Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Front National in France, went on trial today on charges of inciting racial hatred. Ms. Le Pen is alleged to have committed the offense when she likened the mass street prayer of Muslims in France to the Nazi occupation. If convicted, she may face a fine of €45,000 and up to a year in prison.
In other news, the Slovenian army has been deployed to help patrol the country’s border with Croatia in an attempt to control the flow of “refugees”.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Marty, Nick, RG, 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.
Global Trade is Collapsing as the Worldwide Economic Recession Deepens
When the global economy is doing well, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes up, and when the global economy is in recession, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes down.
It is just basic economics. Governments around the world have become very adept at manipulating other measures of economic activity such as GDP, but the trade numbers are more difficult to fudge. Today, China accounts for more global trade than anyone else on the entire planet, and we have just learned that Chinese exports and Chinese imports are both collapsing right now. But this is just part of a larger trend. As I discussed the other day, British banking giant HSBC has reported that total global trade is down 8.4 percent so far in 2015, and global GDP expressed in U.S. dollars is down 3.4 percent. The only other times global trade has plummeted this much has been during other global recessions, and it appears that this new downturn is only just beginning.
For many years, China has been leading the revolution in global trade. But now we are witnessing something that is almost unprecedented. Chinese exports are falling, and Chinese imports are absolutely imploding…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: INPS Chief Says Budget Pensions Intervention ‘Partial’
Boeri says risk is need for more measures at greater cost
(ANSA) — Rome, October 20 — Tito Boeri, the head of pensions and social security agency INPS, said Tuesday that the government’s 2016 budget bill provided only “partial” interventions to the country’s pension system. He said that it would be important if the 2016 budget law could include “the final reform of pensions”. But he added that the measures contained so far were “selective and partial, creating asymmetries in treatment… if there are no corrections, they will lead to other partial measures which, among other things, are very costly”. The 2016 budget of Premier Matteo Renzi’s government seeks to fix some of the unwanted effects of a 2011 pension reform raising the retirement age passed by ex-premier Mario Monti’s emergency technocrat administration. It contains a rescue package for 32,000 retirees who were left out of the national pension system on a technicality under the 2011 reform — the seventh intervention for the so-called “exiled ones”.
It also features measures to help women take early retirement and to help workers go part-time after the age of 63.
But Renzi has that changes to add flexibility to the pension system to enable people close to retirement age to quit work, in exchange for accepting a lower pension, will not be ready until next year. “I’m ready to wrap it up within a few months, but I refuse to do it in a scrambled way,” Renzi said last week. “I’m extremely concerned about the danger of making a mess, like in the past”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ominous Signs of Peak Employment
Let’s start with jobless claims. To more clearly understand what the current level of jobless claims are telling us, we have to understand what jobless claims actually are.
Jobless claims are simply the number of people, by state, who are filing to receive unemployment insurance benefits for the first time.
However, in order to receive unemployment benefits an individual must have been laid off, terminated or discharged from service by their employers. Individuals who “quit” are not eligible to file claims.
The distinction of “termination” is very important at this juncture as jobless claims, as shown in the chart below, reaches very low levels.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
This is a Tipping Point: Robots “Cheaper Than Any Human Worker” Means the End of Jobs
Before future-history brings us a dark and grim reality pitted against a killer Terminator robot army, humanity will have to face job killing robots.
And that may be the bloodiest period of human history, after unemployment leads to riots, unrest and bitter aftermath scenarios play out as a consequence.
Robotic labor is now literally cheaper than human labor, and it is poised to undercut work forces and drive layoffs in even in the most exploitative, slave-wage factories in the world.
Mass unemployment, destroying jobs in every conceivable sector, is a growing danger. Truckers, factory workers, waitresses, teachers, bureaucrats and bosses are all directly threatened by robotic labor, with millions and millions of Americans facing a 90-99% chance of termination (check out your odds in this jobs calculator). In a short span of time, employment could go from bad to virtually non-existent.
The system is already strained to the max, and millions of Americans are struggling just to get by. Those in the Middle Class are endangered. The poor and nearly-poor are the most dependent on government that they’ve ever been in history, and tens of millions more will soon join them, and become almost completely dependent on the State for their livelihood.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Walmart Suppliers Brace for the Coming Storm: “Now We Know Why They Have Been Pushing So Hard”
When Wal-Mart moved to hike wages for its lowest paid employees earlier this year, we were quick to note that the fallout would end up rippling through the supply chain. Here’s what we said in April:
The irony is that while WMT (or MCD or GAP or Target) boosts the living standards of its employees by the smallest of fractions, it cripples the cost and wage structure of the entire ecosystem of vendors that feed into it, and what takes place is a veritable avalanche effect where a few cent increase for the lowest paid megacorp employees results in a tidal wave of layoffs for said megacorp’s vendors.
Subsequently, the retailer embarked on a series of efforts to extract every last penny of savings from suppliers including i) an effort to compel vendors to forgo marketing expenditures, ii) adding storage fees and manipulating payment schedules, and iii) demanding that suppliers pass along any savings from China’s yuan devaluation.
As we’ve been at pains to explain, this was absolutely inevitable.
When “everyday low prices” is the corporate religion, you can’t pass along rising labor costs to consumers. Add it the fact that WalMart’s customers largely belong to the same tax bracket as the company’s meagerly compensated hourly employees and raising prices simply is not an option.
That means either suppliers suffer, hours are cut, people get laid off, or all of the above.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
6 St. