Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/6/2015

Kinetic activists of the Islamic State are in the process of destroying the ancient city of Nimrud, one of Iraq’s most valuable sites from antiquity. Meanwhile, other community organizers from ISIS are burning oil wells in the face of the advance of the Iraqi army on Tikrit. Neither incident had anything to do with Islam.

In other news, an “Australian” man has been sentenced to at least seven and a half years in prison for “marrying” and impregnating a 12-year-old girl. The Australian public was reassured to learn that the man’s actions had nothing to do with Islam.

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

Thanks to Caroline Glick, DS, Fjordman, Insubria, Salome, 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
» ECB to Begin €1 Trillion Stimulus Next Week
 
USA
» Census: White Children to Become Minority by 2020
» Ex-Ambassador Accuses Clinton of Double Standard on Email
» Flemington ‘White History Month’ Flap Ends With Apology
» NASA Spacecraft Becomes First to Orbit a Dwarf Planet
» NASA Dawn Probe Enters Orbit Around Dwarf Planet Ceres, A Historic First
» NASA’s Dawn Becomes First Probe to Orbit Dwarf Planet
» NASA’s Dawn Probe Achieves Orbit Around Ceres
» Spacecraft Nears Dwarf Planet Ceres
 
Europe and the EU
» 650 Germans Have Joined ISIS Jihad: Minister
» Belgium: Exorcist Handed 10 Years After Death of 18-Year-Old
» Denmark: Politicians Want Mohammed Cartoons to be Part of School Curriculum
» Dutch PM Says Jihadis Should Die in Syria Rather Than Come Home
» Far-Right National Front Set to ‘Kidnap France’
» France ‘Must Pass Anti-Smacking Law’, COE
» France: Sarkozy Ex-Interior Minister Detained for Questioning
» Germany: MPs Vote Through Women Executive Quota
» International Pilots to Boycott Norwegian
» Italy: ‘Justice Will Run Its Course’ on Pompeii Says Franceschini
» Italy: Pompeii Staff ‘Ghost Courses’ Fraud Trial Times Out
» Italy: Tosi Says Hasn’t Opted to Leave League
» Italy: Women in Love a ‘Problem’ For Berlusconi
» Italy: Mafia Threats Against Local Politicians Rising
» Netherlands: Mega Mosque Losing Support; Christian Party Refuses on Religious Grounds
» ‘No Jokes at NATO HQ, ‘ Moans New Alliance Boss
» Norway: No Legal Basis to Arrest 1982 Paris Attack Suspect
» Norway ‘Retarded Cousin Who Won the Lottery’
» ‘Sweden Shouldn’t End Controversial Saudi Deal’
» Sweden: Badger Puts Stockholm Hotel in Lockdown
» Sweden Faces Soldier Shortage
» Swedish Remains Obligatory in Finnish Schools
» Syria Fighter Threatens With Attacks in Belgium
» UK: Asian Gangs Were Allowed to Prey on Vulnerable Girls
» Vatican Confirms Negotiating Tax Deal With Italy
 
North Africa
» Egyptian Policeman Injured in Drive-by Shooting in Fayoum
» Libya Ambassador to UN, Agreement Now or Give US Arms
» Renzi Sees Russia Playing Key Role in Libya
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Attack in East Jerusalem, Women Soldiers Injured
 
Middle East
» ISIL Militant Treated in Turkey, Governor Confirms
» ISIS Propaganda: Study Finds Up to 90,000 Twitter Accounts Supporting Extremist Group
» ISIS Burns Oil Wells as Iraq Troops Push Toward Outskirts of Tikrit
» Outcry as Islamic State Bulldozers ‘Wreck’ Nimrud, Iraq
» Some Light and Many Shadows on March 8 in Gulf Countries
» Turkey Blocks Charlie Hebdo’s Website, 48 Others
 
Russia
» Free Bread Offered to Pensioners
» Moscow Remains Fertile Recruiting Ground for Aspiring Jihadists
 
South Asia
» Indian Mob Seizes Prisoner Accused of Rape and Beats Him to Death
 
Far East
» Caroline Glick: Life Under the US Umbrella
» China to Spend 10% More on Military
» China Loses Millionaires as Wealthiest Tempted Overseas
 
Australia — Pacific
» Man Who Married and Impregnated Girl, 12, Jailed
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» As World’s Hottest Economy Unravels, Nigerians Feel the Squeeze
 
Immigration
» EU Borders Chief Fears a Million Migrants Headed From Libya
» EU Keen for Overseas Delegations to Handle Asylum Requests
» Greece: Problems Mar Migrant Detention Center Evacuation
» Gutierrez: In Chicago, We No Longer Cooperate With Immigration Authorities
» Immigration Rising Significantly in Italy, Says FM
» Italy: Frontex ‘Can’t Cope Alone’ Says Director
» Italy: Up to 1 Mn Migrants Could Leave Libya This Year, Frontex
» Sweden: Agency Hires Hundreds After Ditching ‘Jihadists’
» Sweden: Immigrant Aides to be Replaced Following Criminal Accusations
 
Culture Wars
» Court Bans Military From Referring to Manning as ‘He’
 

ECB to Begin €1 Trillion Stimulus Next Week

The European Central Bank will start buying government bonds from next week as it seeks to speed up the eurozone’s stalling economic recovery.

The Frankfurt-based bank on Thursday (5 March) announced it would purchase €60 billion of bonds per month, with the programme set to run until September 2016.

The decision to pump a total of €1.14 trillion into the eurozone economy was made in January.

Prices across the eurozone have now fallen for three consecutive months, raising the likelihood of a prolonged period of deflation.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Census: White Children to Become Minority by 2020

The USCB says by 2020, white children will make up less than half of the nation’s minors, and all whites will fall under that mark 24 years later.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ex-Ambassador Accuses Clinton of Double Standard on Email

Ex-diplomat to Kenya forced to resign

(ANSA) — New York, March 6 — American ex-ambassador to Kenya, Scott Gration, said Hillary Clinton kept a double standard when she was secretary of state, demanding diplomatic staff use the government email system and forcing Gration to resign due to his use of a commercial email address, Fox News reported Friday. America’s former top diplomat has come under fire for using private email created on her own server, bypassing the State Department system while in office, according to a report by the New York Times.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Flemington ‘White History Month’ Flap Ends With Apology

Those who chose sides in yesterday’s racial rift over a “White History Month” sign in a Main Street deli window may be disappointed. The proprietor of Jimbo’s Deli, Jim Boggess, has taken down the sign and apologized to Bhakti Curtis, the customer who had been offended by it.

