A young bearded man drove through a police checkpoint outside the courthouse in Boston where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was being sentenced. When stopped by police, a meat cleaver was found in the car. The man said he was protesting the death penalty. His name was not released, so we don’t know the Mohammed Coefficient of the case. However, we can be certain that the incident had nothing to do with Islam.
In other news, Danish Muslims have begun collecting donations for the construction of Copenhagen’s third mega-mosque.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, LP, NG, 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.
Does the IMF Actually Want to Cause a Greek Debt Default?
When it comes to geopolitics, there are often wheels working within wheels that are working within wheels. Once in a while we get a peek behind the scenes, but for the most part the machinations of the global elite remain shrouded in mystery most of the time. And sometimes the global elite appear to be doing things that, on the surface, do not seem to make much sense at all. What is going on in Europe is a perfect example of this. If everyone was negotiating honestly, I believe that a Greek debt deal would have been reached by now. As this endless crisis has stretched on month after month, it has become increasingly apparent that more is going on here than meets the eye. In particular, the IMF has been standing in the way of a deal time after time. So what do IMF officials want? Are they looking for the “ unconditional surrender” of this new Greek government in order to send a message to other governments that would potentially defy them? Or could it be possible that the IMF actually wants a Greek debt default for some other insidious reason?
When the latest Greek proposal was embraced with enthusiasm by EU officials, many hoped that this meant that the crisis would soon be resolved. But it turns out that there is still one very important player that is not happy, and that is the IMF. The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Rejects Creditors’ Counter-Proposals
(ATHENS) — Greece rejected Wednesday “counter proposals” from creditors that were issued in response to Athens’ latest budgetary plan, in light of the IMF’s position, a government source said.
Questioned about whether “this counter proposal” — containing even bigger VAT tax hikes and public spending cutbacks — had been rejected by the radical left Greek government, the source replied: “Yes.”
Creditors are calling for early retirement to be abolished and an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 67 by 2022, and not 2025, according to plans published on a leftist website and confirmed by the source.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Debt Crisis: Tsipras in Intensive Talks With Creditors
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is continuing intensive talks with his country’s international creditors, despite sharp differences over how to overcome the debt crisis.
The Brussels talks “will go on during the night if necessary”, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.
Meanwhile eurozone finance ministers cut short a meeting that had been meant to finalise a deal.
Greece must pay the IMF €1.6bn within days or face default.
Mr Tsipras has criticised lenders for rejecting his latest reform proposals, which they say are not viable.
He is locked in talks with the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — the trio evaluating his proposals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Prof Won’t Reproduce Not to Propagate White Kids
A white professor from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education claimed that she will not reproduce not to propagate white children.
Ali Michael considers whiteness as a shameful feature that should be eliminated in the future.
Ali Michael, the Ivy League professor, was prompted to write by the Rachel Dolezal saga, in which the head of Spokane’s NAACP branch was revealed to be a white woman who simply identifies as black and has assimilated into black culture. Dolezal’s aspiration to forsake whiteness and embrace a new race, Michael says, is actually a routine one among whites who are repulsed by the racism and privilege they see all around them…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Boston Bombing Victims Call Tsarnaev Apology ‘Insincere’
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s apology Wednesday for his role in the attack that killedthree people and wounded more than 260. rang hollow to victims and loved ones of those he helped kill.
“I just was unaware that he would get up and just say whatever he wanted, and that’s the law,” Lynn Julian, a bombing survivor, said at a press conference outside the courthouse where he was sentenced to death. “And I regret having ever wanted to hear him speak because what he said showed no remorse, no regret and no empathy for what he’s done to our lives.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cockroach Bot Can Squeeze Through Tiniest of Gaps
The team from the University of California, Berkeley based the robot on the humble cockroach and hope their design could be used to inspire future robot designs for use in monitoring the environment and search and rescue operations.
The Berkeley team, led by postdoctoral researcher Chen Li, designed the shell so it could perform a roll maneuver to slip through gaps between grass-like vertical beam obstacles without the need for additional sensors or motors.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congress to Hand Obama Fast-Track Trade Authority
After weeks of legislative clashes, Congress will hand US President Barack Obama a major policy victory Wednesday, giving him authority to rapidly conclude a Pacific trade accord vehemently opposed by many in his party.
Bucking political tradition, the Democratic president is relying on his Republican rivals to realize the top economic priority of his second term: creating a 12-nation trans-Pacific free-trade area aimed at opening new markets for US exports in countries like Japan, Chile, Australia and Vietnam.
Obama’s own party has rebelled, worried about a repeat of the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement which led to large numbers of manufacturing jobs going to Mexico where labor costs were dramatically lower…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Cops Threatened by Suicidal Man With Gun Became Heroes for Using Compassion, Not Aggression
Rather than fire at the armed man, Davis slid his gun back into its holster. He walked over and gripped the man’s hand holding the pistol. And, slowly, he talked the man into lowering the weapon. Then, rather than arrest him, the police arranged for him to get psychiatric treatment.
Several months later, Hilton walked past the apartment, and the man, whom police declined to identify, stepped outside. “Officer Hilton,” the man told him, “thank you for what you guys did.”
The term “hero” is thrown around so much in reference to law enforcement that is has lost its true meaning. A “hero” does not indiscriminately kill because he would be justified in doing so. A “hero” doesn’t immediately resort to “comply or die” tactics in stressful situations. A “hero” doesn’t take any means necessary to avoid injury because they have to “make it home to their family.”
No, those people are not heroes. A real hero is someone who selflessly risks personal harm to preserve life rather than destroy it.
Davis and Hilton are real heroes — And their training has a lot to do with the reason why.
Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price explained why Davis and Hilton were able to conduct themselves in such a selfless and compassionate way.
The Leesburg Police Department is trying to instill a “guardian mentality” in its officers instead of a “warrior mentality,” a sense that officers are there to “protect the citizens rather than conquer them,” he said.
Imagine that. Teaching police officers to preserve human life instead of kill at will actually results in the preservation of human life.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cruz Flips Against TPA/ Fast Track; Sessions Hammers Obamatrade
Citing corruption, “backroom deal-making,” and leaks that show the Obama administration is violating its assurances not to include immigration in its trade agreements, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas; shown on left) reversed his earlier support for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and voted Tuesday against the cloture measure to end debate on Fast Track authority for the president. Even with Cruz’s defection, however, President Obama and his Republican allies in the Senate succeeded in getting the 60-vote super-majority they needed to cut off debate. The 60-37 vote sets up a vote on TPA itself, which is scheduled for Wednesday. If it passes then, it will go to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law. Although most commentators are viewing TPA passage now as a done deal, it is still possible that it could be derailed again, as recent history has shown the battles over these pseudo-”free trade” pacts are full of surprises.
[Comment: This is treasonous.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Debate Over Rebel Flag Widens to Include All Symbols of Confederacy
The debate over the rebel flag that began anew after last week’s church shootings in Charleston, S.C., has morphed into a full-blown Confederate controversy.
While Stars and Bars have long been associated by many with slavery, the latest campaign to remove Confederate emblems has extended beyond the flag to statues, memorials, parks and even school mascots. Never has the debate over what symbolizes heritage and what stands for hate covered so much ground, as efforts to strip icons that have been part of the visual and cultural landscape of the South for decades are afoot at national, state and local levels.
In one Arkansas town, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the song “Dixie” for the next school year and phase out “Rebel,” the school’s mascot.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Homegrown Radicals More Deadly Than Jihadis in U.S.
WASHINGTON — In the 14 years since Al Qaeda carried out attacks on New York and the Pentagon, extremists have regularly executed smaller lethal assaults in the United States, explaining their motives in online manifestoes or social media rants.
But the breakdown of extremist ideologies behind those attacks may come as a surprise. Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims: 48 have been killed by extremists who are not Muslim, compared with 26 by self-proclaimed jihadists, according to a count by New America, a Washington research center.
