to uphold the law in Sweden these days.
On one hand, you’re routinely harassed by gangs when you enter the “exclusion areas”. It can be simple routine things like spitting, hurled insults and scratched patrol cars to being pelted with rocks or attempts to blind you with green lasers while driving.
Well, now it appears the gangs are upping the ante. Blowing up court houses and firing machine guns into police stations isn’t enough. The new trend is to map out the individual officers’ personal information, following them home and scoping out their families in a clear effort to intimidate and discourage serious police work.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Uproar Over French Inmates’ Facebook Page
A probe has been launched in France after inmates at a prison posted selfies on a Facebook page showing them waving bundles of cash around, displaying drugs and playing with mobile phones.
In photo a prisoner at the Baumettes prison near Marseille, waves around €50 notes, another image shows one smoking a hookah and playing with a mobile phone while another shows cannabis on a table in the prison.
The Facebook page titled “MDR Baumettes” (LOL Baumettes) had garnered nearly 5,000 likes before it was removed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Eyes Full-Time Spain Base for Africa Troops
The United States has said it wants to permanently station an elite squad of marines in Andalusia to deal with crises in Africa but Spanish authorities are concerned about possible consequences.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The achievements and the new challenges facing cross-border cooperation in the Mediterranean were at the centre of discussions at the recent NextMed Conference, sponsored by the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, bringing together over 500 people from the whole Mediterranean area. Enhanced cooperation among countries of the region under the new European Neighbourhood Instrument was highlighted as a contribution to a more integrated Mediterranean region, from the economic, political, social, and cultural points of view.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya Appeals for Weapons to Battle Militias
Libya’s internationally recognised government on Monday appealed for weapons to combat militias which have seized parts of the oil-rich nation, at an emergency meeting of the Arab League.
“We call on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and to arm, without further delay, the Libyan army,” said Libya’s representative to the Cairo-based Arab League, Ashur Bou Rashed.
More than three years after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed revolt, Libya is awash with weapons and powerful militias, and it has rival governments and parliaments.
The internationally recognised government and the parliament elected in June have been based in the remote east since an Islamist-backed militia coalition, Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn), seized Tripoli last year…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Airlines Suspends All Flights to Libya
Turkish Airlines, the last remaining foreign carrier offering flights to Libya, said Tuesday it was suspending all flights to the conflict-wracked country amid the worsening security situation.
The Turkish flag-carrier said that it had suspended flights to Misrata, its only remaining destination in the country after it had earlier pulled its flights to the capital Tripoli as well as Benghazi and the inland desert city of Sebha.
The country has descended into chaos since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. It has rival governments and parliaments and is awash with arms and militias.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Could Regulatory Headwinds in Israel Shutdown Offshore Energy Development?
On the cusp of the New Year, we published a chronicle of self inflicted woes that have befallen Israel’s grasp of its energy prize, “Could Israel Lose the Energy Prize in the Eastern Mediterranean?” The Noble Energy, Inc. (NBL-NYSE) and Israeli Delek Group, LTD, (DELEK-TELV) ( the Consortium ) has developed the most significant gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean with over 32 trillion cubic feet (TCF) which at current market prices might produce a value of nearly $100 Billion. The consortium found itself thwarted by a Consent Decree issued by the independent Israel Antitrust Authority (IAA). The Decree essentially reneged on a deal that would have left the Consortium in control of the Tamar field with 7.9 tcf . That field went on stream in April 2013 and potentially the even more significant Leviathan field was scheduled to begin production in 2017 with reserves of more than 21.9 tcf.