Curtis in turn, accepted the apology and suggested that he and Boggess pose for a photo showing the restoration of harmony at least in this little corner of the world.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NASA Spacecraft Becomes First to Orbit a Dwarf Planet

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has become the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet. The spacecraft was approximately 38,000 miles (61,000) kilometers from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity at about 4:39 a.m. PST (7:39 a.m. EST) Friday.

In addition to being the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet, Dawn also has the distinction of being the first mission to orbit two extraterrestrial targets. From 2011 to 2012, the spacecraft explored the giant asteroid Vesta, delivering new insights and thousands of images from that distant world. Ceres and Vesta are the two most massive residents of our solar system’s main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NASA Dawn Probe Enters Orbit Around Dwarf Planet Ceres, A Historic First

The year of the dwarf planet has begun.

NASA’s Dawn probe arrived at Ceres today (March 6) at about 7:39 a.m. EST (1239 GMT), becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit a dwarf planet. Dawn’s observations over the next 16 months should lift the veil on Ceres, which has remained largely mysterious since its 1801 discovery, mission team members say.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NASA’s Dawn Becomes First Probe to Orbit Dwarf Planet

It’s a small new world. At 0439 Pacific Standard Time, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. Staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, received confirmation at 0536 Pacific time.

The spacecraft was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity when it was around 61,000 kilometres away, but will continue to spiral closer in over the next year and a half.

It was not a direct flight. Dawn travelled via the asteroid Vesta, which it visited from 2011 to 2012, making it the first spacecraft to have called at two different worlds.

Ceres and Vesta are the two most massive objects in the asteroid belt, and together represent a time capsule of data on how our solar system formed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NASA’s Dawn Probe Achieves Orbit Around Ceres

The US space agency’s Dawn probe has gone into orbit around Ceres, the largest object in the Solar System between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn has taken 7.5 years to reach its destination. Its arrival has seen it pass behind the dwarf to its “dark side”.

Over the next month, controllers will re-shape the orbit to get it ready to begin the prime science phase in late April.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spacecraft Nears Dwarf Planet Ceres

Dawn mission spots mysterious bright spots on Solar System’s largest asteroid, hinting at its watery history.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

650 Germans Have Joined ISIS Jihad: Minister

So far about 650 people have travelled from Germany to the war zones in Iraq and Syria to fight for Isis, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said on Thursday evening.

Speaking on the Maybrit Illner TV talk show, de Maizière said that the trend in Germany — of ever more people travelling to the Levant to fight for the radical Islamist fighters there — was similar to those in France and Belgium.

Only in Britain has the number fallen back, he said.

The security services know “a great deal about” the Islamist scene in Germany and the 650 Isis recruits have been “very clearly identified,” said the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician.

There are also more than 1,000 high risk individuals who “we know pretty exactly”, he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Belgium: Exorcist Handed 10 Years After Death of 18-Year-Old

An Islamic faith healer found responsible in a case of exorcism killing has been handed a 10-year prison sentence. The parents of the 18-year-old girl were each given a 5-year suspended sentence. The exorcist’s lawyer says he is almost sure to appeal.

The facts go back 5 years. The victim’s parents had called an Islamic faith healer in order to have him exorcise the devil out of the girl’s body. They thought something was wrong because their daughter was suffering from an eating disorder.

The ritual lasted 3 days and involved pouring boiling water on the girl, among other things. The victim died as a result of her injuries. The court treated the case as physical assault. The faith healer received 10 years, the parents a suspended 5-year sentence for not intervening when things were going wrong.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Politicians Want Mohammed Cartoons to be Part of School Curriculum

The public schools’ association for religion teachers, Religionslærerforeningen, has today urged that the controversial Mohammed Cartoons, which were first printed in Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005, should become part of the public school curriculum as quickly as possible.

And now, several political parties — including Socialdemokraterne, Dansk Folkeparti (DF) and Konservative — have voiced their support for that idea, although the degree of support varies.

“It would be natural for the cartoons to become part of the material that the teachers can choose to use,” Mai Mercado, the political spokesperson for Konservative, told DR Nyheder.

“But there is a freedom of method that means the teachers have a right to use other material should they choose to do so.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch PM Says Jihadis Should Die in Syria Rather Than Come Home

Prime minister Mark Rutte said during a television debate with other party leaders on Thursday night it would be better if Dutch jihadis who travel to Syria died there rather than return to the Netherlands. Rutte was asked if he agreed with the statement that it would be preferable if jihadis died rather than came back. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said he was shocked by the prime minister’s position. ‘I think as prime minister you should put the rule of law first, but you are saying ‘go and die in the desert rather than face your responsibilities in court,’ Pechtold said. Such a statement is ‘unworthy of a prime minister’, he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Far-Right National Front Set to ‘Kidnap France’

France’s PM has warned Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front could “kidnap France” at this month’s regional elections as “they are on their way to becoming the country’s biggest party”.

After achieving historic success in last year’s local elections and topping the vote in the European elections, the extreme right National Front party are set for yet more success this month in the latest national election.

On March 22nd and 29th French voters, albeit probably not many of them, will head to the polls to elect representatives in each of the country’s 101 départements or counties.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France ‘Must Pass Anti-Smacking Law’, COE

Ruling after complaint from UK children’s charity

(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — France must pass laws that explicitly outlaw smacking children, the Council of Europe said Wednesday.

Europe’s top human rights body said that France’s laws on corporal punishment were “not sufficiently clear, binding and specific”.

French law forbids violence against children, but recognises the parents’ “right to discipline” children.

The CoE ruling follows a complaint by a British children’s charity against France and six other EU countries. The charity, Approach, says the countries are violating a section of the European Social Charter calling on signatories to protect children.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

France: Sarkozy Ex-Interior Minister Detained for Questioning

In Gaddafi campaign financing probe

(ANSA) — Paris, March 6 — Former interior minister Claude Gueant has been detained in connection with a probe into whether late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi financed the successful 2007 campaign of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde newspaper reported Friday.