The slaying of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church last week, with an avowed white supremacist charged with their murders, was a particularly savage case. But it is only the latest in a string of lethal attacks by people espousing racial hatred, hostility to government and theories such as those of the “sovereign citizen” movement, which denies the legitimacy of most statutory law.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Major Internet Providers Slowing Traffic Speeds for Thousands Across US
Major internet providers, including AT&T, Time Warner and Verizon, are slowing data from popular websites to thousands of US businesses and residential customers in dozens of cities across the country, according to a study released on Monday.
The study, conducted by internet activists BattlefortheNet, looked at the results from 300,000 internet users and found significant degradations on the networks of the five largest internet service providers (ISPs), representing 75% of all wireline households across the US.
The findings come weeks after the Federal Communications Commission introduced new rules meant to protect “net neutrality” — the principle that all data is equal online — and keep ISPs from holding traffic speeds for ransom.
Tim Karr of Free Press, one of the groups that makes up BattlefortheNet, said the finding show ISPs are not providing content to users at the speeds they’re paying for.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama and Hillary Both Had No Problem Using Confederate Flag During Presidential Campaigns
In the wake of the Charleston shooting, and subsequent pictures of the shooter posing with a Confederate flag, Barack Obama this week said that the flag belongs in a museum.
It seems he has changed his tune in the last three years somewhere, however, given that he was using the symbol during his 2012 re-election campaign.
Indeed, Obama had his own Confederate flag campaign badge, which states “Where the confederate flag still flies, we have built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Talks DNA-Based Racism on Comedy Show
Our pro-cross dressing President apparently doesn’t think people have DNA that makes them male or female. But he has just told an interviewer that white people and others have DNA that makes them racist and that American institutions are racist, too. These claims are described by our media as “bold” rather than bizarre racial slurs…
As investigative journalist Jim Simpson wrote in an AIM special report, “The media have relentlessly fanned the flames of racial hatred, while engaging in a systematic pattern of misinformation and blatant suppression of facts surrounding the perpetrators and victims of crime.” The media, blinded by political correctness, refuse to face reality.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Second Prison Employee Arrested in Connection to Upstate NY Escape
A second employee at a New York prison was arrested Wednesday following the escape of two convicted killers earlier this month.
Officer Gene Palmer, who had been placed on leave Friday as part of the investigation, was accused of aiding the June 6 escape of Richard Matt and David Sweat from the Clinton County Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
An official close to the investigation told The Albany Times Union that authorities were looking into whether Palmer assisted the escapees by providing them with tools. He added that Matt and Sweat may have fooled Palmer by repeatedly tripping a breaker that fed electricity to their cells and telling Palmer they could fix the problem with simple hand tools.
Palmer is charged with tampering with evidence and official misconduct and was arraigned Wednesday evening, District Attorney Andrew Wylie told Fox News.
Palmer, 57, has worked for the prison for more than 25 years, according to the paper…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
The Hammer and Sickle That Hangs Over the White House
Surely the biggest news isn’t that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has files obtained by Judicial Watch revealing that the dad, maternal grandpa and father-in-law of President Obama’s trusted senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, were hardcore Communists under investigation by the U.S. government—but that the FBI is sitting on those files doing diddle-y-squat about them.
Knowing that the FBI has never moved on documented proof that Jarrett’s family tree reads like the Who’s Who of Communism is akin to the in-’yer-face instructions of one William “Big Bill” Haywood (1869-1928), founder of Industrial Workers of the World and jailed for speaking against World War 1. Big Bill who fled to Moscow was cremated, leaving half his ashes in Chicago’s Waldheim Cemetery and the other half over the Kremlin. A one-upmanship kind of message beyond the grave advising: “Take THAT you capitalist creeps!”
Also dead, but still sending out loud messages from Waldheim Cemetery is Frank A. Pellegrino (1890-1969) whose grave features a hammer and sickle. (Graveyards.com)
Valerie Jarrett’s hammer and sickle hangs right over the White House.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Left Falls Victim to Another Hoax That Fits Their Narrative
Fake stories about conservatives are often too tempting for members of the news media to pass by, or fact check, and two UK papers were recently caught peddling one such story to their readers. Yet nowhere in their articles does it mention that they had even attempted to contact the subject of their ridicule, Pastor John Hagee of Texas.
Both the UK Daily Mail and the UK Mirror published stories regarding Christians United for Israel’s Pastor Hagee based on a fake report by a website called Newslo asserting that Hagee had argued that women saying God’s name during intercourse should be “prosecuted.”…
Ari Morgenstern, Christians United for Israel’s (CUFI) communications director, and spokesman for Pastor Hagee, is demanding a full retraction from Newslo, calling this “satirical” website’s postings “defamatory.” Morgenstern told Accuracy in Media, “Every media outlet that reported this ought to be ashamed. The most elementary due diligence would’ve revealed that Newslo, the source of the ‘story,’ is a fake news outlet—kind of like The Onion but not funny. A freshman writing for his/her high-school newspaper would’ve been fired for less.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Latest: Man Arrested at Tsarnaev Court Was Protester
Police say a man arrested with a meat cleaver in his car outside the courthouse where the Boston Marathon bomber was being sentenced told officers he was trying to express his opposition to the death penalty.
Police say the man drove past a security checkpoint and over a curb before he was stopped Wednesday afternoon. Police say they found the meat cleaver in the car but he didn’t use it or threaten anyone with it.
The Woburn man is charged with failure to stop for police, disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon. He’ll be questioned to determine if there was any terrorism connection…
| — Hat tip: NG | [Return to headlines] |
The U.S. Supreme Court, Speech Regulation, And Islam
by Johanna Markind
Last week, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases — Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans and Reed v. Town of Gilbert — dealing with free speech, which have the potential to impact the right to discuss Islam.
The Walker decision concerned Texas’ refusal to issue a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag. State law allows non-profit organizations to request a special design, and allows the state to reject the request for several reasons, including that “the design might be offensive to any member of the public.” Justice Breyer’s majority opinion held that the specialty plates issued by Texas should be considered speech of Texas, and that as government speech, its decision to say or refrain from saying something (in this case, to issue a Confederate battle-flag plate) was not covered by the First Amendment. Justice Alito’s dissent concluded that Texas’ action in rejecting the license plate constituted improper viewpoint discrimination. He warned, “The Court’s decision passes off private speech as government speech and, in doing so, establishes a precedent that threatens private speech that government finds displeasing.”
Reed concerned a challenge to a sign ordinance that regulated outdoor signs based on the type of speech they conveyed. Ideological, political, and directional signs were among the category types. Rejecting the Ninth Circuit’s conclusion that the law could stand because the government intended no viewpoint discrimination, Justice Thomas (who somewhat atypically joined the “liberal” justices in the Walker majority opinion) wrote for the majority that “Innocent motives do not eliminate the danger of censorship presented by a facially content-based statute, as future government officials may one day wield such statutes to suppress disfavored speech.”
The decision in Reed was unanimous, but the Court was somewhat fractured as to its rationale. There were four separate opinions: Justice Thomas’ majority opinion, and concurrences by Justices Breyer (who wrote the Walker majority opinion), Alito (who wrote the Walker dissenting opinion), and Kagan.
It will be interesting to see whether the opinions, especially Reed, have any impact on recent, well-publicized disputes about whether posters critical of Islam may be placed on municipal buses. Among the cases Justice Thomas cited in his majority opinion is Matthews v. Needham, in which the First Circuit held that a law banning political signs but not commercial signs was content-based and subject to strict scrutiny. In a concurring opinion, Justice Breyer opined, “I have great concern that many justifiable instances of ‘content-based’ regulation are noncommercial.” Justice Kagan’s separate concurrence expressed concern that many “reasonable” signage ordinances drawing subject matter distinctions were placed in jeopardy by the majority opinion’s sweeping language. Justice Alito’s concurrence, which like Justice Kagan’s concurrence did not touch upon the classification of commercial versus non-commercial speech, included this cautionary note: “Limiting speech based on its ‘topic’ or ‘subject’ favors those who do not want to disturb the status quo. Such regulations may interfere with democratic self-government and the search for truth.”
On the other hand, the buses on which posters are displayed are typically government property to some degree. Will municipalities or their transit services claim that under Walker, the speech is that of the government, which can then regulate its content without running afoul of the First Amendment?
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Hillary Heckled in St. Louis: “Benghazi! You Let Four Americans Die! “
Hillary Clinton stopped in St. Louis, Missouri Tuesday to raise cash for her campaign.
Hillary was heckled outside her Florissant stop. One protester yelled,
“How many phones you got today, Hillary?”
A second protester screamed,
“Benghazi! Benghazi! You let four Americans die!”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why is NASA Working on a Way to Destroy Asteroids Using Nuclear Weapons?
Yes, I know that headline sounds like it comes from the 1998 movie “Armageddon” starting Bruce Willis, but this is actually happening.
NASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration are teaming up to try to figure out a way to use nuclear weapons to either destroy threatening asteroids or to at least nudge them off course. This seems very odd considering the fact that just a couple of weeks ago NASA publicly announced that it knew of “no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth” and that “no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years”. If what NASA told us previously is true, than it would seem that it would be a tremendous waste of time, money and resources to work on a way to destroy asteroids using nuclear weapons. Why is NASA suddenly so interested in the threat of large asteroids if one is not likely to hit us “any time in the next several hundred years”? Could it be possible that they know something that they are not telling us?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Activists Launch Anti-Whaling Action in Faroes
The annual whale hunt is about to get underway on the autonomous Faroe Islands and Sea Shepherd will once again will try to disrupt the “barbaric” ritual.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Police Reconstruct Events of Graz Tragedy
Austrian police are reconstructing the shocking events which took place in Graz on Saturday, when a “mentally unbalanced” man ploughed his car into a crowd of shoppers on a pedestrian street.
Alen. R (26) killed three people including a young boy, and injured 34 others.
Police said that he showed symptoms of psychosis when first questioned and has been evasive when asked about his motives in subsequent interrogations.
Meanwhile the Kronen Zeitung newspaper says it has learned “off the record” from police sources that Alen R. deleted tweets and messages on his Twitter and Facebook accounts before his murderous rampage — and that police are now investigating whether the attack was premeditated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Begging Ban Rejected by Swedish Government
Sweden won’t make it illegal to beg, but will introduce a package of measures designed to limit vulnerable EU migrants making money on the country’s streets.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Berlusconi’s Ex to Get €1.4m Monthly Alimony
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been ordered to pay his ex-wife €1.4 million ($1.5 million) in alimony as part of a divorce settlement, Italian media reported on Tuesday.
Veronica Lario, 58, was married to the billionaire media magnate and politician for nearly 25 years before officially divorcing him in 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Copenhagen to Get New Mega-Mosque
The construction of a new mosque in the Nordvest district is expected to begin in 2017 and will be funded by private “no strings attached” donations, the Islamic Society in Denmark said.
The Islamic Society in Denmark has begun to accept donations for the construction of a third mega-mosque in Copenhagen.
The project is expected to cost 80 million kroner, and while organization spokesman was not willing to disclose how close the group has come to reaching that funding target, he did tell Berlingske that “we are well on our way”.
The majority of the funding is expected to be donated by members of the Islamic Society and other Danish Muslims. Shah felt certain that the funds would be raised in time to commence construction of the mosque in 2017 or 2018.
“We accept all donations, provided there are no strings attached,” Shah told Berlingske.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark is the World’s Top Country: Economist
Scottish economist John Kay argues that Denmark, and not the United States or China, is the world’s ‘Top Nation’.
Foreign policy experts often assert that the United States is the world’s so-called ‘Top Nation’ and that China and/or India may supersede the US in the future.
But Scottish economist John Kay argued in a Financial Times column on Tuesday that Denmark is actually the true king of the global mountain. Kay said that the foreign policy wonks are looking at the wrong metrics for what constitutes the world’s top country, and that “from an economic perspective, perhaps it is Denmark.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Law to Ban Landmark Photography Over Copyright, Infringing Freedom of Panorma
A proposed EU law could see photographers punished for breach of copyright if they snap famous landmarks and works of art in public spaces.
The UK, and several other EU member states, enjoy ‘freedom of panorama’, which allows pictures of copyrighted works in public spaces, such as the London Eye or the Angel of the North, to be used both privately and for profit.
However, the proposed changes to EU-wide law would require snappers to obtain permission from the copyright holder, even if the landmark, building or work of art is in the background of a picture.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Parliament Adopts Controversial Law Expanding Surveillance Powers to Fight Terrorism
PARIS — The French Parliament has adopted a controversial surveillance law aimed at broadening eavesdropping of terrorism suspects, despite protests from privacy advocates and concern about U.S.-style massive data sweeps.
Wednesday’s vote in the National Assembly, months in the making, came as French officialdom was decrying revelations less than a day earlier that the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped on three French presidents and senior officials.
The law won’t take effect until a court rules on whether it abides by France’s constitution.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Poisionous Gas Threatens Swimmers on Vulcano
An odourless, colourless and potentially lethal gas emanating from the sea off the coast of Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands could be putting swimmers at risk.
Vulcano draws tens of thousands of tourists each year, eager to sample the volcanic island’s mud baths and hot springs.
But now the island’s tourism industry, which is an important economic resource for the council of Lipari, is under threat, after Italians civil protection authorities warned of dangerous gases emanating from the sea around the island.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Gentiloni: Dialogue With Moscow, In the Spirit of Helsinki
“We reassure Russia, Italy against Nato accession for Urkaine”
(ANSA) — ROME — “Russia plays a strategic role on the world stage, we cannot ignore this aspect, especially in areas in crisis, close to our borders. It is impossible to isolate Moscow and we have no interest in doing so. Instead, we are interested in a new dialogue, in the spirit of the Helsinki Conference and in accordance with the Minsk agreement”. This is what Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said at a meeting dedicated to the “40th anniversary of the Helsinki Accord. Peace through Dialogue”, held this morning at Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome.
“It is obvious that today the ‘security architecture’ offered by the Helsinki Accord was put through the wringer over the last decade, starting from regional crises in areas under Soviet influence, until the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, followed by destabilizing activities carried out by separatists — said Gentiloni -. Looking to the principles established through the Helsinki Accords, we can say that Russia has violated more than one principle, starting with the inviolability of borders. We did not hesitate to approve the sanctions planned by the EU. Anyway, something did not work properly and the European responsibilities for this situation are huge. The crisis, however, was created by Russia’s reaction.
We definitely need to reassure Moscow that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not a realistic option and Italy is opposed to this move”.
“First of all, we have to start having a dialogue. The first step is mediating and looking for shared solutions, in the spirit of the Helsinki Accords, that should be revived — foreingn minister reiterated -. Keeping an open dialogue with Russia is a matter of diplomatic wisdom, something essential for both us and them”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Sidewalk Businesses to be Banned From Rome’s Historic Centre
Total of 76 businesses to move by July 10 or face fines
(ANSA) — Rome, June 23 — A total of 76 sidewalk businesses including snack trucks and florist stands will be banned from the areas around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon and the Spanish Steps starting July 10, Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino announced Tuesday.
On Wednesday the city government will publish information regarding relocation of these businesses, who must move by the July 10 deadline or face fines.