Dr. David Gilo of the IAA effectively ruled that the Noble Energy — Delek Consortium constituted a monopoly and would be forced to sell the Leviathan or Tamar fields in Israel’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone. Gilo was cited by the New York Times saying, “The entry of Delek and Noble into Leviathan has created a situation in which these groups control all the gas reserves on the coast of the State of Israel.” Gilo’s rationale for his ruling was the prior agreed to sale of smaller gas fields Tanin and Karish owned by the Consortium “did not create a real competitive solution to solve the problem of a monopoly in the market.” Israel’s unique and formidable antitrust regulatory structure and the execution of the IAA authorities by its current Director General present a formidable barrier to the development of its valuable offshore energy resources. Changes in the IAA’s regulatory practice made under Gilo’s leadership of IAA reflect possible abuses of power catering to populist consumerist resentment of the high costs of living in Israel. Without relief via legal appeals to Israel’s Supreme Court and/or International Arbitration from IAA’s proposed Consent Decree the Noble Energy Delek Consortium , its investors and shareholders, and the people of Israel could lose billions of revenues from the energy prize awaiting development in its offshore Exclusive Economic Zone.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
OIC Leader Pays Rare Visit to Jerusalem’s Aqsa Mosque
The head of the world’s largest Islamic organization on Monday paid a rare visit to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, urging Muslims to follow suit to strengthen Palestinian claims to the holy site.
The visit by Iyad Madani, secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, came at a sensitive time following months of tensions surrounding the spot in Jerusalem’s Old City. The hilltop compound is revered by Jews and Muslims and is a frequent flashpoint of violence.
Madani is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, an Arab country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and is the guardian of Islam’s most important sites. Al-Aqsa is Islam’s third-holiest site, after places in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Leader Expelled From Qatar
(CNN) Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal and members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been expelled from Qatar, a Hamas-run news agency reported Tuesday.
The officials are most likely headed to Turkey, the report said.
The move comes after a Saudi-brokered initiative to improve relations between Qatar and Egypt.
Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas is an extension of the group. Egypt overthrew the Islamist organization from power in 2013.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Denies Leader Has Been Expelled From Qatar
Islamist group Hamas on Tuesday denied reports that its leader Khaled Meshaal has been expelled from Qatar.
Another Hamas source confirmed that Meshaal was still in Doha and has no plans to leave the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Has Qatar Deported Hamas Politburo Cheif Khaled Meshaal?
Just before year end, on December 30, 2014, we posted on pronouncements from Qatar about abandoning support for the Muslim Brotherhood and opening up dialogue with Egypt’s President El-Sisi. El-Sisi , then Defense Chief ousted President Morsi , a former Muslim Brotherhood leader in a coup on July 2013, Has Qatar turned Away from Islamist Support in the Middle East? Earlier on December 6, 2014, we reported that the Qatari Ambassador to the US, H.E. Mohammed Jaham Al-Kuwari at a presentation before the Pensacola, Florida Tiger Bay Club proclaimed, “We do not support Hamas”. He astounded some in the audience. In retrospect, given today’s news about Qatar expelling, Hamas Politburo leader, that may have been a scoop. If confirmed, that would end Meshall’s three year sojourn in the gas rich Gulf state. However, denials by Senior Hamas leader and the lack of confirmation from Qatar raise questions. We shall see if Qatar makes the transition away from being a Frenemy dropping its support for the Brotherhood in the region and in Gaza. Backing Egypt’s security was likely a show of good faith to be brought back into the fold of the Gulf Cooperation Council. If Qatar can clean up its problems with the construction of the FIFA 2022 World Cup including alleged human rights violations of foreign workers, it may be on the path to rehabilitation in the world community. Still Qatar is not a budding democracy as it tries to portray itself. Rather it an Arab autocracy granting little to no human rights to its 280,000 citizens and nearly 1.8 million foreign workers.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
How Oil Price Slump is Putting a Squeeze on Hezbollah, Iran’s Shiite Ally
Beirut — Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, is facing a new enemy: financial austerity.
A slump in global oil prices and nuclear-tied sanctions are squeezing the group’s patron Iran, which is already funneling billions of dollars to the Syrian regime. As Iran tightens its belt, Hezbollah has had to impose salary cuts on personnel, defer payments to suppliers and reduce monthly stipends to its political allies in Lebanon, according to a wide range of political and diplomatic sources in Beirut, including friends and foes of the powerful Shiite party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State “Police” Official Beheaded: Syria Monitor
A top figure in Islamic State’s self-declared police force, which has carried out beheadings, was himself found decapitated in eastern Syria, a monitoring group said.
