A convoy of 140 Austrian vehicles set out for the border of Hungary with the intention of picking up migrants to bring into the country. The organizers of the initiative decided to take action to help the refugees, even though doing so might put them in violation of laws against human trafficking.
In other migration news, the first wave of migrants has landed in Denmark, arriving in southern Sjælland on board a ferry from Germany. Some of the refugees fled when police approached; they were said to hold tickets that would allow them to continue on to Sweden.
In other news, a lesbian comic strip has been launched for the first time in Bangladesh.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Green Infidel, Insubria, MC, 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.
Canada and Australia Feel the Squeeze in Wake of Chinese Economic Slowdown
Iron and oil producers proved resilient during the crash of 2008-09 but are now struggling as commodities prices decline
In 2011, the iron ore-rich Pilbara region of north-west Australia was on the frontier of a 21st century gold rush, this time with iron ore as the main prize — driven by China’s formidable appetite for natural resources to build up its infrastructure and modernise its economy.
Pilbara boasted salaries two-thirds higher than the national average and almost 80% of workers were flown into their jobs from Australia’s big cities. Now, mortgaged to the hilt on homes that lost value almost before the paint had dried, the mineworkers that remain are accepting longer hours and lower wages in an effort to keep up with the repayments.
Their plight resonates thousands of miles away in Calgary, Canada. Oil, not iron ore, has been the foundation of that city’s prosperity. But fears that China’s appetite for natural resources is waning are sapping confidence; and as oil prices have plunged, another property boom could soon turn to bust.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
G20 Ministers to Reiterate No to Competitive Devaluations
EU Commissioner Moscovici meeting Padoan Saturday
(ANSA) — Ankara, September 4 — G20 finance ministers Saturday in a final statement will re-affirm their commitment to avoid competitive devaluations and underline that exchange rates are not economic policy objectives in themselves, conference sources said Friday.
While China is not expected to be cited specifically the explicit reconfirmation of the 20’s commitment on exchange rates evidently will be a signal for markets and a reply to fears raised by Chinese moves in recent weeks, said the sources.
The EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici for his part said “I have full confidence in the capacity of Europe to deal with factors of uncertainty that may arrive from the world economy”.
Speaking to Rainews 24 on the fringes of the G20 meetings, he noted that the summit is focussed “on China and the USA” while the EU, after months of difficulty “no longer causes concern and is seen instead as a factor of stability” thanks to reforms and growth that is “modest but sufficient to reduce unemployment”.
Moscovici will meet Saturday with Italian Treasury Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, Moscovici said at the end of the first G20 session with labour ministers. “I will see Padoan tomorrow,” was all Moscovici told reporters.
Nevertheless it is the first such meeting since the controversy of recent days over EU officials in Brussels’ reported scepticism over Italian Premier Matteo Renzi’s pledge to cut property taxes.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Q3 Growth Seen at 0.3% — ISTAT
Acquired growth 0.7%
(ANSA) — Rome, September 4 — Italy’s third-quarter growth is forecast to be 0.3% with a possible range between 0.1% and 0.5%, Istat said in its latest economic forecasts Friday.
Italy’s acquired growth for 2015 is seen at 0.7%, Istat forecast.
The labour market is set to improve over the coming months, Istat said. The market conditions are set for a “moderate improvement,” it said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Employers’ Group Warns of Danger of Long Term Stagnation
(AGI) Rome, Sept 4 — The world economy is in danger of “a century of stagnation” and requires a mix of policies to accelerate growth, said Confindustria Research Centre in a report. “World growth is slower than in the past and expectations,” the statement said. “The current forecast for global GDP is 3.2 percent in 2015 and 3.6 percent in 2016, far removed from the 5.1 percent pre-crisis annual average and could prove optimistic.” “The causes are: slowing population growth, lower investment, and weaker trend in productivity,” added the employers’ association. “Policies are needed to boost demand, encourage research and development spending, and to proceed with structural reforms, focusing on manufacturing, the engine of growth.” “The prospects for global growth are unsatisfactory”, stressed the CSC. “The projected increase in global GDP has been constantly revised downwards over the last four years: from an annual average of 4.8 percent forecast in 2011 for the next five years to an estimated 3.9 percent in 2015 (IMF). This year over 12 months, estimates have been lowered from 4.0 percent to 3.3 percent. “The slowdown is generalised, but greater in structurally more dynamic emerging economies. Since the crisis growth prospects have declined by half a percent in advanced countries from 2.6 percent per year in 2008 to 2.1 percent in 2015, and by almost two points in emerging ones from 7.0 percent to 5.1 percent,” the note continued. According to the CSC estimates, the rise in world GDP is disappointing: 3.2 percent in 2015 and 3.6 percent in 2016, compared to the 5.1 percent observed in the pre-crisis period (annual average in 2002-2007). “Further downside risks have increased, due to a sharper slowdown in China and other major emerging” economies, according to the document. “It appears increasingly obvious that the effects of the economic crisis on investment, the slowdown in population growth and the lower estimated impact of new technology on productivity are very persistent.” “This lowers the path of growth in potential output, to which GDP tends in the long run, and some economists speak of a “century of stagnation”. However, above all in advanced countries, a successful and effective outcome is possible, but is largely dependent on a mix of public actions taken to boost growth and raise the potential growth rate of the economy,” concluded the CSC. “It is essential to support demand, especially investment, to stimulate research and development activities, proceed with structural reforms and adopt a real industrial policy consistent with the rediscovery of the central role of manufacturing.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton Acknowledges Paying State Department Staffer to Maintain Private Email Server
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday confirmed that she and her family personally paid a State Department staffer to maintain the private email server that Clinton used when she led the agency.
“We obviously paid for those services and did so because during a period of time we continued to need his technical assistance,” the former secretary of state told reporters after a campaign stop in Portsmouth, N.H.
She also said the payments to former agency IT specialist Bryan Pagliano are “in the public record.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hollywood Casts Uncomfortable Spotlight on Church Abuse
Pope Francis still has to prove the Church is serious about addressing sex abuse by priests, according to the director of a major new film about how the damaging scandal was exposed in the United States.
Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight”, a newsroom drama that focuses on how the Boston Globe broke a local story that was to become a global crisis for the Church, had its premiere on Thursday at the Venice Film Festival.
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as key members of the Globe’s investigations team, the film recounts the paper’s pursuit of evidence of how the local Catholic hierarchy, headed by Cardinal Bernard Law, systematically and, at times, cynically, covered up for abusive priests in their midst.
By the time the Globe’s team had earned their Pulitzer Prize it had become clear that the Church in the Boston area had, for years, harboured more than 70 predatory paedophiles, shuffling them from parish to parish when the rumours got too loud and acting swiftly to ensure any legal suits were settled silently and secretly…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Trade Unionists’ Pensions Bigger Than Workers’ — INPS
Can accrue sums as workers plus those as officials
(ANSA) — Rome, September 4 — Pensions of trade unionists are bigger than those of workers with other things being equal, INPS social security agency said Friday. It noted that trade unionists can accrue sums they earn as workers to those they get in their posts. The disclosure was set to spark controversy over union officials’ alleged perks. Premier Matteo Renzi has remarked that trade unionists enjoy too many benefits.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 7,000 Teachers to Move North for Steady Jobs Says Giannini
‘Most will go from Sicily to Lombardy’
(ANSA) — Rome, September 2 — Some 7,000 teachers will be moving from the south to the north this year, the same as last year, but this time they are getting steady jobs, Education Minister Stefania Giannini said in a press conference Wednesday.
Last year they were working as supply teachers, she said.
The second phase of teacher hirings will mean a “major” transfer of jobs from south to north, Giannini stressed. “Most of the transfers will be from Sicily to the north, above all Lombardy,” she said. Many teachers would also leave Campania for the north and also Lazio, “especially to Rome and the surrounding area,” she said.
A second round of 55,000 teacher hires will be made by mid-November, Giannini said. That will mean about seven more teachers per school, she said. The new hires will come on top of 100,000 in the first round of hirings.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Merkel’ Has Become a Verb in German Youth Vernacular
On the international stage, she’s seen as decisive and principled, especially when it concerns austerity measures in Europe. Domestically, however, Germany’s chancellor is known for a wait-and-see approach to politics. Her political position on major debates, like gay marriage, is deemed as deliberately vague.
Merkel’s propensity to hesitate before reacting publicly is seen by some as measured and methodical, an approach that speaks to her scientific training. Others consider her a pragmatist who adjusts her principles according to the political mood.
There’s even a word for her leadership style: “Merkeln.” It’s a verb which, according to the German dictionary publisher Langenscheidt, means “to do nothing, make no decisions, issue no statements.”
“Merkeln” is in the running for Langenscheidt’s “Youth Word of the Year,” closely followed by typically pseudo-anglicized expressions such as “Earthporn,” meaning “beautiful landscape,” and “Smombie,” a mix of “zombie” and “smartphone,” used to describe “someone who is spellbound by their smartphone and doesn’t look where they are going.”
Although far from laudatory, the term “Merkeln” is an indicator of the extent of her political appeal, demonstrating that she at least figures on the radar of younger voters, typically the most disinterested and hard-to-reach demographic within the electorate.
But since the weekend, “Merkeln” has become less playful. While far-right sympathizers and militant neo-Nazis staged violent protests in front of a new asylum-seeker shelter in the eastern town of Heidenau, Merkel held her tongue. She only broke her habitual silence on Monday after the riots and clashes with police had gone on for three nights.
For the German press and the Twittersphere, Merkel waited too long to speak out this time. The hashtag #Merkelschweigt (“Merkel is silent”) was trending high on Twitter in Germany and spawned Merkel memes that consisted of nothing but an ellipsis in quote marks (“…”).
Her taciturn tactics have given rise to another hashtag, #Merkelsagwas (“Merkel, say something”), imploring the chancellor to be more proactive and vocal.
And it seems she is listening. While visiting the refugee shelter in Heidenau where violence erupted over the weekend, Merkel spoke to journalists over a din of neo-Nazi jeers and called on German citizens to stand up against hatred.
Commentators such as Michael Kraske of the political magazine Cicero still view Merkel’s visit to Heidenau as coming several days too late. Yet in her 10th year in power and with polls showing unfaltering support for her conservative CDU/CSU party union, she seems to be living up to the nickname bestowed upon her by U.S. diplomats and made public by Wikileaks in 2010: “Teflon Merkel.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Oprahfication, Ethnomasochism, And the Preventable Death of Aylan Kurdi
by John Derbyshire
How did we get here? The first thing to be said about the current crisis is that it was perfectly predictable. Not only was it predictable, it was predicted: by French author Jean Raspail in his 1973 novel The Camp of the Saints.
Not only was this situation predictable, it was preventable. In connection to which, permit me to quote from a famous speech by British immigration patriot Enoch Powell back in 1968 — five years before Camp of the Saints was first published.
Boy, you can’t beat the Scandinavians for ethnomasochism. I guess it gets really boring up there in Iceland, just looking at blonde, blue-eyed people all the time (like Bryndis herself, pictured right) never having anyone decapitate one of your soldiers in the street or let off a bomb on a bus.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tsipras Warns Greeks Against Return to ‘Dark Period of Corruption’ Ahead of Sept 20 Election
ATHENS, Greece — Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the upcoming national election is a battle between his “honorable” government of the past seven months and “the dark period of corruption, cronyism and power networks” that prevailed in previous decades.
Tsipras, leader of the left-wing Syriza party, says he is the best-placed to improve the bailout deal with Greece creditors which he himself agreed to in July and which he described as “open-ended” on several issues and subject to improvement through negotiations.
Speaking at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Tsipras outlined a government program whose reformist agenda has been, with a few variations, echoed by previous governments.
He said Sunday that his economic policy would be based on “strong government intervention … to redistribute incomes.”
The election will be held on Sept. 20.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Veggie Meals for All Schools, A Solution in Secular France?
To serve or not to serve pork in the canteens of France’s secular state schools?
As a new school year begins, the divisive issue has once again come to the fore as mayors from three towns have banned non-pork options in canteens to respect the country’s strict divide between education and religion, triggering accusations of discrimination.
Enter Yves Jego, a lawmaker who wants to introduce a draft bill making vegetarian meals obligatory in schools as a pragmatic way of bypassing secularity rules and accommodating Jews and Muslims who do not eat pork, or Hindus, many of whom shun meat in general.
“Can we force a Catholic child to eat meat on Good Friday because nothing else is available, or a Jewish or Muslim kid to eat pork?,” the lawmaker from the centrist UDI party asks on his online petition, which has garnered more than 123,000 signatures so far…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Refers Islamist Cleric to Military Trial
Egypt’s prosecution referred at least 38 alleged Islamists, including an influential exiled cleric, to military trial Saturday, accusing them of setting up militant cells that killed a police officer.
The prosecution said 35 people have been arrested, and accused leaders of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood of inciting them to carry out violent attacks.
The statement said they include two detained Muslim Brotherhood figures.
Additionally, Youssef al-Qardawi, an influential Egyptian-born cleric who lives in Qatar and at least two other suspects who are abroad will be tried in absentia.
They are charged with ordering or carrying out several bombings in Cairo and involvement in the assassination of a police colonel in April.
Police have arrested thousands of Islamists since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco’s Ruling Islamist Party Wins Key Cities in Local Elections
Morocco’s ruling Islamist party won most of the country’s key cities during Friday’s local elections, further expanding its reach after four years of leading a coalition government that undertook major fiscal reforms.
The Justice and Development party, known by its French acronym PJD, came to power on an anti-corruption ticket in 2011, tapping into a desire for greater freedom when “Arab Spring” protests forced King Mohammed to devolve some royal powers.
On Friday, for the first time in its history, the PJD won control of all of Morocco’s major cities including the capital Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakesh and Agadir…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Warns of Car Bomb Plot in Tunis, Imposes Traffic Bans: State News
Tunisian authorities warned of possible car bombings in the capital Tunis and banned traffic in parts of the city after receiving intelligence reports about potential attacks, the state news agency TAP said on Sunday.
The North African country is under a state of emergency after two deadly Islamist militant gun attacks on tourist sites this year. Armed Islamists also often carry out attacks on the armed forces in remote areas in Tunisia but have not previously attempted mass killings with car bombs.
An Interior Ministry source told TAP that a potential assault involving car bombs and attackers with bomb belts had meant to target strategic points in the capital, without giving further details.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia News Agency Warns of Terror Plot to Attack Capital With Car Bombs, Explosive Belts
TUNIS, Tunisia — A Tunisian Interior Ministry official has warned of a plan to attack sites in the capital with car bombs and other devices, according to the country’s state news agency.
The TAP report on Sunday said unidentified militants planned to attack “sensitive sites” in the city with car bombs and explosive belts. The report cited an unnamed Interior Ministry official.
In March and June, gunmen attacked the national museum and a beach resort killing nearly 60 foreign tourists.
The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Committed to Labelling of Israeli Settlement Products
French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that while Paris backs EU plans to label products from Israeli settlements, it opposes any boycott of Israel.
“The French and European diplomatic position is clear and has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters at the start of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The labelling plan has been blasted by Israel which says it is the target of an international delegitimisation campaign.
But Macron was adamant that France opposes campaigns such as that of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to put political and economic pressure on Israel over its occupation of the Palestinian territories…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Istanbul Pogrom Commemorated in Central Venue
A group of representatives from several minority advocate groups gathered on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Istanbul pogrom, anti-Greek riots in Sept. 6 and 7 in 1955 that left 15 people dead, many others injured and a large number of Greek homes and buildings looted.
Representatives from the DurDe Platform and the Istanbul Rums Universal Federation, both rights groups fighting to preserve minority rights, gave a press briefing after they held a vigil, waving placards reading “6-7 September: Never Again” as to commemorate the people killed during the riots, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 5.
Fifteen people died, a large number of people were injured, and many homes and workplaces were looted in the Sept. 6 and 7 incidents, said Gonca Sahin, a spokesperson speaking on behalf of the group.
Sahin said the discriminatory attitude towards non-Muslim communities in Turkey has prevailed since the riots in 1955 and that all problems would be solved in Turkey if the country endorsed a domestic policy based on peace, democracy and equality.
Meanwhile, a service was held in the Panagia Greek Orthodox Church in the Yeniköy neighborhood to commemorate the pogrom on Sept. 6.
The Istanbul pogrom was organized mob attacks directed at Istanbul’s non-Muslim residents, primarily its Greek minority, on Sept. 6-7, 1955. The pogrom left more than a dozen people dead and attackers looted a large number of non-Muslim homes and workplaces in Istanbul, which further led to an exodus by a huge number of Turkey’s remaining Greek population.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Wave of Air Strikes Shake Yemen Capital: Witnesses
Powerful explosions shook the Yemeni capital Sunday, witnesses said, after the Saudi-led coalition vowed to press its air war following a rebel missile strike that killed dozens of Gulf soldiers.
The witnesses said the coalition warplanes pounded positions of the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels and bases of splinter troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The raids hit military bases on the Nahdain and Fajj Attan hills and the neighbouring presidential complex, south of Sanaa, as well as the headquarters of the special forces…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia to Cut Spending After Oil Price Decline
Saudi Arabia will cut spending and delay some state projects after the recent decline in the price of oil, Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said.
Talking to broadcaster CNBC Arabia, he said the country was in a good position to manage low oil prices.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporting country, has maintained its production levels despite a collapse in the price of oil.
Oil is trading at less than $50 per barrel, half the price of a year ago.
“We have built reserves, cut public debt to near-zero levels and we are now working on cutting unnecessary expenses while focusing on main development projects and on building human resources in the kingdom,” he said in the interview.
Some areas of the economy will still receive investment, he said, as the country tries to improve industries outside energy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Several Turkish Soldiers Killed in PKK Attack
Kurdish rebels attacked two military vehicles in southeast Turkey, the president said Sunday, indicating that several Turkish soldiers were killed. The prime minister was returning to the capital for a security meeting.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a television interview that two armored military vehicles were targeted by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party near the village of Daglica, in Hakkari province, bordering Iraq and Iran. He indicated that several soldiers were killed in the attack.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cut short a visit to the city of Konya to convene a security meeting. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the military had retaliated by launching an air operation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Warns Russia Against Additional Aid to Assad Amid New Violence
Unconfirmed reports about Russia possibly planning to expand its military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad has prompted a warning from the U.S. that such actions could lead to a clash with coalition forces.
The State Department issued a statement after Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to express concern over the rumors “suggesting an imminent enhanced Russian military build-up” in Syria.
Russia has been an ally of Assad throughout Syria’s civil war and has provided diplomatic support and weaponry to help the Syrian leader maintain his grip on power. Moscow also maintains a small naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean Sea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: Donetsk and Lugansk Adopt Russian Rouble
Only currency for all financial transactions
(ANSA) — MOSCOW — The two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have adopted the Russian rouble as a single currency for all financial transactions. This was announced by Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency, reporting the words of some representatives of Donbass.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Hardline Monks Claim Victory as Myanmar Muslims Face Poll Exclusion
With a smile, Myanmar’s most notorious Buddhist monk boasts of the sleepless nights he endures on his self-appointed quest against the country’s Muslims — one that he claims has helped strip voting rights from hundreds of thousands of the religious minority.
Wirathu, whose anti-Muslim campaign has stoked religious tensions in the Buddhist-majority nation, said he spends most nights at his tranquil Mandalay monastery glued to his computer screen, streaming images from some of the world’s most violent Islamic terrorist organisations.
He then posts messages to his 91,000 Facebook followers, helping foment the idea that Buddhism is under threat…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China to Face Tough Economic Conditions for Up to 10 Yrs: Minister
Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei told his Group of 20 counterparts that the country’s economy is likely to face tough conditions for up to 10 years, sources familiar with the G-20 meeting said Sunday.
Following the two-day gathering through Saturday, the Chinese government said Lou told the finance chiefs that the next five years would be painful for the Chinese economy, and would include a difficult process of structural adjustment.
But Beijing did not touch on the finance minister’s comment that the tough times could last a decade.
His remark at a G-20 session on Friday indicates the world’s second-largest economy is preparing for a prolonged slowdown, with global financial markets facing instability as a result.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taiwan ‘Porn Star’ Travel Cards Sell Out Amid Controversy
Thousands of prepaid travel cards featuring a popular Japanese porn star sold out in a matter of hours in Taipei on Tuesday, despite a groundswell of objection from women’s groups and politicians.
All 30,000 commuter cards featuring Yui Hatano were sold by 4:18 am local time after going on sale at midnight, the EasyCard Corporation said in a statement.
The two versions of the cards — “Angels” and “Demons”, both bearing a photo of the adult film star and priced at Tw$500 ($15.40) — were limited to telephone sales only, after the distributor reached a compromise that kept the product out of stores.
Despite the red-hot sales, the company apologised for the controversy and promised not to issue any more cards featuring Hatano, but said it did not believe the photos printed on the cards were “lewd”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Insane Reason Why Chinese Drivers Intentionally Kill the Pedestrians They Hit
In April, a BMW racing through a fruit market in Foshan in China’s Guangdong province knocked down a 2-year-old girl and rolled over her head.
As the girl’s grandmother shouted, “Stop! You’ve hit a child!” the BMW’s driver paused, then switched into reverse and backed up over the girl.
The woman at the wheel drove forward once more, crushing the girl for a third time.
When she finally got out from the BMW, the unlicensed driver immediately offered the horrified family a deal: “Don’t say that I was driving the car,” she said. “Say it was my husband. We can give you money.”
It seems like a crazy urban legend: In China, drivers who have injured pedestrians will sometimes then try to kill them.
And yet not only is it true — it’s fairly common; security cameras have regularly captured drivers driving back and forth on top of victims to make sure that they are dead. The Chinese language even has an adage for the phenomenon: “It is better to hit to kill than to hit and injure.”
“Double-hit cases” have been around for decades. I first heard of the “hit-to-kill” phenomenon in Taiwan in the mid-1990s when I was working there as an English teacher. A fellow teacher would drive us to classes. After
one near miss of a motorcyclist, he said, “If I hit someone, I’ll hit him again and make sure he’s dead.”
Enjoying my shock, he explained that in Taiwan, if you cripple a man, you pay for the injured person’s care for a lifetime. But if you kill the person, you “only have to pay once, like a burial fee.” He insisted he was serious — and that this was common.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil Graft Probe Targets Two in President’s Inner Circle: Reports
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s former campaign treasurer and her chief of staff have been placed under investigation in the Petrobras mega corruption scandal, the local press reported Sunday.
It would be the first time top members of Rousseff’s administration have been targeted directly in the widening investigation, which has already implicated her ruling Workers Party in massive graft at the state-owned oil giant.
Two leading newspapers — O Estado de Sao Paulo and O Globo — reported that the Supreme Court has authorized investigations into Communications Minister Edinho Silva, who was the treasurer of Rousseff’s 2014 re-election campaign, and Rousseff’s chief of staff, Aloizio Mercadante…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Refugee Folks: No Thanks, We Don’t Need Your “Warnings”
Words by Paul Fontaine
Opening the borders to them is literally the least we can do, because borders themselves are an act of violence. They divide, they deprive, they let others drown and rot in detention centres while those inside profit from the destruction wrought elsewhere in the world.Europeans are beginning to wake up to this, but there are fascists, racists and theocrats who are pushing back against progress. It’s going to be a long and bitter struggle to put an end to global apartheid. Here in Iceland, we’re doing the best we can do.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As Migrants Pour Into Germany, Pope Francis Calls on Faithful to Take Them in
Pope Francis called on the faithful Sunday to not only welcome asylum-seekers to Europe but to give them shelter and help them begin new lives, as the leading edge of a migrant wave began dispersing across Germany or moving on to points north and west.
In a span of 24 hours from early Saturday to early Sunday, more than 13,000 people made their way into Germany via its border with Austria, the biggest share of them from war-racked Syria, but with large contingents of Afghans and Eritreans as well.
And at the southern end of the migrant trail, refugees continued to arrive en masse in Greece, having made the short but dangerous sea voyage from Turkey. The crush has fallen heavily on the tiny Greek tourist islands, with clashes breaking out Sunday between migrants and police on the island of Lesbos.
Germany, the chosen destination of many, sought not to let too heavy a burden fall on any region, arranging special trains and jam-packing regular ones to carry them to Dortmund in the west, Dresden in the east and Hamburg in the north.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Aid Convoy Heads for Hungary to Help Refugees
Volunteers in 140 vehicles, risking fines for violating human trafficking laws, head to Hungary to pick up refugees.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking News: First Wave of Refugees Hits Denmark
The first large group of refugees and immigrants has made it across the Danish border in Rødby in southern Zealand.
According to the South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police, about 170 refugees arrived in Rødby via two ferries from Puttgarden in Germany.
“We are down here to get them registered and get an overview of who they are and where they come from,” Stefan Jensen, the duty officer, told Ekstra Bladet tabloid. “It’s the standard asylum process that begins here.”
“We work closely with the German police so we were prepared for this.”
A further 100 refugees arrived about an hour later and in the ensuing chaos several ran off. Police said that refugees had also been seen crossing into Denmark by car.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chaos in Hungary as Refugees Are Determined to Register Elsewhere
Refugees grow restless as Hungarian authorities enforce registration at local asylum centers and prevent migration to other Western European countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cheney: European Refugee Crisis ‘Direct Consequence’ Of Failed Obama Policy
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that the European refugee crisis is “a direct consequence” of President Obama’s failed foreign policy and that he does not support the Iran nuclear deal.
Cheney, who was vice president in the George W. Bush administration, said Obama has helped to “create a huge vacuum” in Iraq for terror groups like the Islamic State to flourish and kill by failing to secure an agreement with Iraqi leaders to keep U.S. troops in the country after the war.
“That contributed directly to the refugee crisis,” Cheney told “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s a crisis of major proportions.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Tourists Helping Refugees in Greece
Large numbers of Danes are heading to Greece with bags of unwanted clothes and other goods to help newly-arrived refugees.
Danish tour operator Spies and Swedish partner Ving have reported that despite a slow start, their offer to allow tourists to take up to 20 additional kilos of goods to Greece has recently caught-on with Danish and Swedish tourists.
The scheme allows all customers flying out of Copenhagen Airport and Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport and Copenhagen Airport in Denmark to Kos and Lesbos on flights operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia.
Ving spokeswoman Charlotte Hallencreutz said that up to 500 passengers carrying over ten tonnes of supplies including clothes, blankets and toys have taken advantage of the offer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Mulls Cash-for-Migrants Plan to Ease Crisis
European Commission officials are debating a proposal that would allow some EU countries to pay money in order to opt out of a mandatory quota system for accepting refugees, in a plan that could ease a stand-off between eastern and western members over how to relieve Europe’s migrant crisis.
Some eastern states have balked at being forced to accept mandatory numbers, under a plan to divide 160,000 migrants across the region to be announced on Wednesday by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. They argue that voluntary targets allow member states to provide better care to people looking to settle in Europe.
“We are ready to share the burden and take responsibility, but only if we have control over the situation,” said Poland’s minister for Europe, Rafal Trzaskowski.
Over the summer a harrowing exodus of people from the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan has leapt to the top of Europe’s political agenda, and led to a quadrupling of the EU’s resettlement target from 40,000 people in July.