The businesses will be granted permission to operate in various stretches of Lungotevere along the Tiber River and near the Pyramid of Cestius.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Ordered to Pay Lario 1.4 Mn a Month
Judge ‘slashes’ original alimony order of 3.5 mn a month
(ANSA) — Milan, June 23 — A Monza court on Tuesday ordered ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to pay 1.4 million euros a month in alimony to his former wife Veronica Lario.
The ruling brings to a close a bitter alimony dispute that on the formal act of separation saw Lario, a former actress, awarded 3.5 million euros a month.
The revised 1.4 million euro monthly alimony order was determined by the size of the media magnate’s estate, sources said. Lario, who was born Miriam Raffaela Bartolini, completed her divorce from Berlusconi in February 2014 after keeping out of the limelight since denouncing her then husband’s eye for the girls in 2009, claiming “maidens are being fed to the dragon”.
Berlusconi has been married twice and has five children, three of those with Lario.
He married her in 1990 after being smitten several years previously when he saw her perform topless in a Milan play about a philandering husband called The Magnificent Cuckold.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Palaexpo Board of Directors Resigns
City failed to meet financial obligations, directors say
(ANSA) — Rome, June 23 — The board of directors of Palaexpo, the Rome authority responsible for managing the prestigious Palazzo delle Esposizioni and Scuderie del Quirinale exhibition centres, resigned on Tuesday little over a year after taking office, accusing the city council of failing to meet its financial obligations. “This makes performing our activities impossible,” wrote board chairman Franco Bernabè and directors Claudia Ferrazzi, Silvana Novelli, Claudio Strinati and Lorenzo Zichichi in their letter of resignation. Rome mayor Ignazio Marino appointed the board in March 2014 to relaunch Palazzo delle Esposizioni on Via Nazionale.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ivass Sees ‘Progress’ But Says Car Insurance Still Too High
Average premium fell by nearly 8% in 2014, Rossi says
(ANSA) — Rome, June 23 — Italy has made “considerable progress” in reducing the cost of vehicle insurance although premiums remain well above the EU average, the head of Italy’s insurance supervisory body said Tuesday.
High costs are due especially to the “huge presence of fraud”, Ivass President Salvatore Rossi added.
However, the country is “not far from making a genuine breakthrough”, he said. In 2014 the average cost of car insurance “fell by nearly 8%, continuing a downwards trend that began the year before,” Rossi added.
The drop in prices was driven by a fall in the number of reported road accidents and in the cost of damages, he explained.
In 2014 the average reimbursement fell by 1.5% over the previous year, Rossi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bank Chiefs Earn 53 Times the Salaries of Staff
(AGI) Rome, June 23 — The salaries of Italian bank CEOs fell 14.18 percent in 2014, while the pay of the management of the largest insurance companies edged up just 1.6 percent, according to research conducted by UILCA, the trade union for banks, insurance, and tax collectors. The research shows that the decline in salaries of bank CEOs was “due in part to a 3.6 million euro penalty paid to the former CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, Enrico Cucchiani, for early termination of his contract in 2013”. However, despite this decline, the average pay of top managers was still 53 times higher than that of an employee.
The pay of the new CEO of Carige has tripled since 2013 because it includes a 1.07 million incentive as one-time payment for acceptance of the role and the powers of a chief executive. The fixed component for the salaries of bank executives accounted for 80 percent of total remuneration, and among the 11 banks in the sample, no CEO received a salary lower than 800,000 euros in 2014. Bank CEOs were paid 53 times more than staff in 2014, compared to 62 times in 2013 and 53 in 2012. The presidents of the banks in 2014 earned the equivalent of 18 times the salary of an employee, compared to 26 times in 2013 and 28 in 2012.
The total remuneration of the presidents surveyed was down 20.93 percent, primarily due to decreases for the presidents of Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Banca Carige. The President of MPS, Alessandro Profumo, was the only one to earn less than 200,000 euros because he waived his fees. Banks profits were up in 2014 over the previous year, although the income statements were influenced by adjustments to loans due to the asset quality review required by the European Central Bank, which meant that some banks recorded an operating loss. The pay of the CEOs of the five insurance companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, subject to UILCA research, was up 1.6 percent from the previous year, 43.44 percent of which was variable and 56.56 percent fixed. This composition is different from the banking sector, where the variable share was 20 percent in 2014. The total profit of the insurance companies analysed rose by 8 percent, as did the ratio between the average salary of an insurance sector CEO compared to an employee, which was up from 79 in 2013 to 81 in 2014. The CEOs of Italy’s two largest companies have earnings equivalent to 148 and 106 times that of an average employee.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
A new investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham has so far identified around 300 possible suspects, it was revealed today.
The National Crime Agency said the 1,400 victims in the town who were identified by Professor Alexis Jay last year in her damning report on what happened in the town was a ‘very good estimate’.
The NCA investigation — Operation Stovewood — began in December after the agency was asked to intervene by South Yorkshire Police.
This followed Professor Jay’s report which painted a shocking picture of hundreds of children being raped, trafficked and groomed by mainly Asian gangs in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013…
The officer confirmed most of the potential suspects were Asian men and most of the victims were white British girls and young women.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Buckingham Palace Needs Repairs; Queen May Have to Leave
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II may have to move out of Buckingham Palace during much-needed renovations to the residence, which has not been substantially redecorated since she took the throne in 1952, royal officials said Wednesday.
Officials say the palace needs an estimated $237 million of renovation and upgrades, including replacing old plumbing and wiring and removing asbestos. Having her move out during the work is one option being considered.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teen Arrested on Suspicion of Arson After 200-Year-Old All Saints Church is Burned Down
A teenage boy has been arrested after a fire ripped through a 200-year-old Grade II listed church, causing more than £1million of damage.
The 17-year-old, who has not been named, was arrested by officers investigating an attack on All Saints Church in Fleet, Hampshire, yesterday evening.
Locals said the church was apparently targeted by another arsonist two weeks ago after a bible was found in flames after being left near the font, but was quickly put out…
Police confirmed that the boy had been arrested, but said investigations are continuing, while a cordon remains in place around the building.
[Comment: no information on motive. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Spied on Three French Presidents, Says WikiLeaks
(AGI) Rome, June 24 — Tensions have risen between the U.S. and France after Wikileaks revealed that U.S. intelligence spied on the last three French presidents. After an emergency meeting of the Defence Council, French President Francois Hollande said: “Between allies this is unacceptable and incomprehensible.” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has summoned the American ambassador, Jane Hartley, to explain. She will be received on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Quai d’Orsay.
Later Mr Hollande and U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss the issue in a phone call. The new facts follow revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she was leader of the CDU party in 2000. The NSA spied on Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and the current president Francois Hollande from 2006 to May 2012, according to documents classified as top secret and released by Wikileaks. The agency also tapped the phones of several ministers, MPs and diplomats. However, the main news is the spying itself. The only noteworthy details were Mr Sarkozy’s bid to start Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without involving the U.S., or that Mr Hollande feared Greece would leave the eurozone in May 2012. The documents also showed that Germany’s BND intelligence agency had cooperated with the NSA to spy on officials and companies in Europe, and allowed the Americans to use its Bad Aibling listening post in Bavaria to spy on the French president and the EU in Brussels. The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has pledged that new revelations would follow. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said: “We are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US to Put Military Equipment in 6 European Countries
In Baltic states, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania
(ANSA-AP) — TALLINN — Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Tuesday that the U.S. will spread about 250 tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment across six European nations to help reassure NATO allies facing an array of threats from Russia and terrorist groups.
Each set of equipment would be enough to equip a military company or battalion, and would go on at least a temporary basis to Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. Carter said the equipment could be moved around the region for training and military exercises, and would include Bradley fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzer artillery guns.
But while the stated goal of the move is that American forces moving in and out of Europe will be better able to do training, it also would allow NATO nations to more quickly respond to any military crisis in the region.