The man was an Egyptian national and was known as the deputy “emir” of the al-Hesbah force in a Syrian province, the British-based the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
“We do not know whether Islamic State killed him or whether it was local people or other fighters,” said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, which reports on events in Syria through a network of contacts on the ground.
“Either way it is important, because he was a very important man,” he said, adding that he believed it was the first time that an al-Hesbah member had been killed in this way.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary
On December 30, 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) — Baghdad province released a video message of Abu Abdullah Al-Hollandi, a Dutch ISIS fighter who executed a suicide attack against Iraqi police headquarters in Baghdad on November 12, 2014. Al-Hollandi urges Dutch Muslims to leave the Netherlands and join ISIS, while noting that they have no excuse to live among the unbelievers any longer. Al-Hollandi also urges ISIS fighters to carry out suicide attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: ISIS Chief Executioner Found Beheaded With Cigarette in His Mouth
In a grotesque twist of the saying “live by the sword, die by the sword”, an Islamic State executioner in Syria who carried out beheadings for the jihadist group has been found with his head cut off.
The body of the Egyptian man, known to be the deputy emir of the feared al-Hesbah (or Hisbah) force in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, was recovered near a power plant in al-Mayadeen city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The corpse showed signs of torture and carried the message “This is evil, you Sheikh” written on it. The severed head also had a cigarette in its mouth. It is unclear who carried out the decapitation but the message was obvious.
Islamic State’s (formerly known as Isis) ban on cigarettes is one of its signature polices. It has imposed a strict set of Sharia laws barring the use of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes in the territories it has conquered across a swathe of Iraq and Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Time to Crack Down on ‘Islamophobia’, Turkey’s Erdogan Tells EU
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned the European Union it should crack down on “Islamophobia” amid rising anti-Muslim protests instead of trying to teach Turkey lessons about democracy.
Erdogan told Turkey’s ambassadors posted abroad in a speech in Ankara that they should pursue an assertive foreign policy to represent strong and self-confident “new Turkey” under his rule.
In a new attack on the EU, Erdogan called on the 28-member bloc to “revisit its Turkey policy”, accusing Europe of dragging its feet on Ankara’s decade-old membership bid…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Permits First New Church in 90 Years
Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government has authorized the building of the first church in the country since the end of the Ottoman empire in 1923, AFP has learned.
The church is for the country’s tiny Syriac community and will be built in the Istanbul suburb of Yesilkoy on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, which already has Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic churches.
“It is the first since the creation of the republic,” a government source told AFP Saturday.
“Churches have been restored and reopened to the public, but no new church has been built until now,” he added.
Turkey, which once had large Christian minorities, is now 99 percent Muslim, and critics of the ruling party AKP have accused it of trying to Islamicize its officially secular society.
| — Hat tip: K | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Investigates Female Suicide Bomber Attack in Istanbul
The Turkish premier has praised the bravery of police after a suicide bomber struck at an Istanbul police station, killing one officer. The motive of the woman, who spoke English during the attack, is being investigated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Leader Calls on EU to Crack Down on Islamophobia
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned the European Union it should crack down on Islamophobia amid rising anti-Muslim protests rather than “trying to teach a lesson” to Turkey.
Erdogan told Turkey’s ambassadors posted abroad in a speech in Ankara that they should pursue an assertive foreign policy to represent strong and self-confident “new Turkey” under his rule.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France, Germany Concerned About Russia Sanctions Policy
France and Germany suggested Monday (5 January) that Western sanctioning Russia had reached its limits and could only make things worse. The statements were made ahead of a four-way summit on the Ukraine crisis in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on 15 January.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: EU-Russia Sanctions ‘Must Stop Now’
French leader Francois Hollande has dangled the prospect of lifting EU sanctions on Russia ahead of the year’s first Ukraine crisis summit.
“I think the sanctions must stop now. They must be lifted if there is progress. If there is no progress the sanctions will remain”, he said on France Inter radio on Monday (5 January).
“(Russian president) Mr Putin doesn’t want to annex eastern Ukraine. He’s told me that … what he wants is to remain influential. What he wants is for Ukraine not to fall into the Nato camp”, he added, referring to his impromptu meeting with Putin at a Moscow airport in December.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UN: At Least 4,700 Killed in Conflict in Eastern Ukraine
At least 4,700 people have been killed and more than 10,000 have been injured in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, the UN tweeted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Family ‘Honor Kills’ Indian Newlyweds for Marrying Without Parental Consent
by Phyllis Chesler
A young Hindu couple in the Punjab dared to marry for love—but without permission from the bride’s family.
Sandeep Rani and his wife, Khushboo, knew enough to flee their homes and to seek acourt order of protection, which the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted them.
They did not know enough to go into permanent hiding or to move far, far away. Instead, they returned to their home village of Mugowal and showed their court order to the local police in Hoshiarpur. Apparently, the police chose not to protect them. However, the police also claim that either the couple did not “accept protection” or did not advise the police as to their exact whereabouts. An investigation is underway.
In any event, on the night of January 3rd, the couple were killed by five masked men. They were horribly stabbed and hacked to death with knives and swords. This killing was up-close, ugly, and very personal.
One must ask why. According to our 2012 study in Middle East Quarterly (“Hindu vs. Muslim Honor Killings”), the main reason that Hindus perpetrate honor killings (and only in India, not in the West) is related to caste violations. Hindus are not supposed to marry out of their caste. However, this tragic couple belonged to the same caste—they were Dalits (formerly and shamefully known as the “untouchables” or as “the oppressed”).
However, they apparently grew up in the same village. Perhaps they were members of the same sub-gotra. Hindu perceptions of honor, known as maryada in many Indian languages and as ghairat in Urdu and Pashto, are different from Muslim perceptions. Among Muslims, first cousin marriage is preferred. Hindus are not supposed to marry anyone from the same sub-caste (gotra). One wonders whether this was the killing offense. In addition, Hindus are not supposed to marry without parental or, really, paternal permission. Often, they are not supposed to choose their spouses. According to aHindu Religious Council Leader, “Love marriages are dirty… only whores can choose their partners.”
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Kashmir Villagers Flee Amid India Pakistan Cross-Border Fire
Thousands of people in Kashmir have fled their homes along a stretch of border where renewed fighting has broken out between India and Pakistan. At least 10 people have been killed in recent days.
Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged gunfire and mortar bombs intermittently on Tuesday, prompting thousands of villagers to leave their homes to escape the violence.
“The civilian population of both sides is being dislodged. It is not a happy situation. We want normalcy back as soon as possible,” DK Pathak, director general of India’s Border Security Force (BSF), told reporters in the Samba district.
The renewed clashes have sparked an exodus of more than 6,000 people from communities on the Indian side of the border since late Monday, according to Shantmanu, a senior official in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state administration. Around 4,000 left after fighting began last week, most of them seeking shelter in temporary camps or with relatives.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Beijing Launches Bid for 2022 Winter Olympics
Beijing leaders on Tuesday handed over their official bid to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics to the Swiss-based IOC, heightening their battle with Kazakhstan’s Almaty.
The event is guaranteed to be staged in Asia as Beijing and Almaty are the only candidates.
The Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee (IOC) will make a final decision in July.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Scraps Cap on Rare Earth Exports
China has just scrapped its controversial limit on rare earth exports.
The move could increase global access to coveted materials that are used in a wide range of high tech devices.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce made the announcement over the holidays, but said export contracts will continue to be monitored, according to state media reports.
Rare earth materials are used in a wide variety of products such as cell phones, electric vehicles and national defense products.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Making Nuclear Progress, Says South
South Korea’s defence ministry has speculated that the North has made progress towards making deliverable nuclear weapons.
In a white paper, the ministry said enough time had passed since the North’s first nuclear test for it to have acquired the technology.
A ministry official, however, told the Yonhap News agency that there was no intelligence to support the assessment.
Meanwhile North Korea’s leader said he was open to talks with the South.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea ‘Close to Miniaturising Nuclear Warheads’
North Korea has achieved “a significant level” of the technology required to miniaturise nuclear warheads in order to mount them on ballistic missiles, according to South Korea’s ministry of defence.