Investigators are questioning Gueant, formerly Sarkozy’s closest advisor, about the provenance of a 500,000-euro deposit into his bank account in March 2008.

Gueant has reportedly always said that money came from the sale of two painting by 16th-century Flemish artist Andries van Eertvelt to a lawyer.

Investigators suspect the transaction may have been a cover.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: MPs Vote Through Women Executive Quota

The German parliament (Bundestag) voted on Friday to pass a bill that will force large companies and the government to hire more women managers and executives, following a bitter fight.

Under the legislation, publicly traded companies with employee representation on the board will include 30 percent women directors as of 2016.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

International Pilots to Boycott Norwegian

The international pilot organization Ifalpa has called on pilots around the world to refuse to fly aircraft hired by Norwegian to break the ongoing strike in Scandinavia, Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper has reported.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘Justice Will Run Its Course’ on Pompeii Says Franceschini

6 mn euros seized in probe implicating ex-Pompeii commissioner

(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini on Wednesday said “justice would run its course” in a probe implicating the former extraordinary commissioner for the Pompeii archaeological site, Marcello Fiori.

Naples tax police seized 5.77 million euros in assets linked to Fiori, ANSA sources said. The operation was conducted at the end of a probe which also implicated nine officials from the culture ministry and region of Campania. The investigation concerns works for a show at Pompeii’s Large Theatre in 2010. Investigators suspect that the contracts were awarded without a public competition and were beyond the remit of emergency powers granted to the commissioner to safeguard the site.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Pompeii Staff ‘Ghost Courses’ Fraud Trial Times Out

Charges against 10 Pompeii expunged by statute of limitations

(ANSA) Pompeii, March 3 — A judge ordered the dismissal Tuesday of indictments on charges of fraud against 10 staff members of the Pompeii archaeological site after the case timed out due to the statute of limitations.

The 10 including Pompeii city manager Luigi Crimaco were sent for trial 5 years ago on charges of bilking hundreds of thousands of euros from the state in payments for fake training courses the custodians from Pompeii and Herculaneum said they were attending.

In addition to the so-called “ghost courses” case being closed, the judge also ordered that the sum of 531,842 euros seized from Crimaco five years ago, as compensation to the office of the Pompeii superintendency of cultural heritage, be given back to Crimaco.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Tosi Says Hasn’t Opted to Leave League

After talks with Salvini

(ANSA) — Rome, March 5 — Liga Veneta chief Flavio Tosi said Thursday he had not decided to leave the Northern League despite sharp differences of opinion with League leader Matteo Salvini.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Women in Love a ‘Problem’ For Berlusconi

Former premier Silvio Berlusconi has lamented women falling in love with him as a lifelong problem.

The former premier made the complaint in a wiretapped phone conversation used as evidence in a prostitution case centred around the billionaire’s parties.

Transcripts of conversations between Berlusconi and Gianpaolo Tarantini, a businessman accused of procuring prostitutes for the former prime minister, were released on Thursday to the Italian media and laid bare the daily life of the politician in 2008 and 2009.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Mafia Threats Against Local Politicians Rising

Italy’s local councils are increasingly being intimidated by the mafia and other criminals, a new Senate investigation has found.

There were 1,265 acts of intimidation in the 15 months to April 2014, recorded in a Senate report presented on Thursday.

Discussing the findings on Thursday, Senator Doris Lo Moro said such incidents were on the increase across Italy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Mega Mosque Losing Support; Christian Party Refuses on Religious Grounds

The arrival of the new mosque in Gouda Noord now hinges on the decision of opposition party ChristenUnie’s decision next week. The VVD and SGP have already decided to vote against the plans, Omroep West reports.

The mayor and the aldermen wants to put the medical daycare Gemiva, the special needs school De Ark and the Islamic Center El Wahda in the old Prins Willem Alexander Barracks. All three institutions have been looking for a new, larger location for at least 10 years. The three existing mosques in Gouda are overflowing with people and want to merge together into one large Islamic center. The mayor and the aldermen requested a loan from the City Council to move Gemiva and De Ark into the new location, the mosque will pay its own part in the complex.

During the debate in Gouda last night, the City Council had its first chance to give its opinion regarding these plans. The plans received fierce criticism from opposition parties. There is a lot of resistance in the are due to the expected traffic and parking pressure.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘No Jokes at NATO HQ, ‘ Moans New Alliance Boss

Jens Stoltenberg has complained that there is “no culture of jokes” within the Nato alliance, where he is now Secretary General. “So now I’ve stopped joking,” he said.

The former Norwegian Prime Minister made the depressing admission on the Skavlan talkshow on Thursday night, ahead of a broadcast on Friday.

He said the absence of humour in Nato meetings had been one of the things he had found most difficult since he moved to Brussels to take up the position in October.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: No Legal Basis to Arrest 1982 Paris Attack Suspect

Norway is unlikely to extradite a citizen suspected of links to a 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris after France issued an arrest warrant for him, an official said Thursday.

Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed, alias “Souhail Othman”, who has lived Norway since 1991, was one of three suspects on a French international warrant issued two weeks ago.

But his wife angrily denied the charges against him, and an official with the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority said that as he was now a citizen, he could not be extradited.

France on February 20 issued international arrest warrants for three men suspected of involvement in the grenade and shooting attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris that killed six people.

The attack was blamed on the Abu Nidal Organisation, which was seen in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the most violent Palestinian militant groups.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway ‘Retarded Cousin Who Won the Lottery’

An upcoming Swedish film is likely to ruffle some feathers when it is released in Norway later this year, given a Swedish character’s description of Norway as “a retarded cousin who has won the lottery”.

“I think it’s karma,” a family friend of her employer argues, as he swills his whisky. “During the war the Swedes were just standing there bowing to the Germans like prostitutes.

“My life is so much better now when I get my coffee served to me in the morning by a Swede. And when I take a s***, I know there’s a Swede to clean it up for me.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Sweden Shouldn’t End Controversial Saudi Deal’

Prominent business leaders, including the chairman of Swedish fashion brand H&M, have called for Sweden not to end a controversial military arms deal with Saudi Arabia, in an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Badger Puts Stockholm Hotel in Lockdown

A luxury hotel in central Stockholm came under siege early on Friday by an ill-tempered badger that refused to allow any guests in or out, forcing police to intervene.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Faces Soldier Shortage

With a diminishing number of Swedes with a completed army service and a drop in volunteer recruits, the military is a facing a severe shortage of soldiers, a report commissioned by Sweden’s Defence Committee shows.

“We have a reserve of conscripts, but it will soon have been emptied,” Allan Widman, the chairman of parliament’s Defence Committee and a Liberal Party politician, told Swedish Radio News.

One in five positions within the Armed Forces is unmanned, which means there are 6,000 spots that should have been filled one year ago, in accordance with a decision made in 2009.

The Defence Committee’s vice chairman and Social Democrat politician Åsa Lindestam told Swedish Radio News that the mandatory draft must be reintroduced in Sweden.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish Remains Obligatory in Finnish Schools

Parliament has voted by a wide margin to keep Swedish-language instruction compulsory in Finnish schools. On Friday afternoon, MPs rejected a citizens’ initiative calling for an end to the requirement by 134 votes to 48.

The Education and Culture Committee had voted last month to reject the initiative, which was heavily backed by the opposition Finns Party.

The legislature did however approve a motion allowing more flexibility in language teaching in Eastern Finland — where schools have long argued that Russian would be more useful to learn than the minority Swedish language. That motion was narrowly approved by a vote of 93 to 89. Unusually, it was filed jointly by the prime minister’s National Coalition Party in partnership with the main opposition Centre Party.

Finland, which was ruled by Sweden for centuries up until 1809, is home to a gradually-diminishing Swedish-speaking population, which lives mostly along the coast. Last year, that minority of some 5.3 percent was exceeded for the first time by foreign-language speakers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syria Fighter Threatens With Attacks in Belgium

A Belgian man who moved to Syria to fight, has told the French TV station France2 that he is prepared to return to Belgium to stage an attack here. The federal judicial authorities say that they follow the man closely and that they are taking the threats seriously.

The man is thought to Tarik Jadaoun (dubbed Abou Hamza Al-Belgiki). He voiced the threats in a Skype conversation. “You will never be safe. Our brothers are hiding everywhere and they are waiting for orders to attack.”

The man is also ready to return to Belgium himself. “We are not afraid of the police and intelligence services. We know how to cross the borders without being noticed. I have a plan in mind. If I leave, they won’t be able to find me and they don’t know who I am.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Asian Gangs Were Allowed to Prey on Vulnerable Girls

IMAGINE a scenario in which large gangs of white thugs systematically groom, exploit and rape thousands of under-age Asian girls across England.

by Leo McKinstry

In this fictional narrative the authorities not only fail to take action against the abusers but even blame the victims.

It would never come close to happening in modern Britain. Social services, the police and local councillors would not tolerate such organised racist depravity for a moment.

All their instincts would rightly be to protect the vulnerable girls and hunt down the vicious predators. Yet as we have seen from a host of recent abuse scandals this kind of moral imperative is lost when the roles are reversed.

In the repeated cases involving the assault of white girls by Muslim sex gangs, outrage and determination are replaced by obfuscation and denial. Through cowardice and perverted multicultural dogma, compassion for the abused gives way to collusion with the abusers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Vatican Confirms Negotiating Tax Deal With Italy

Recent deals signed with Switzerland, Monaco and Liechtenstein

(ANSA) — Vatican City, March 5 — The Vatican is in talks with the Italian authorities for a deal about bank secrecy and other tax issues to help track down Italian tax evaders, Holy See sources told ANSA on Thursday. Italy recently reached deals to end bank secrecy with Switzerland, Monaco and Liechtenstein.

In an interview with weekly magazine L’Espresso, Premier Matteo Renzi said he was hopeful the Vatican would be the next State to sign a tax deal with Rome.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Policeman Injured in Drive-by Shooting in Fayoum

A policeman was injured in a drive-by shooting on Friday in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Attacks on security forces have become regular occurrences since the 2013 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, amid a burgeoning Islamist insurgency.

The deadliest attacks have taken place in the Sinai region but bombings, drive-by shootings and arson attempts are increasingly common in other parts of the country including Cairo, where two people died in a series of bomb attacks on Monday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Libya Ambassador to UN, Agreement Now or Give US Arms

‘Italian leadership and means to fight terror necessary’

(by Valeria Robecco) (ANSAmed) — NEW YORK, MARCH 6 — A deadline is necessary in Libya — if an agreement is not reached now on a government of national unity military aid will be necessary, the North African country’s ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, has told ANSA.

He said the deadline could be the end of March.

“A time limit should be set for militias to leave the capital and a government of national unity needs to be formed, otherwise military efforts should be deployed alongside political ones”, Dabbashi told ANSA. “I am thinking about the end of March”.

The delegate of the Libyan government in Tobruk stressed that the support of the international community is necessary. And Italy must play a leadership role as part of this scenario: “for historical reasons, and for economic interests, Italy must have the leadership in this international effort”. Dabbashi however confessed he is not very optimistic about the formation of a coalition government.

Although he said he had confidence in the efforts put in place by the UN special envoy Bernardino Leon, he said “the problem are the militias that don’t want to negotiate and don’t want to leave Tripoli”. And if political efforts will not be productive, “it is necessary to give instruments to the legitimate government to fight terrorism”. The ambassador wants the UN Security Council to lift a weapons embargo on the government considered legitimate by the international community, stressing that the official Libya army is ready to accept an observer to guarantee that arms approved by the commission are handed over to the intended recipients. Moreover, he called for a “green light on any country able to assist the Libyan army to fight terrorism”. “For example with integrated efforts where we don’t arrive with our own forces, as well as with intelligence and logistical assistance”, he said.

The ambassador however did not ask for “any ground operation by foreigners” — “no boots on the ground” is a condition set by all Libyans.

He said he believed however that “the situation is as close as it gets to the scenario in 2011, when the international community realized there was no political solution to the crisis in the North African country”.

“Back then Gaddafi did not want to leave power”, he continued. “Now, we are confronting the same situation, with Tripoli that does not want to negotiate and has no specific political requests”. At this point, “there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice for us other than fight and regain the capital”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Renzi Sees Russia Playing Key Role in Libya

Italian premier says diplomatic solution needed to Ukraine

(ANSA) — Rome, March 5 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Thursday that Russia can play a key role in solving the crisis in Libya after meeting President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. “Russia’s role can be decisive, given its history and its role in the Security Council,” Renzi told a news conference. “An incisive international response is needed”. Libya has been in chaos since the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011 and there is alarm about the spread of jihadists linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist insurgency in the north African country. Libya’s northern coast is only hundreds of kilometres from Italy’s southern-most islands and ISIS jihadists warned that they were now “south of Rome” in a video showing the execution of a number of Egyptian Coptic Christians last month.

Furthermore, the chaos and a breakdown in security has allowed human smugglers to flourish in Libya and send thousands of migrants to Italy.

The international community’s priority must be the fight against “terrorism, fanaticism and those who want to destroy the values that our communities are founded on,” Renzi said Thursday.

Russia backs the UN on Libya, where “the situation has got worse,” Putin said after talks with the Italian premier.

Renzi also said Thursday in the Russian capital that “there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic solution” on the Ukraine crisis at the start of talks with Premier Dmitri Medvedev. Renzi arrived Wednesday from Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Renzi laid flowers on the bridge where opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on February 27. In an interview with TASS Russian news agency after his meeting with Medvedev, Renzi said the Minsk accord between Russia and Ukraine “was a step forward”. “We must all respect…the Minsk agreement,” Renzi said.

“We must work on a daily basis for the premises and promises of Minsk to become a reality”. The Minsk protocol between Russia and Ukraine was brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Moscow in January. It calls for a ceasefire and Constitutional reforms to ensure the rights of people in eastern Ukraine are respected.

Kiev forces have been engaged in a bloody conflict with pro-Russia separatist rebels in its eastern regions since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March last year. Renzi did not raise the case of a Ukrainian pilot on a hunger strike in a Russian prison with top officials there, the Kremlin said. One day earlier, Poroshenko said in a Twitter post that he had asked Renzi to raise the “painful” subject in his meetings with Putin.

Ukraine is requesting the immediate release of pilot Nadia Savchenko, held on charges of involvement in the murder of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. Savchenko was a member of the Ukraine military captured by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine last June and was handed over to Russian officials who charged her with the murders. She has been on a hunger strike for 81 days and has become the subject of an intense social media campaign for her release.

A spokesman for Putin, Dmitri Peskov, said that although the subject was not discussed by Renzi and Putin, the Kremlin would be responding to a letter from Poroshenko.

Renzi also announced in Moscow that Putin will attend Milan Expo 2015 on June 10.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Attack in East Jerusalem, Women Soldiers Injured

Car against group waiting for tram. Hamas, ‘heroic act’

(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, MARCH 6 — A Palestinian on Friday reportedly rammed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in the Arab district of Sheik Jarrah. A number of people ranging from three to five were injured while the driver was shot and wounded by police officers, according to press reports. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called the incident a “terrorist attack” in a tweet.

The car was driven by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, according to media reports. After ramming his car into pedestrians, he reportedly tried to stab people before being wounded by police.

Meanwhile Hamas described the attack carried out by the Palestinian driver against Israeli women soldiers waiting for a tram in Jerusalem as a “heroic act”. The statement was made by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in Gaza, quoted by Palestinian news agency Quds.Net.

The attack “is a natural reaction to enemy crimes”, he reportedly said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

ISIL Militant Treated in Turkey, Governor Confirms

The governorate of a province in western Turkey has confirmed that a Turkish citizen allegedly wounded while fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria is being treated in a hospital in the province.

“Juridical procedures have been initiated and are still continuing in our border province, after the man entered the country wounded,” the Denizli Governor’s Office said in a written statement on March 5, referring to the alleged militant identified only by the initials E.Ç., who is being treated at the Pamukkale University Hospital (PAU).

“Like all our citizens, he has the right to benefit from our medical services as he is treated,” the statement added.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Propaganda: Study Finds Up to 90,000 Twitter Accounts Supporting Extremist Group

There are up to 90,000 accounts supporting Isis worldwide, according to a study analysing the population of Isis-affiliated accounts on Twitter.

The extremist group has been extremely successful in spreading propaganda and uses the internet as a tool for recruiting and radicalising men and women from across the world.

Isis has a top down approach to disseminating propaganda, with a core group of members spreading the group’s messages, which are then re-shared by accounts supporting the group.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Burns Oil Wells as Iraq Troops Push Toward Outskirts of Tikrit

Iraqi troops pushed toward the outskirts of Tikrit in their offensive aimed at re-taking control of the town from ISIS militants Friday, as the terror group reportedly burned oil wells outside the city.

The The governor of Salahuddin, Raed al-Jabouri, said that Iraqi forces, backed by allied Shiite militas, expected to reach Tikrit later Friday. He told The Associated Press they still have not made it to Tikrit’s east airport as some reports have suggested.

Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein located 80 miles north of Baghdad, has been under ISIS control since June, when the Sunni militants made a lightning advance across northern Iraq, prompting Iraqi troops to flee and abandon their weapons.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Outcry as Islamic State Bulldozers ‘Wreck’ Nimrud, Iraq

Archaeologists and officials have expressed outrage about the bulldozing of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by Islamic State militants in Iraq.

On Thursday IS — which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria — began demolishing the site, which was founded in the 13th Century BC, Iraqi officials said.

The head of UN’s cultural agency condemned the “systematic” destruction in Iraq as a “war crime”.

IS says ancient shrines and statues are “false idols” that have to be smashed.

“They are erasing our history,” Iraqi archaeologist Lamia al-Gailani said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Some Light and Many Shadows on March 8 in Gulf Countries

Schooling grows but discrimination remains for women

(by Virginia Di Marco) (ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 6 — There are goals to celebrate and many battles that remain to be fought as international women’s day, celebrated on March 8, approaches in Gulf Countries.