Carter’s announcement, made alongside defense ministers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, comes a day after he announced that the U.S. would be contributing weapons, aircraft and forces, including commandos, as needed for NATO’s new rapid reaction force, to help Europe defend against potential Russian aggression from the east and the Islamic State and other violent extremists from the south.
The U.S., said Carter, is also going to work with NATO’s cyber center, located in Estonia, to help allies develop cyber defense strategies and other protections against computer-based attacks.
The countries for the equipment storage were chosen based on their proximity to training ranges, to reduce the time and cost of transporting it for exercises.
The two-pronged U.S. plan — with the placement of equipment in Europe and the commitment of resources for NATO’s very high readiness task force — underscore America’s commitment to helping allies counter the growing threats on Europe’s eastern and southern fronts.
U.S. and NATO allies have criticized Russia for its increasingly aggressive actions, including the annexation of Crimea and its backing of separatist troops on Ukraine’s eastern border.
Under the plan to commit troops and resources if needed during a crisis, the U.S. could see a temporary increase in American troops in Europe, although many could be reassigned from bases already in the region. No U.S. troops or equipment will move immediately.
Carter said the U.S., if requested and approved, would be willing to provide intelligence and surveillance capabilities, special operations forces, logistics, transport aircraft, and a range of weapons support that could include bombers, fighters and ship-based missiles. It would not provide a large ground force.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
You Can’t Have an a la Carte Europe, French Minister Tells David Cameron
As the Prime Minister prepares for a Brussels summit tomorrow, French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said Mr Cameron cannot pick and choose which European rules apply in Britain.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
PM Rama’s Coalition Wins Big in Albanian Local Elections
Center-left rakes in 43 municipalities, retakes Tirana
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama casts his vote at a polling station near Tirana, Albania, 21 June 2015
(ANSAmed) — TIRANA, JUNE 23 — The center-left coalition under Prime Minister Edi Rama won the local elections held in Albanian on Sunday by a landslide.
The elections were the first since local administration reform was approved, reducing the number of municipalities in the country from 373 to 61.
The coalition led by Rama — which seems not to have been affected by its first two years in power — won in 43 of the municipalities and retook the capital, Tirana. It is also ahead in three others where vote counting is continuing. The center-right under outgoing Tirana mayor Lulzim Basha won in 14 municipalities and expects to win in Shkoder, which would be the largest city it has won in, as all other cities have gone to the Rama-led coalition. The winning candidate in Tirana is a politician with 37 years in the field behind him and a former welfare minister, Erion Veliaj, who is 18 percentage points ahead of his rival, the well-known gynecologist Halim Kosova. Votes have yet to be counted for the remaining 8 seats.
Veliajha brought home the largest victory ever in Tirana, with over 43,000 votes over his rival. “This is an immense result. We will be immensely humbled,” Veliaj said in front of a crowd of colleagues and supporters at the headquarters of the Socialist Party, pledging that “Tirana will be the home of all of its citizens, without political distinction.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Srebrenica: Belgrade Against UN Resolution
‘It doesn’t help reconciliation but it destabilizes Balkans’
(ANSA) — BELGRADE — According to Serbia, the UN resolution on Srebrenica, drafted by Great Britain for the 20th anniversary of the massacre in the Bosnian town, does not help reconcilitation, but it contributes destabilizing the situation in the Balkans and the relations between political parties in Serbia. This was written in a letter the Serbian government sent to the permament members of the UN Security council, that is supposed to discuss and vote the resolution on July 7th.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinians to Submit First Case Against Israel to ICC
The Palestinian Authority will submit its first case files to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday detailing alleged Israeli war crimes committed during last summer’s conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The move comes after the Palestinian Authority became an official member of the ICC on April 1, paving the way for it to pursue cases against Israel at the international court.
The two case files, which are each dozens of pages long, will be handed to the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who opened a preliminary examination into the “Palestinian situation” in January…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tensions High After Druze Attack Israeli Medical Workers Out of Fear Jihadists Being Treated
The increasingly volatile situation on the Israel-Syria border and the fear of many Israeli Druze that their Syrian brethren are about to be attacked by the Al Qaeda-linked forces sparked a deadly lynch mob attack on an Israeli military ambulance in the Golan Heights region this week that claimed the life of a Syrian being transported for humanitarian medical treatment.
The attack, condemned by Israeli Druze leaders and across the Israeli political spectrum, was the second on an Israeli military ambulance in 24 hours. One of the two patients in the ambulance died and two Israeli soldiers were hospitalized as a result of the unprecedented violence which took place near Majdal Shams. A small number of mainly young Israeli Druze are furious that people they suspect may be injured Syrian fighters are being given medical care in Israel, even as marauding Jihadist forces look set to descend on their endangered relatives in Syria. Syria’s Druze have long backed President Assad and are therefore viewed as likely targets for revenge by the Jihadist groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Tightens Bonds With Saudis Despite Rights Record
Top French and Saudi leaders will huddle Wednesday in Paris to discuss projects worth billions of euros, as France tightens relations with the conservative kingdom despite persistent criticism of its human rights record.
French President Francois Hollande will host Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Mohamed bin Salman after the inaugural meeting of a Franco-Saudi committee that is to discuss proposed projects in the aeronautics, nuclear power, health and investment sectors.
France and Saudi Arabia have been reinforcing their links as Riyadh seeks to broaden ties with top Western powers beyond traditional allies the United States…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Is Obama Supporting a Shiite ISIS?
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Staff Sgt. Ahmed Altaie was the last American soldier to come home from Iraq. His body was turned over by Asaib Ahl al-Haq or The League of the Righteous; a Shiite terrorist group funded and trained by Iran.
Altaie had been kidnapped, held for ransom and then killed.
It was not Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s only kidnapping and murder of an American soldier. A year after Altaie’s kidnapping, its terrorists disguised themselves as Americans and abducted five of our soldiers in Karbala. The soldiers were murdered by their Shiite captors after sustained pursuit by American forces made them realize that they wouldn’t be able to escape with their hostages.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s obsession with American hostages was a typically Iranian fixation. Iran’s leaders see the roots of their international influence in the Iran hostage crisis. Its terrorist groups in Lebanon had abducted and horrifically tortured Colonel William R. Higgins and William Francis Buckley.
Higgins had been skinned alive.
Most Americans have never heard of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, sometimes referred to as the Khazali Network after its leader, even though it has claimed credit for over 6,000 attacks on Americans. Its deadliest attacks came when the Democrats and their media allies were desperately scrambling to stop Bush from taking out Iran’s nuclear program. Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s ties to Iran were so blatant that the media could not allow it to receive the kind of coverage that Al Qaeda did for fear that it might hurt Iran.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Claims to Mint Gold and Silver Coins for Currency Free From ‘Satanic’ Global Economy
Isis claims it is ready to start issuing its own currency in the form of gold and silver coins for use in its “caliphate”.
Supporters of the so-called Islamic State have released pictures of what they said were new gold dinars on social media, amid a propaganda drive by the group as it approaches its one-year anniversary.
Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi, an anti-Isis activist who reports on events in the extremists’ Syrian stronghold for his website Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, shared photos of one and five dinar coins.
“Isis say soon they will deal with the new coins,” he wrote on Twitter.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kurdish Advances in Syria Put ISIS on Defense
The Kurdish capture of a Syrian military base and nearby territory held by ISIS in recent days is putting renewed focus on the expanding ground fight against the terror network.
Kurdish advances in Syria against ISIS show the terror group is increasingly on the defensive, experts tell FoxNews.com.