In a white paper released on Tuesday, the ministry added that North Korea is believed to have obtained more than 88lbs of weapons-grade plutonium by repeatedly reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods.
Additional efforts are also being made to produce highly-enriched uranium, the report stated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Boosting Ability to Attack South, U.S.
North Korea has set up posts along its border with South Korea to be able to more quickly invade its neighbor, while also expanding its artillery and mechanized forces, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
Kim Jong Un’s regime is setting up “infiltration facilities” along the demilitarized zone dividing the countries to be able to both accommodate and rapidly deploy special forces into South Korea if war breaks out, the ministry said in its latest white paper released today. It didn’t say how many posts there are or whether they included tunnels and housed weapons.
North Korea has also probably developed ballistic missiles capable of threatening the continental U.S., according to the report, the first time South Korea has made the assertion in its white paper.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taking on South Korea’s Adoption Taboo
It used to be said that South Korea’s biggest export was babies — Korean children, unwanted in their own land, were adopted by loving new parents outside the country, particularly in the United States.
And then the law was changed. The shame of an increasingly affluent and confident country sending its children abroad to find the love denied at home played on the national conscience so foreign adoption was made much harder.
But the good intentions have led to unintended results: South Korean orphanages are now brimming with children who might previously have found a new life in a foreign family.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ethnic Danes a Minority in Some Urban Districts
In several Danish neighbourhoods, ethnic Danes are the minority.
A study carried out by the online newsletter Ugebrevet A4 shows that more people with an immigrant background than ethnic Danes live in the districts of Odense NØ (postcode 5240), Brøndby Strand (2660) and Brabrand (8220).
The study was based on figures from Statistics Denmark regarding the number of immigrants, refugees and their children.
The report points out that most immigrants live close to big cities such as Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Smugglers Using New Route to Europe
The EU’s border agency, Frontex, says smugglers are using a new route to get migrants into Europe by loading them onto cargo ships from Turkey to Italy.
“There is definitely a new route opening up,” a spokesperson at the Warsaw-based agency told this website on Monday (5 January).
Around 17 cargo vessels have been intercepted on the route since July.
Frontex says the large cargo ships, measuring around 100 metres in length, are often purchased from scrapyards and then set sail from Mersin port in Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Asylum Seekers to be Returned to Bulgaria
In recent years, Bulgaria has suffered from waves of refugees, mainly due to the civil war in Syria. The most impoverished country in the EU, Bulgaria has a limited capacity to deal with the challenge, and has been criticised by human rights groups for mistreating the flow of refugees.
Most of the migrants who first crossed the EU border entering Bulgaria have no intention of staying there, and seek to establish themselves further West. But according to EU rules, the country where the migrants lodge their asylum request is responsible for taking care of them.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
8 Newfound Alien Worlds Could Potentially Support Life
Astronomers have discovered eight new exoplanets that may be capable of supporting life as we know it, including what they say are the two most Earthlike alien worlds yet found.
All eight newfound alien planets appear to orbit in their parent stars’ habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that may allow liquid water to exist on a world’s surface — and all of them are relatively small, researchers said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police attacked everywhere
Lately, we are seeing police being attacked in full force everywhere.
How should this be interpreted?
I have an explanation: the Left, since 1960, has been indoctrinating people, specially in universities, telling them law enforcement is an instrument of capitalism and, to destroy capitalism we must destroy the police first. Now we witness the result of their teachings!
Saw the shocking news from Paris. Long live Charlie Hebdo. Vive la France and no surrender to islamofascism.
South Yemen all the way to Paris where their are no citizens just consumers and cowering terror fodder. Dump the EU now or the day will come when the Muslims may boast and laugh their [fundaments] off about the Kufar letting them build mosques and ammo dumps right under their “democratic” little noses while dismantling their armies and confused the hell out what was left to the point where nobody knew what the mission was. They were afraid to “offend” the very soldiers of Allah who sought to destroy them and their democracy. They just opened the borders wider and let more in.