Although each country is different, this region remains characterized by social, political and cultural factors that have negative repercussions on the lives of women and on their civil rights, as stressed by a study published at the end of 2014 by the European Parliament. The document listed the difficulties and rights still violated for women living in Gulf countries. “Insufficient freedom of expression and movement; limited political participation and influence, human rights violated in marriage, divorce and in childcare; high level of unemployment and lack of financial independence” were just some of the discriminations noted.

Recently, a number of specific cases — like the right of Saudi women to drive — have gained an international audience, raising international pressure on the governments concerned. But if the road to gender equality in the region remains long, some positive signs have been reported in a number of countries.

In 2014, Bahrain signed a convention with the United Nations which recognizes gender equality in front of the law (although there are still discriminations in standing family laws). In the United Arab Emirates, schooling levels for women aged 15 to 35 have drastically improved over the past few years. According to data reported, among others, by the news website Arabian Business, 70% of college graduates today are women. Two out of three high school graduates in Bahrain are girls.

A list of the 100 most powerful Arab women published recently included politicians, entrepreneurs and journalists. Top place went to UAE international cooperation minister, Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi. The top 10 included five from the UAE, three from Saudi Arabia; 40% wore the Islamic veil. The UAE is considering legislation imposing a quota for women at the helm of public listed companies.

However, data on the labor market is clear: the gap between men and women registered in the area is one of the highest worldwide. Less than 27% of the labor force in Gulf countries is represented by women; in a number of states, like Saudi Arabia, the percentage is even lower. According to data from the central statistics department, working women are just 13%. “The idea of a woman who works is relatively new here”, admitted expert Nawaf Al-Dhabib from the Arab Society for Human Resources Management.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Blocks Charlie Hebdo’s Website, 48 Others

(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, MARCH 6 — The number of websites blocked in Turkey is approaching 68,000 with the recent addition of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s official site, as well as specific pages from the country’s most popular Internet forums. As daily Hurriyet reports, the latest bans came after the government appealed to a local court, citing blasphemy laws. The February 27 ruling of the Ankara Golbasi Civil Court of Peace came soon after the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB), a government body, filed a criminal complaint. The ruling imposes a blanket ban on the websites of Charlie Hebdo and Turkey’s first atheism association, while blocking individual pages of Eksi Sozluk (Sour Dictionary) and Inci Sozluk (Pearl Dictionary), two hugely popular forums, as well as pages on news website T24, which recently published the controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons. The court imposed sanctions on a total of 49 websites, ruling that they “humiliated the religious values of the people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Free Bread Offered to Pensioners

Pensioners in a Russian city will be offered free bread every week in response to economic turmoil in the country, it’s reported.

A bakery in the central Siberian city of Tomsk says it will give away 60 loaves at two local markets every Saturday and on public holidays, the Lenta.ru news website reports. The initiative is due to begin on 7 March.

The cost of many basic food items has soared in Russia during the past year — in part caused by Russian counter-sanctions banning food imports from Western countries and a sharp fall in the rouble’s value. Fruit and vegetable prices rose by 40% in the year to January, and consumers have seen a significant rise in the cost of eggs, pasta and cereals.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Moscow Remains Fertile Recruiting Ground for Aspiring Jihadists

By Mairbek Vatchagaev

From time to time, Russia is forced to reveal information about the real situation involving the jihadist movement in the Russian capital. Authorities are not keen on providing figures on how many Moscow residents are Muslims to avoid traumatizing the Russian Orthodox residents. According to some, possibly biased, estimates, about a million Moscow residents may be Muslims (Muslim.ru, accessed March 5). In any case, the Muslims of Moscow are perhaps the largest group of Muslims concentrated in any Russian city. This has an impact of its own. With so many Muslims around, Moscow has only six official mosques; there are many premises that are used as mosques, but they are temporary. This is why Muslims in Moscow often end up praying in inappropriate buildings. This, in turn, prompts the police and the security services to regard them as sectarians and adherents of unofficial Islam, which automatically puts them in the category of potential terrorists.

The Russian Ministry of Interior recently charged 14 Chechens and Dagestanis arrested in Moscow with terrorism. According to the investigators, they were preparing bomb attacks and had ties to the organizers of the terrorist attacks in Volgograd, in December 2013 (Inforos.ru, February 26).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Indian Mob Seizes Prisoner Accused of Rape and Beats Him to Death

A mob of thousands stormed a jail in the northeastern Indian city of Dimapur, seized a prisoner accused of rape, paraded him through the streets and beat him to death before they could be stopped by police gunfire, a police official said on Friday.

The dead man, identified by the authorities as Syed Sirf Khan, was accused by locals of being an illegal migrant from Bangladesh and had been arrested on Feb. 24 on suspicion of recently raping a woman from a Naga tribal community.

How the mob was able to overcome armed police officers on Thursday at the jail in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland State, was not clear on Friday. The top police official in Nagaland, L. L. Doungel, said that because there were a number of students wearing uniforms in the crowd, the police did not want to resort to violence.

“There would have been a lot of casualties. That was one reason,” Mr. Doungel said. “The mob was in the thousands.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: Life Under the US Umbrella

South Korea lives under a US security umbrella. Both on a conventional and nuclear level, South Koreans are dependent on the US to deter North Korea from attacking them and overrunning their country.

Last Friday, US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman scolded South Koreans for being too nationalist. In her words, “Nationalist feelings can still be exploited, and it’s not hard for a political leader anywhere to earn cheap applause by vilifying a former enemy.”

The South Koreans interpreted her remarks as criticism of their President Park Geun-hye for her refusal to reinstate reunification talks with North Korea due to Pyongyang’s refusal to discuss the dismantlement of its nuclear program.

Sherman negotiated the US’s nuclear pact with North Korea in the 1990s. The North Koreans used the deal as a smokescreen behind which they developed nuclear weapons while receiving financial assistance from the US which paid off the regime for signing the deal.

Once Pyongyang was ready to come out as a nuclear power, it threw out the nuclear inspectors, opened the sealed nuclear sites, vacated its signature on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and began testing nuclear bombs.

Sherman is now the US’s chief negotiator in the P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran….

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

China to Spend 10% More on Military

To keep modernising world’s largest standing army

(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — A Chinese official said Wednesday China’s military budget is set to rise by about 10% in 2015 in a move designed to keep modernising the People’s Liberation Army — the world’s largest standing military.