“The Kurds have shown themselves more able than we were expecting to conduct offense. We’ve always known the Kurds could defend Kurdish territory particularly well, but the capture of (the air base) is a positive sign that they can move forward,” said Andrew Peek, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Greek Catholic Synod Focused on Anti-Christian Violence and Families in Crisis
The Melkite Catholic Church held its annual meeting on 15-20 June in Ain Trez, Lebanon. At the pastoral level, the Fathers agreed to set up centres of catechesis and Christian preparation for marriage. They wholeheartedly expressed their support for the pope’s proposal to have a single date for Easter. They also stressed the ecumenism of “blood” of Christians of Iraq and Syria.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — The annual Synod of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, held on 15-20 June at the patriarchal summer residence in Ain Trez (Lebanon), focused on the development of centres of catechesis and Christian preparation for marriage, drop-in and information centres for families in crisis, as well as the situation in Syria, whose war has devastated the country and the Middle East, sparking a Christian exodus.
As part of the annual meeting, participants analysed some detailed reports on the situation of the Church’s Syrian dioceses and prayed that a “time of peace and reconstruction” may come very soon after five years of bloody conflict.
About Lebanon, the country where the Synod took place, the Fathers prayed for the election of a new president “as soon as possible”. For more than a year, the office has been vacant, a situation that has held up the country’s political life and prevented dialogue among its various political factions.
As a sign of unity, the Greek Catholic Synod saw the first official visit by a Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, Mar Ignatius Aphrem III, together with a group of bishops. Likewise, on ecumenism, the Synod fully agreed with Pope Francis’ recent proposal to unify Easter.
In his introductory address, Patriarch Gregory III Laham touched the theme of Christian unity, stressing that “what brings us closer is greater than what separates us.”
Indeed, against the backdrop of war, violence, and persecution, Christians “are experiencing an ecumenism of blood in Syria and Iraq.”
Despite a context of conflict and attacks against the Christian community, the Synod did not neglect the field of pastoral care, in particular vis-Ã -vis families and marriage.
In view of the many challenges it faces, “the family, in the current environment and for the future,” was the focus of many sessions, the Patriarchate’s final communiqué said.
An increasingly secularised world, which seems to have “no room for God and Christian values,” has exacerbated its problems.
In response to this situation, the Synod Fathers have decided to set up and promote “centres of catechesis and Christian marriage preparation” in all eparchies, along with drop-in and information centres that families and couples in crisis can turn to.
Finally, the Synod decided to add new saints to its liturgy, some of them from the Latin tradition, like Francis of Assisi, John Paul II, John XXIII, St Rita, Don Bosco, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Vincenzo de ‘Paoli and St Alphonsine.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Raqqa: Kurds Wrest Military Base From Islamic State
The Kurdish advance backed by US air raid and ground support of other rebel groups. The Kurds are advancing toward the capital of the “Caliphate”. Experts: “The Islamic State is collapsing within its own strongholds.”
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) — The Kurdish security forces in northern Syria have captured a strategic military base, until now in the hands of the Islamic state (IS), north of the city of Raqqa, the so-called capital of the “Caliphate”.
In their advanced Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) were backed by US-led air strikes and other rebel groups.
This latest Kurdish military success came a week after the capture of an area bordering Turkey, long in the hands of the Islamic State. This is the border area connecting the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, with Akçakale, the first Turkish village across the border.
In their advance the Kurdish militias unearthed a tunnel of 500 meters which, once finished, would connect Tel Abyad with the first village in the Turkish border, Akçakale. Dug by the jihadists, the tunnel was one of the main routes used by fundamentalists for stocks and supplies.
Because of the heavy fighting, thousands of people poured over the border into Turkish territory.
The Kurdish security forces spokesman reported that the YPG now has complete control of the Liwa base, well within the territory controlled by the IslamicSstate. Redur Xelil adds that the Kurdish fighters are now at the entrance of Ain Issa, a town just 50 km north of Raqqa. The military base, in the hands of IS since last year, overlooks a strategic route linking Raqqa and other jihadist outposts in the province of Aleppo to the west and Hasakah to the east.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says that sources on the ground tell them that these losses show that “the Islamic State is collapsing within its own strongholds.”
The northern Syrian front is one of the few sources of good news in the context of the international military campaign against the militias of the Islamic State, considering the advance of the jihadists in many other areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
More than 3.2 million people have fled Syria with other 7.6 million internally displaced since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. At least 230,000 people have died in the fighting, many of them civilians, especially in 2014. After it first emerged in 2013 in all its brutality, the Islamic State group seized large chunks of Syrian and Iraqi territories last year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bigger and Faster: Russia Unveils Designs to Replace Marooned Mistrals
A St. Petersburg navy design bureau says it is ready to build a Russian-made alternative to the troubled Mistral carriers, which remain moored in France. The intended new ship dubbed Lavina (‘Avalanche’) promises to be bigger and faster than the Mistrals.
The technical specifications of the helicopter carrier were revealed in a presentation given by the Krylov State Research Centre, at the Army-2015 military expo near Moscow.
Lavina will have a full load displacement of 24,000 tons, as opposed to 21,300 tons for the French-designed ship. It will also have a maximum speed of 22 knots, compared to 19 knots for the Mistrals, two of which were ordered by the Russian Navy four years ago.
The Lavina design (Krylov State Research Centre)
Just like the Mistral, Lavina will house 16 helicopters, about 50 armored vehicles (about 10 fewer than the French amphibious assault vessel) and a potential six smaller boats, as opposed to the Mistrals’ four. All figures are likely rough estimates, with numerous variables, and it is unclear how advanced the Lavina blueprints are at the current stage.
The two Mistral-class ships, custom-built for Russia for a price of €1.2 billion, have been completed, but their delivery has been suspended by France, following Crimea’s accession into Russia last March, and the outbreak of violence in eastern Ukraine.
Domestic shipbuilders are competing to fill the gap.
Earlier this week, Priboy, a 14,000-ton helicopter carrier, also capable of transporting 16 attack helicopters, was announced by Nevsky Design Bureau, another leading St. Petersburg design bureau. It said that plans were afoot to begin construction next year.
The mock-up of the Priboy-class ship, presented at the Army-2015 expo in the Moscow Region on June 16, 2015 (RIA Novosti / Alexander Vilf)
Last week, the Yantar shipyard also reportedly began construction of a smaller Ivan Gren-class assault vessel, which the Navy said would be ready by 2018.
It seems unlikely that all of these projects will be greenlighted simultaneously, but officials have confirmed that an amphibious vessel capable of performing a landing thousands of miles away from its home port is a centerpiece of its naval strategy up to the year 2050.
Meanwhile, according to a senior official who spoke to TASS news agency on Wednesday, Moscow has not ruled receiving its original order from the St. Nazaire shipyard, and negotiations are “ongoing.” If the delivery is not made, as appears increasingly likely, the biggest stumbling block remains the size of the compensation for the canceled order. The latest public pronouncements show that France is offering under €800 million in compensation, while Moscow is holding out for at least €1.1 billion.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Strikes Back: Cuts Ukraine Gas Discount
We had wondered at the relative lack of response by Russia to extended sanctions and asset freezes in Europe and now we see the first major move. Having confirmed new counter-sanctions this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin just threw The IMF (US taxpayers), and Ukraine’s ‘American’ finance minister under the bus…
“Moscow can no longer give Ukraine gas discounts due to the current drop in oil prices.”
The price must be on level of other countries like Poland, he added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Tighten EU Food Sanctions
Russian agriculture ministry sources have told the state-run Tass news agency they’re preparing “more stringent requirements” for EU food imports in reaction to the EU’s extension of Russia economic sanctions. They mentioned lactose-free dairy products. They said new items — canned fish, chocolate, and flowers — could also be banned.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Arsenic, Fluoride, Iodine: More Than 100 Million Chinese Drink Poisoned Water
Data presented by a state-run newspaper: about 21 million people already suffering from serious illnesses. Other 87 million are at risk. The numbers are roughly the same as 10 years ago. The government spends billions of yuan, but state bureaucracy and inefficiency make this provision unnecessary.