Commission officials and eastern diplomats stressed that the plan would only allow countries to take temporary “time-outs” from any expanded quota regime, in exchange for payments to a fund supporting refugees.’
| — Hat tip: Green Infidel | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Mixed Response to PM Sipilä’s Refugee Gesture
Premier Juha Sipilä’s offer to host refugees drew praise across party lines on Saturday—with some exceptions. Foreign Minister Timo Soini of the nationalist Finns Party refused to comment. At a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, he told Yle that he would keep his “head cool and his heart warm”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Refugee Plea Prompts 100+ Church Resignations
More than a hundred people appear to have resigned from the Finnish Lutheran Church after Archbishop Kari Mäkinen urged parishes to do more to help refugees. There was a spike in resignations above the normal level, with many people giving the church’s stance on refugees as a reason for their decision.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Welcome Thousands of Newly Arrived Refugees
There were more scenes of warm welcomes in train stations across Germany on Sunday as thousands more refugees and migrants arrived by rail. The country’s politicians are due to discuss the financial implications.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany to Hold Crisis Talks as Refugees Stream Across Border
Chancellor Angela Merkel planned to discuss Europe’s migrant crisis with her coalition partners Sunday, as Syrians, Iraqis and others fleeing war and persecution streamed into Germany for the second straight day.
The Christian Social Union, the socially-conservative wing of Merkel’s center-right bloc, has criticized the decision to open Germany’s borders to migrants and refugees stuck in Hungary, the dpa news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the center-left Social Democrats, the third member of Merkel’s three-party coalition, urged swift humanitarian help for those trekking through Europe in search of a better life.
“No decent person can remain cold and dismissive in the face of such suffering,” said Thomas Oppermann, a senior Social Democrat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Two Arrested for Hurling Homemade Bombs at Refugee Tents on Lesvos
As tensions rise on Lesvos, police on Sunday arrested two teenagers for hurling homemade petrol bombs at tents set up by refugees near the port of the eastern Aegean island, injuring a 30-year-old Syrian man.
Also on Sunday, police using riot batons clashed with refugees beating one unconscious and leaving several others injured, reports said. One person was taken away in ambulance, according to the same reports.
Asylum-seekers and migrants are demanding that local authorities process them quickly towards the mainland. Thousands are waiting to be identified and ferried to Athens to continue their trip to other European countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Authorities Send Troops, Police to Lesvos After Migrant Clashes
Greece sent troops and police reinforcements Sunday to Lesvos after renewed clashes between police and migrants, the public broadcaster said, while Syrian refugees on the island were targeted with Molotov cocktail attacks.
Authorities are working to “relieve the island as quickly as possible of a large number of refugees, so that the flow can be brought back to a tolerable level,” deputy migration minister Ioannis Mouzalas said as he visited the island.
Lesvos is one of several Greek islands struggling to cope with a huge influx of people arriving in flimsy boats from Turkey, most of them refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.
More than 230,000 people have landed on Greek shores this year and the numbers have soared in recent weeks as people seek to take advantage of the calm summer weather.
There have been repeated clashes on Lesvos between police and migrants — and between migrants themselves — over delays in the registration process that have left thousands of refugees stuck on the island, unable to continue their journey to other countries in Europe.
A police source said a pair of attackers on a motorbike threw two Molotov cocktails at refugees sleeping in parks in the island’s main town, Mytilene.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland: More Housing Needed for Asylum Seekers
The social housing system for asylum seekers in Iceland is under a lot of strain, mbl.is reports. If the Icelandic public offered housing to individuals seeking international protection, that would enable many people to start a new life here and even be reunited with their families, according to Áshildur Linnet, Red Cross project manager. She points out that a record number of applications for asylum were received in August.
William Spindler, a public relations officer for UNHCR, told Morgunblaðið that the stream of refugees and immigrants is expected to remain substantial in the coming months. He says the European countries in which refugees first arrive often lack the funds needed for basic assistance.
Increasing the number of refugees resettled in Iceland will involve cost to municipalities. They are required to provide schooling to children.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Majority of French Against Easing Refugee Rules, Favor Syria Strikes
A majority of French people are against softening rules to access refugee status, a poll showed on Sunday even as thousands poured to the streets to show their solidarity with migrants seeking asylum in Europe.
Around 8,500 people marched in Paris on Saturday carrying banners such as “Refugees welcome”. Other demonstrations took place in several cities across the country.
But a poll conducted by Odoxa for Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France daily showed 55 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed were opposed to an easing of rules for migrants asking for refugee status, including Syrians fleeing civil war…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Many Migrants Crossing the Balkans Declare Themselves Syrian for Asylum Reasons
A Pakistani identity card in the bushes, a Bangladeshi one in a cornfield. A torn Iraqi driver’s license bearing the photo of a man with a Saddam-style mustache, another one with a scarfed woman displaying a shy smile.
Documents scattered only meters from Serbia’s border with Hungary provide evidence that many of the migrants flooding Europe to escape war or poverty are scrapping their true nationalities and likely assuming new ones, just as they enter the European Union.
Many of those travelers believe that using a fake document — or having none at all — gives them a better of chance of receiving asylum in Germany and other western European states. That’s because the surest route to asylum is to be a refugee from war and not an economic migrant fleeing poverty. That fact has led to a huge influx of people claiming to be Syrian.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Under Pressure From Bavarian Allies Over Migrant Influx
As refugees continued to flow into Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel was preparing for a meeting with her coalition partners. The conservative CSU has sharply criticized the chancellor over her handling of the crisis.
The Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavaria-based sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) has criticized the chancellor’s decision late on Friday to temporarily open up Germany’s borders to thousands of migrants who had been stranded in Hungary.
The mass-circulation “Bild am Sonntag” newspaper reported in this Sunday’s edition that Bavarian state Premier Horst Seehofer and other CSU leaders had agreed in a conference call on Saturday that Merkel’s green light to ease the entry of the people wanting to seek asylum in Germany, many of whom have fled conflict zones in Syria or Iraq, was a “wrong decision by the federal government.”
A CSU spokesman confirmed that the issue would be on the agenda of the high-level meeting of Merkel’s so-called “grand coalition” government, consisting of her CDU, the CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Activist Convoy Drives to Hungary
A convoy of cars driven by German and Austrian activists has crossed into Hungary to pick up migrants and help them reach western Europe.
Thousands — many of whom initially fled conflict in Syria — have made their way through Austria since Hungary removed restrictions on transit on Friday.
Buses and special trains have been taking them from the Hungarian border to Vienna and on to Germany.
The Pope said every Catholic parish in Europe should host a migrant family.
Speaking during the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis appealed for “every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe” to take in a family.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Jean-Claude Juncker Plans to Compensate Countries for Each Refugee Taken in
Jean-Claude Juncker will this week attempt to overcome hostility from eastern Europe to a programme of migrant distribution quotas by offering bounties worth thousands of euros.
In a ‘State of the Union’ address to the European Parliament — a speech modeled on that delivered annually by the US president — the European Commission president is expected to highlight compensation of €6,000 (£4,400) to be given for each refugee a country accepts.
Countries will be paid €500 in transport costs for every asylum seeker who arrives in their country that needs to be relocated to an EU neighbour within the scheme.
Mr Juncker — under fire for the EU’s response to the crisis — is expected to use the address to build political support for a mandatory scheme to relocate some 160,000 refugees from Italy, Greece and Hungary around the bloc.
It is an ambitious target: a similar plan for just 40,000 people had to be downgraded from a mandatory to a voluntary scheme earlier this year after meeting with objections from member states.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Austria ‘To End Emergency Migrant Measures’
Austria says it is planning to phase out special measures that have allowed thousands of migrants to travel freely from Hungary to western Europe.
Chancellor Werner Faymann said Austria would remove the emergency measures for asylum seekers “step by step”.
The easing of rules has meant thousands have been able to leave Hungary for Austria and Germany over the weekend.
Germany, where most of the migrants are heading, warned that its willingness to help “should not be overstretched”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Op-Ed: Infiltrators in Budapest, Infiltrators in Israel
By Uzi Baruch
For years European nations have attacked Israel for its immigration policies. In recent years, there are scores of “human rights” groups and organizations that go from one court to another presenting claims against Israel’s immigration policy in order to block Israel’s attempts to deal with the infiltrator problem in a way that will cause no harm to the Jewish state. Every law, by-law, or guiding principle presented by the Interior Ministry or the government is met with a barrage of countersuits and condemned by Israeli and European media…
The nations of Europe are behind much of this effort aimed at hurting Israel. European money is what allows this activity, whose goal is the destruction of Israel’s immigration policy, to take place…
What is frustrating about all this, is that European funding continues to flow unchecked to Israel. Their own house is on fire, but the Europeans continue in their efforts to undermine Israel. Because what is allowed in Budapest is obviously forbidden in Tel Aviv…
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Peter Hitchens: We Won’t Save Refugees by Destroying Our Own Country
Actually we can’t do what we like with this country. We inherited it from our parents and grandparents and we have a duty to hand it on to our children and grandchildren, preferably improved and certainly undamaged.
It is one of the heaviest responsibilities we will ever have. We cannot just give it away to complete strangers on an impulse because it makes us feel good about ourselves.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee ‘Beaten Unconscious’ as Clashes Continue With Riot Police on Greek Island of Lesbos
Police using riot batons have clashed with refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, beating one unconscious and leaving several others injured.
A group of around 300 refugees protested on Sunday morning against what they say is a failure by local authorities to process them quickly enough towards mainland Europe.
The demonstration largely involved Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis, who told reporters they had received no help from the Greek government and were running out of money.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Flow Linked to Turkish Policy Shift
A sharp increase in the influx of migrants and refugees, mostly from Syria, into Greece is due in part to a shift in Turkey’s geopolitical tactics, according to diplomatic sources.
These officials link the wave of migrants into the eastern Aegean to political pressures in neighboring Turkey, which is bracing for snap elections in November, and to a recent decision by Ankara to join the US in bombing Islamic State targets in Syria. The analyses of several officials indicate that the influx from neighboring Turkey is taking place as Turkish officials look the other way or actively promote the exodus. According to one Greek official, security fears are a key reason for Turkey’s encouragement of migrant flows.
“Turkey is facilitating or at least is not hampering the movement of illegal immigrants toward Greece, thinking that in this way it will limit the risk of a possible new terrorist attack on its territory as a reprisal for the military operations it has carried out on Syrian soil,” the official said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Crisis ‘To Cost Germany 10 Billion Euros’
The cost of care for refugees could reach around 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in 2015. Amid internal criticism over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decisions, the CDU and SPD are due to discuss the distribution of costs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugees Flee From Police in Danish Port Town
A large group of refugees reportedly trying to get to Sweden from Germany fled from police when their train stopped in the Danish harbour town of Rødby on Sunday evening.
Police said that the majority of the registered refugees are from Syria but there were also Iraqis and Africans among the group.
According to Kliver, many of those who ran from the police had purchased a train ticket to Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugees Arrive to Warm Welcomes in Germany, Austria
Thousands of exhausted, exhilarated migrants seeking new lives arrived in Germany and Austria on Saturday after overcoming obstacles thrown at them by Hungary’s right-wing government.
The refugees, many from war-torn and impoverished countries, got off Hungarian buses at the Austrian border to the welcome sight of relief workers and continued on to the capital, Vienna, and the German city of Munich.
“My toes hurt, a lot of blood. We walked too much. I want to go to Germany, but then I stop,” a 26-year-old Syrian man from Homs, whose feet were wrapped in bandages, told Agence France-Presse.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report From Budapest: Hungary Has No Plan
Thousands of refugees were allowed to leave Budapest’s main station for Austria and Germany, but Hungary lacks a convincing strategy for handling the crisis. DW’s Michaela Küfner reports from Budapest.
Thousands of refugees have traveled from Hungary to Austria and Germany in the past days. For the time being, it does not matter to these people whether or not reaching their destination will lead to a happy ending of their stories. After several days in the slum of Budapest’s Keleti Train Station, their wishes are modest: they want a bed, warm food and decent sanitary facilities.
But for every person who managed to get a place in one of the buses out of the country, at least another dozen more are also hoping to make it to Germany. The Hungarian government stresses that the bus operation on Friday was a one-off measure. At the same time, only a few hours after the underpass in front of the train station was cleared, new groups of refugees arrived.
Even the three-and-a-half meter high barbed wire fence along the border to Serbia cannot prevent the daily influx of people from growing. Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government, knows this and says, “The problem is, whatever we do, they keep on coming here.” And he believes that people who “absolutely want to continue on” cannot be stopped anyway.
The refugees are people like 20-year-old Ahmed Abdallah from Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Their faces basked in sun, a group of young men pose as one holds up a selfie-stick to capture the moment in a photograph.
It is a scene found the world over among groups of friends, families and tourists.
But for these youngsters, huddled on the beach at sunset, their souvenir marks the beginning of a new life in the promised land of Europe.
They are among thousands who have flocked to Lesbos, one of two Greek ports bearing the brunt of the mass exodus of refugees and migrants from the war-torn Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish PM: ‘My Europe Takes in Refugees’
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven called on Europe to do more to help refugees as thousands of Stockholmers gathered at a pro-refugee demonstration on Sunday.
Thousands of umbrella-holding Stockholmers braved the rain on Sunday afternoon to take part in a rally in support of refugees, an idea inspired by similar demonstrations in Germany and Austria last month.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven gave a rousing speech in which he urged Swedes and Europeans to do their part to help out.
“We need to decide right now what kind of Europe we are going to be. My Europe takes in refugees. My Europe doesn’t build walls,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Refugees Arrive in Germany After Journey From Hungary
Thousands of refugees and migrants streamed into Germany on Sunday, many traveling through Austria from Hungary where they had been stranded against their will for days, while European Union governments argue over how to respond.
A convoy of around 140 cars and vans filled with food and water left Vienna to collect exhausted migrants, many from Syria, who had set out to walk the 110-mile stretch through the rain from Hungary’s capital Budapest to the Austrian border, from where many would continue onto Germany.
Onlookers clapped and chanted: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,” as volunteers loaded their vehicles with food, water and soft toys.
However, the EU is deeply divided over how to cope with the influx of people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, making the 28-nation bloc look ineffective and heartless as member states blame each other, fueling political populism and anti-Muslim sentiment.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish PM Slams Refugee Policy of ‘Christian Fortress Europe’
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu on Sunday criticised the “ridiculously small” share of refugees the EU is accepting, labelling the continent the “Christian fortress Europe.”
Turkey had taken more than two million people alone from war-torn Syria and Iraq, creating “a buffer zone between the chaos and Europe,” Davutoglu wrote for Monday’s edition of Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.
He criticised as low the financial contribution the EU had made in support of Turkey’s effort, according to excerpts pre-released in German by the conservative newspaper Sunday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Will Shelter 2 Families Fleeing War, Hunger, As Pope Calls on Europe to Do the Same
The Vatican will shelter two families of refugees who are “fleeing death” from war or hunger, Pope Francis announced Sunday as he called on Catholic parishes, convents and monasteries across Europe to do the same.
Francis cited Mother Teresa, the European-born nun who cared for the poorest in India, in making his appeal in remarks to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Muslim “Refugee” Makes Throat Slitting/Beheading Gesture to Television Cameras
This is one image that won’t be splashed across newspapers and broadcast news shows, though it is iconic of what is really happening.
And Europe is taking in millions of these hostile invaders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Conservative Bangladesh Launches First Lesbian Comic Strip
Bangladesh’s first comic strip featuring a young lesbian discovering her sexuality has been launched in the capital to raise awareness of the plight of gays in the conservative Muslim-majority nation.
Boys of Bangladesh, the country’s largest gay rights group, organised the launch on Saturday night of “Dhee”, the Bengali word for intellect or wisdom.
“By creating Dhee, we want to shape perception of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, because we should be free to choose whom to love,” Mehnaz Khan, one of the four content developers of the comic, told AFP.
“It’s about carrying the message to all.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Whats realy disgusting is how austrian media and government politicians are offending the Hungarians.
Should there be a hungarian reader I can only excuse for that.
By no way does it represent the majority opinion of the austrian population.
I personally would not go so far, but many would prefer to have Orban as austrian chancellor and head of governent then Faymann.
The voice of Julia Ceasar:
https://youtu.be/aTQv5hheKIE
in a magnificent interwiew
Re: “Conservative Bangladesh Launches First Lesbian Comic Strip”. Some lesbians have a sense of humour?