Fu Ying, spokeswoman for China’s annual parliament session the National People’s Congress (NPC), gave the “rough” figure and said it was in line with overall spending growth. A formal announcement will be made on Thursday when the NPC opens. China has seen several years of double-digit defence spending increases. It is the world’s second-highest military spender, but remains far behind the US. Last year, China’s defence spending rose 12.2% to $130bn. In comparison, for the fiscal year 2016 US President Barack Obama has requested a budget of $585bn.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

China Loses Millionaires as Wealthiest Tempted Overseas

(Bloomberg) — More than 76,000 Chinese millionaires emigrated or acquired citizenship of another country in the decade through 2013 amid global expansion by the nation’s companies.

Australia was among the most favored destinations, broker Knight Frank LLP said on Thursday, citing data compiled by law firm Fragomen LLP. The Chinese accounted for more than 90 percent of applications for the country’s significant investor visa in the two years to the end of January, representing 1,384 people. They also make the most applications for high-net-worth visas in the U.K. and the U.S.

“Ultimately, there is a desire from wealthy Chinese to relocate,” said Liam Bailey, head of research at Knight Frank. Some work for a business “that’s trying to become a global player so they need a footprint in London, New York and L.A., and having staff relocate is quite a positive,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Man Who Married and Impregnated Girl, 12, Jailed

A MAN who married and impregnated a 12-year-old girl has been sentenced to at least seven and a half years in jail for persistent sexual abuse.

Judge Deborah Sweeney said on Friday the 27-year-old, who cannot be named, had persisted in pursuing his victim despite her initial reluctance.

He then “married her” before he sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions between January 11 and February 5 last year.

The court has previously heard the man spotted the girl at a NSW mosque and instantly became interested in marrying her.

She initially refused, saying he was too old.

But the man got her telephone number and continued to pursue her, sending more than 50 text messages on two occasions in November 2013.

She didn’t respond to any.

Undeterred, he texted her again in December.

This time she did respond and the pair began sending each other more than 200 messages a day.

Judge Sweeney said an imam at a NSW mosque twice refused the man’s requests to marry the pair, telling him, “this is not allowed. This is illegal”.

The man then sought out another religious leader and in January 2014, arranged for a “marriage ceremony”.

After the ceremony, fruit, chocolates, water and soft drink were brought out for everyone to enjoy and the man gave the girl $500 as a wedding gift.

For more than a month after the ceremony the pair had sex several times a day across various locations in NSW, often on mattresses on the floor.

In sentencing him in Sydney’s District Court on Friday, Judge Sweeney rejected the man’s claims that he didn’t know what he was doing was illegal and said neither his cultural or religious beliefs excused his actions.

She also dismissed the argument the girl had “consented”.

“She may be intelligent or articulate for a 12 or 13-year-old girl but she is still a 12-year-old girl,” she said…

           — Hat tip: Salome [Return to headlines]
 

As World’s Hottest Economy Unravels, Nigerians Feel the Squeeze

In a four-day sweep through Nigeria early last year, Aberdeen Asset Management’s Kevin Daly detected trouble. Yes, the country was a rising African power and yes, it had become the world’s fastest-growing major economy, but things weren’t quite right. An Islamic insurgency was heating up in the north and there were early signs that a nasty presidential campaign was brewing.

Back in Lagos again last month for a fresh look, Daly found a country ravaged by crisis from all sides: the bloody clashes with Boko Haram insurgents had intensified; the violence had spurred authorities to postpone elections the president was in danger of losing; and the plunge in oil prices had depleted government coffers and triggered back-to-back currency devaluations. Nigeria’s benchmark equity gauge is the second-worst performer in the world this year — only war-torn Ukraine’s has fallen more — and the government’s local bonds have posted the biggest losses in emerging markets.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Borders Chief Fears a Million Migrants Headed From Libya

The head of the EU’s borders agency fears as many as a million migrants could try to reach Europe this year from Libya alone.

“Sources tell us there are between 500,000 and one million migrants ready to leave Libya,” Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said in an interview with Italy’s Ansa news agency that was published Friday.

“In 2015 we must be prepared to face a much more difficult situation than last year,” he was quoted as saying.

Nearly triple the number of migrants entered the European Union in 2014 compared to the previous year, mainly due to refugees fleeing war in Syria.

An increasingly violent and chaotic situation in Libya, a key jumping off point for migrants, has also helped prompt the huge hike in the number of asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.

Leggeri warned that his organisation simply did not have the resources required to cope with the surging numbers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Keen for Overseas Delegations to Handle Asylum Requests

An EU commissioner has said people should be able to apply for asylum from their home country, in a radical proposal the status of which remains unclear.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the commissioner in charge of migration, told press in Brussels on Wednesday (4 March) that immigration attaches are to be posted to EU delegations overseas to handle the applications.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Problems Mar Migrant Detention Center Evacuation

Now the migrants are finding shelter on park benches and squares

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 6 — The operation to evacuate and shut down the Amygdaleza migrant detention center in Greece continues with very little success, as GreekReporter website writes. The vulnerable groups that should have been removed first are still in while the migrants who have been released are finding shelter on park benches and squares. The two Citizen Protection and Migration Policy Deputy Ministers, Yiannis Panousis and Tasia Christodoulopoulou, had said that priority will be given to those detained for more than 18 months, those who were vulnerable — such as families, children, pregnant women, unaccompanied minors, torture victims, ill and elderly — and those seeking asylum. However, since Sunday, when evacuation of the Amygdaleza facility had started, the migrants transferred to downtown Athens by bus, escorted by Greek Police cars, do not belong to the above categories. There were no children, women or elderly to be seen coming out of the buses. So far, most migrants have gathered in downtown Athens’ Omonoia Square and have settled down on the streets. Most of them are now homeless, without money and food, in an unknown environment. A television report showed Naim, a migrant who was left in downtown Athens.

He had no shelter and when he went to the municipal soup kitchen to eat, all the food was gone. He ended up sleeping on the grass in Koumoundourou Square. Naim revealed that among the released migrants were some ill, even in serious condition.