Beijing (AsiaNews) — Tens of millions of Chinese, especially in the northern areas of the country, have been poisoned over the years by the water supplied by the national system. An expert from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed “unsafe” levels of fluoride and arsenic in the water. About 21 million people are currently suffering from diseases caused by this excessive exposure, while other 87 million are at risk.
The data was published by the Oriental Outlook magazine linked to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The expert cited by the newspaper is Gao Yanhui, who underlined “the efforts made by the executive to stop this trend” but who added that the poisoning seems out of control. The most affected areas are the northern plains: Henan province ranks first for levels of poison detected.
Arsenic poisoning has affected around 600 thousand people in 131 counties, scattered in almost half of the domestic provinces. This can cause skin and liver problems, as well as various types of cancer. The hyper-iodine intake concerns 30 million people, which may damage the thyroid. Interestingly, these data are in fact identical to those of 10 years ago, when according to official statistics 30.98 million people were at risk.
The central government, according to the magazine, has spent “billions of yuan to try to improve water quality especially in rural areas, but local governments are still short of funds to continue the work.” Matters are further complicated by a bureaucratic problem: according to the current system the Ministry of Water Resources alone has the power to choose where to intervene to improve water quality, but the same department lacks the geological knowledge to carry out the work.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China ‘Seizes 40-Year-Old Meat in Crackdown on Smugglers’
Chinese authorities have seized more than 100,000 tonnes of smuggled meat — some of it more than 40 years old, according to state media.
The frozen meat, estimated to be worth about £300 million (3bn yuan; $483m), was seized in a nationwide crackdown.
“It was smelly and I nearly threw up when I opened the door,” an official from Hunan province, where 800 tonnes were seized, told the AFP news agency.
Poor standards have made food safety a major concern in China.
According to state newspaper the China Daily, officials from Guangxi, a southern region bordering Vietnam, found meat dating back to the 1970s.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europeans More Critical of China on Rights
Europeans, compared to other parts of the world, hold more critical views of China’s human rights record, according to a survey published by US think tank Pew on Tuesday (23 June). Pew interviewed people from 40 countries, including the EU’s six most populous countries: Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Poland.
Of the five regions the researchers compared — the EU, Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia/Pacific — it was the EU where most people believed that China would take over the US as a superpower. Almost half of French, German, Spanish, and British respondents believed that China “will eventually replace the US as the world’s leading superpower”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Several Killed in Uighur Attack on Police in China’s Xinjiang
At least 18 people have been killed after ethnic Uighurs attacked police with knives and bombs at a traffic checkpoint in China’s western Xinjiang region, Radio Free Asia reported on Wednesday.
The attack occurred on Monday in a district of the southern city of Kashgar, where tensions between Muslim Uighurs that call the region home and the majority Han Chinese have led to bloodshed in recent years.
Suspects killed several police officers with knives and bombs after speeding through a traffic checkpoint in a car in Kashgar’s Tahtakoruk district, U.S.-based Radio Free Asia said, citing Turghun Memet, an officer at a nearby police station…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Government to Deprive Terrorists of Citizenship
Dual-national terrorists and their supporters could automatically lose their Australian citizenship under a new bill, which the government has put before parliament. The opposition seems broadly in favor as well.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Introduces Laws to Strip Citizenship From Terrorists
Dual nationals who help terrorists could automatically lose their Australian citizenship even if they have never stepped foot out of the country under new laws introduced to parliament on Wednesday.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton introduced legislation to amend the Citizenship Act as fears grow about the number of Australians fighting with jihadist groups and concern about the threat at home from radicalised individuals.
It specifies three mechanisms and a series of grounds which could lead to an Australian, even if born in the country, being stripped of their citizenship…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Australia to Join China-Backed Infrastructure Bank
Australia said Wednesday it will join the new Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member, contributing Aus$930 million (US$719 million) as paid-in capital over five years.
The AIIB, to be based in the Chinese capital, has 57 prospective members, and will have a total paid-in capital of US$20 billion as well as authorised capital of US$100 million, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Treasurer Joe Hockey said in a joint statement.
Hockey will seal the agreement in Beijing on Monday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mother Begs Australia to Help Daughter, Grandchildren Flee IS
The mother-in-law of one of Australia’s most notorious Islamic State fighters has pleaded for the government to help her “desperate” daughter and five grandchildren flee the Middle East, saying she made “the mistake of a lifetime”.
Karen Nettleton’s emotional appeal for help came after reports that her son-in-law Khaled Sharrouf and his friend Mohamed Elomar were killed in fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul in the past week, although officials Wednesday suggested they may have died in Syria.
Sharrouf gained global infamy last year when he posted pictures on his Twitter account showing himself and his seven-year-old, Sydney-raised son holding up the severed heads of slain soldiers in Syria…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 40 Killed in ‘Boko Haram’ Attacks in NE Nigeria: Police
At least 42 people were shot dead by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in attacks on two villages in Biu and Hawul districts of northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, a police officer said Wednesday.
“We received reports of attacks by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on the two villages in which 42 deaths were recorded,” the officer said from Biu, 180 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital.
A Biu resident confirmed the attack on the villages.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Austria, Italy Voice Anger on Migrants
Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz told his Hungarian counterpart Wednesday Vienna “cannot tolerate” Hungary’s decision to halt asylum seeker applications, due to “negative effects” on Austria, AFP reports. Italian PM Renzi told La Stampa that if EU states don’t show solidarity on immigration “we risk losing the idea of Europe”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Hungary’s Anti-Migrant Decision ‘Unacceptable’
Austria has slammed Hungary’s decision to suspend a key EU rule that says it must take back asylum seekers who first enter Hungary but travel onto other countries — and warned of “negative” consequences.
“Austria cannot tolerate that,” Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, a day after Budapest announced it was opting out of the Dublin Regulation.
Hungary has said that it is overburdened by illegal immigration — more than 60,000 people have entered the country illegally this year, according to government officials.
Many try to continue on to other European states but under the EU’s Dublin Regulation those countries can return asylum seekers to Hungary to have their application processed there.
Just days ago Hungary announced it would erect a border fence against migrants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Border Guard: Rise in Syrians Entering Finland Illegally Through Russia
The Finnish Border Guard estimates that the number of people from Syria crossing the Russian-Finnish border is on the rise. Individuals have been detained attempting to cross into EU territory.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British holidaymakers and lorry-drivers trying to cross the channel are being confronted with chaos thanks to a strike that had closed the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel.
Striking French ferry workers blockaded the port with a wall of flaming tyres, before forcing the closure of the Channel Tunnel by getting on to the tracks.
Some of the 3,000 migrants camped at Calais are reportedly trying to exploit the strike by jumping on to slow-going lorries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Central Europe Urges Voluntary Stance on Migrant Numbers
(PRAGUE) — Four central European countries on Wednesday called on the European Union to let member states decide for themselves how many migrants they will accept, instead of setting quotas.
“The voluntary principle is a clear priority” of the Visegrad Four countries, the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said in a joint statement.
Calling for a “more systematic and geographically more balanced solution to the migration crisis”, the countries said all EU members should take part in weathering the critical situation on the bloc’s borders, which are tested daily by hundreds of migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
But they also slammed the current debate on migration, saying “any relocation measures should be taken on a voluntary basis… respecting the specifics and capacities of the individual member states”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission ‘Sticks’ To Migrant Quota Plan
EU commission vice-president Georgieva has said the executive will “stick” to its proposal on migrant quotas because it’s “morally right” and serves EU “interests, including security interests”. She also said Hungary should not have suspended asylum application, among a grown backlash against the commission’s burden-sharing idea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Identity at Risk Over Migrant Crisis: Italy
Europe needs to find a solution to the migrant crisis or risk losing its identity, Italy’s Matteo Renzi warned on Wednesday ahead of a key EU summit, as tensions rose over the asylum issue.