Christodoulopoulou said on Thursday that it was a police decision to release illegal migrants and not her own. Panousis admitted that it was a mistake to take all released migrants to downtown Athens.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Gutierrez: In Chicago, We No Longer Cooperate With Immigration Authorities

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) says Chicago is the friendliest immigrant city in the nation since they, “made sure that we no longer cooperate with immigration authorities when it comes to the deportation or separation of our families.” Gutierrez made the comments while speaking to the City Club of Chicago last week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Immigration Rising Significantly in Italy, Says FM

170,000 migrants landed in Italy in 2014 out of 278,000 in EU

(ANSA) — Rome, March 5 — A reported 8,918 migrants have landed in Italy from January 1 through March 4 this year, a significant increase from the 5,611 recorded in the same period last year, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.

Gentiloni also noted that a total of 170,000 migrants disembarked on Italian coasts in 2014 out of a total of 278,000 in the European Union.

Overall, 70,000 asylum requests were presented in Italy, the country with the highest number of applications after Germany and Sweden — up 140% on the previous year.

The European maritime patrol operation Triton was also praised by Gentiloni for saving 23,000 immigrants from October until January.

However, he added, “more can be done”.

The death of 10 refugees this week has reignited debate about the effectiveness of the Triton program, which is coordinated by EU agency Frontex and replaced Italy’s better-funded Mare Nostrum (Our sea) search-and-rescue operation last October.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Frontex ‘Can’t Cope Alone’ Says Director

‘More resources’ needed Leggeri tells ANSA

(ANSA) — Rome, march 6 — The EU border agency Frontex “can’t cope” on its own with a migrant emergency in the Mediterranean, Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri told ANSA Friday. He asked for “more resources” from the EU as well as a “contribution” from more member states.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Up to 1 Mn Migrants Could Leave Libya This Year, Frontex

‘Must be ready to face tougher situation’, Leggeri tells ANSA

(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Between 500,000 and a million migrants could set off for Europe via Italy from Libya this year, the executive director of the EU’s Frontex border agency told ANSA Friday. “We have to be ready to address a more difficult situation than last year,” said Fabrice Leggeri.

“According to the sources,” he said, “we have been told there are from 500,000 to a million migrants ready to leave from Libya”. The EU has vowed to boost Frontex’s Triton operation to try to cope with greater migrant flows and avert disasters.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Agency Hires Hundreds After Ditching ‘Jihadists’

Sweden’s national job agency will recruit hundreds of new people to replace a migrant aide scheme scrapped after the emergence of widespread bribery, serious criminality and alleged attempts to recruit job seekers to fight as jihadists.

The agency (Arbetsförmedlingen) decided last month to ditch its outsourced network of immigrant resettlement assistants amid suspicions that some of them may have tried to recruit newly arrived immigrants to jihadist-style militant groups, such as Isis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Immigrant Aides to be Replaced Following Criminal Accusations

Swedish Employment Agency staff are replacing the aides who were hired to help newly arrived immigrants get jobs following revelations that some of the aides were involved in criminal activity such as trafficking and terrorist recruitment.

Starting May 20th, the Employment Agency’s own staff will take over liaison with newly arrived immigrants and the long-term unemployed. However, the solution is temporary and will only be in place until the government decides on a new programme for getting immigrants into the labour market, the Agency said in a statement Friday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Court Bans Military From Referring to Manning as ‘He’

Chelsea Manning , the U.S. Army soldier serving 35 years in prison for leaking a huge stash of state secrets, has won a small but significant victory in her bid to transition to living as a woman.

Manning challenged the military’s ongoing refusal to refer to her as a woman, and won. A court order from the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals instructs the military to refer to the soldier in all future official correspondence either using the gender neutral “Private First Class Manning” or employing the feminine pronoun.

As a result, the military is henceforth forbidden from referring to Manning as a man.

           — Hat tip: DS [Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/6/2015

  1. If people in Iraq don’t like seeing their history and culture destroyed then they should abandon the ponzi scheme of lies known as Islam (or Submission to Satan) and the satanic madman Mahomet. These madman-created lies just turn other people into destructive violent madmen like Mahomet himself.

    The violent crazy pelple of “daesh” are Islamic and are just exact clones of the violent crazy Mahomet himself. Face it people! Islam is submission to Satan, and “Allah” is just another of Satan’s disguises. Nobody else but Satan would cause all this death and destruction, therefore the words that cause this death and destruction must come from Satan.

    • Nimrod,

      ” If people in Iraq don’t like seeing their history and culture destroyed then they should abandon the ponzi scheme of lies known as Islam”

      That’s easy: 1. The people of Iraq will get rid of islam when the love affair between the west and islam stops. 2. When western politicians become realistic, leave their cowardice and get [manly generative organs]. 3. Western traitors stop acting VOLUNTARILY as dhimmis already. 4. When western traitors take decisive action against jihadis. 5. When they smarten up and stop deceiving themselves, treading on their own people and stop fawning to muslims. 6. When they get rid of the dream of installing Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. 7. When they undo past sins: installing islam in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and even Turkey our pretense ally. 8. When they admit that these “democracies” are a sham. 9. When they become -re-enlightened after plunging in the darkness of islam.

      Kafka said: the most easy things are difficult to change.

  2. The EU is being unbelievably stupid in trying to accommodate the flood of “refugees”. What IS needed is a blockade on the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean to stop them even leaving port. The Americans managed to do it to contain the barbary pirates and with only sailing ships – from 3 thousand miles away.

    • Has USA learnt a lesson from Barbary Wars? NO.

      Today it is facilitating the importation of millions of Barbaries from any dar-el-Islam. Reasons: 1. to spite Israel, and Judeo-Christian adherents and what the traitors call bigotry to fight “Christian bigotry.”
      2. Shopping for votes. 3. unholy marriage between the traitors and islam. It is a satanic marriage like of which has never happened: treasonous.

    • I coined the term “kinetic activism” a few weeks ago for this post, to poke fun at the euphemism “violent extremism”.

      After I thought of it, I googled the term (and also “kinetic activists”) to see if anyone else had used it. Sure enough, there were a couple of hundred hits from the early 2000s, back in the “Bush lied and people died” days — it was evidently used briefly by the Left to describe hands-on action of the type associated with Antifa, UAF, International ANSWER, Occupy, etc.

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