“Europe needs a strategy,” the prime minister said in an interview in La Stampa daily, a day after France clashed with Britain over thousands of immigrants trying to cross the Channel, and Hungary suspended a key EU rule on processing asylum claims.
“A European response is needed above all by Europe, more than Italy,” he said. “We want to fight for a different idea of values, civilisation, peace: that is what Europe was born for. If these values are ignored in front of a Mediterranean in flames, in front of children drowning, Europe loses itself,” he said.
Hungary’s announcement on Tuesday that it has indefinitely suspended the application of a key EU asylum rule in order “protect Hungarian interests” did not bode well.
France has also fallen out with Britain over vast numbers of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the Channel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Gov’t Split on EU Refugee Transfers
A request from the EU Commission for member states to accept more of the refugees currently arriving in Greece and Italy has provoked a split in the Finnish government. Finns Party ministers filed a dissenting opinion after the ministerial EU committee decided that Finland could accept some migrants from southern EU states.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Harry Potter Translator Bemoans Finnish Refugee Policy
Jaana Kapari-Jatta is known for translating the Harry Potter series of novels into Finnish, and she has also founded a school in Seregunda, Gambia. Kapari-Jatta says she sometimes feels ashamed of being Finnish due to the country’s refugee policies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Reverses Decision to Suspend Key EU Asylum Rule
(BUDAPEST) — Hungary on Wednesday reversed its decision to suspend a key EU rule on the processing of asylum claims, a day after announcing the move.
“(Foreign) Minister Peter Szijjarto has informed his Austrian counterpart that Hungary was not suspending any rule of the European Union,” the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
The government said it had merely requested a period of grace from fellow EU member states to help deal with the tens of thousands of refugees arriving in the country.
The right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban had caught Brussels by surprise on Tuesday when it announced it was indefinitely opting out of the so-called Dublin III regulation because of “technical reasons”.
The provision requires a migrant’s claim to be processed in the EU country they first arrive in.
Budapest said it had been forced to take the step to “protect Hungary’s interests and population” in light of the tens of thousands of refugees who had arrived over the past year.
“The boat is full,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs had told Austrian media.
The move, which came ahead of a key EU summit on the immigration crisis on Thursday, prompted Brussels to demand “immediate clarification”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Multicultural Rome: One in Eight Born Abroad
Rome has become a multicultural city with one in eight of its legal residents now coming from overseas, according to a new report.
The number of foreigners registered as living in the capital has more than doubled since the start of the century with Romanians, Filipinos and Bangladeshis the biggest groups among a total of 185 ethnic minorities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scores of Refugee ‘Kids’ In Denmark Are Adults
In nearly three fourths of cases investigated by immigration authorities, refugees who claimed to be minors were found to be adults upon further examination but global statistics show that knowing one’s age is not always so simple.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Dark Truth About Disease and Obama’s Border Lawlessness
Importing a Potential Epidemic
By now most Americans are familiar with the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to force-feed amnesty for illegals to a largely recalcitrant American public. The most egregious part of this effort occurred during last year’s border “surge” when the administration not only embraced the admittance of tens of thousands of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) into our nation, but the purposeful and secret dispersal of them into all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What Americans don’t know is that the Obama administration ignored Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that apply to legal immigrants and prevent the unvaccinated, or those with a “communicable disease of public health significance,” from entering the country. As a result, it is quite possible the outbreak of unknown diseases or those mostly eradicated in the U.S. for quite some time is no coincidence. The administration’s stance on the issue? A combination of silence, denial, or blame-shifting to the anti-vaxxer crowd.
We begin with last year’s outbreak of Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), a disease that paralyzed and killed American children. That in and of itself should have elicited a media firestorm, along with demands for establishing the origins of the outbreak beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet coverage was scant. Reporter Sharryl Attkisson revealed the disease was first identified in California in 1962, but that outbreaks had been relatively rare. She further noted the CDC “hasn’t suggested reasons for the current uptick or its origin.” Sundance at theconservativetreehouse.com attempted to correlate the outbreaks of the disease with the location of UAC shelters. And while part of his investigation was stymied by the reality that the administration kept many of those shelter locations secret, “there are significant numbers of them in both cities in which the current outbreak was first identified,” he explained.
Ultimately, it was the Daily Caller that reported the disease “was likely propelled through America by President Barack Obama’s decision to allow tens of thousands of Central Americans across the Texas border, according to a growing body of genetic and statistical evidence,” further noting “the epidemic included multiple strains of the virus, and that it appeared simultaneously in multiple independent locations.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Downfall Traced to Loss of Christianity
America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. — Alexis de Toqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville, (1805-1859) the French social philosopher visited America to discover the reasons for our incredible success. He published his observations in his classic two-volume work, Democracy in America. He was especially impressed by America’s religious character. Here are some startling excerpts from Tocqueville’s great work:
Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.
In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.
Religion in America…must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief.
I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion — for who can search the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.
In the United States, the sovereign authority is religious…there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.
In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people…
Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent…
I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom.
The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other
Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts — the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.
Tocqueville gives this account of a court case in New York:
While I was in America, a witness, [in a court case], declared that he did not believe in the existence of God or in the immortality of the soul. The judge refused to admit his evidence, on the ground that the witness had destroyed beforehand all confidence of the court in what he was about to say. The newspapers related the fact without any further comment. The New York Spectator of August 23rd, 1831, relates the fact in the following terms:
“The court of common pleas of Chester county (New York), a few days since rejected a witness who declared his disbelief in the existence of God. The presiding judge remarked, that he had not before been aware that there was a man living who did not believe in the existence of God; that this belief constituted the sanction of all testimony in a court of justice: and that he knew of no case in a Christian country, where a witness had been permitted to testify without such belief.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Cancer Across the Earth Called Globalism
Romania: Replacing one evil master — the communists — with another, globalists / corporatists / statists
I just returned from a two week trip to Romania and, I am sad to say, what many have warned us about years ago, has come to pass even in Romania, the country that had suffered so much under four decades of communist dictatorship. They managed to replace one evil master, the communists, with another, the globalists/corporatists/statists.
At one of the empty truck stops and restaurants where we stopped for a soda, a southern Romanian was telling us how afraid people are of their children’s uncertain future, of their finances, and of the dwindling opportunities for success that seem to vanish more each day.
No sooner had Romanians freed themselves from communism in 1989 the European Union stepped in with their Fabian Socialism, bringing in lots of indoctrination and other demand strings attached to their financial help for the newly minted and impoverished EU state in dire financial need, Romania.
Dr. Savage warned us about liberalism as a mental disorder. European progressive liberals on steroids, with their failed multiculturalism, have influenced Romanian economics and politics so much that they are now well underway to global governance, an insidious and noxious control by a few elites poised to own the globe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cars Are Becoming Target for Hackers
Taking control remotely of modern cars, for instance, has become distressingly easy for hackers, given the proliferation of wireless-connected processors now used to run everything from keyless entry and engine ignition to brakes, steering, tyre pressure, throttle setting, transmission and anti-collision systems. Today’s vehicles have anything from 20 to 100 electronic control units (ECUs) managing their various electro-mechanical systems. … The problem confronting carmakers everywhere is that, as they add ever more ECUs to their vehicles, to provide more features and convenience for motorists, they unwittingly expand the “attack surface” of their on-board systems. In security terms, this attack surface—the exposure a system presents in terms of its reachable and exploitable vulnerabilities—determines the ease, or otherwise, with which hackers can take control of a system. .
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“As the Prime Minister prepares for a Brussels summit tomorrow, French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said Mr Cameron cannot pick and choose which European rules apply in Britain.”
Yes we can and if some hard left apparatchik tells us we can’t then we can and should choose to walk away from this corrupt cabal.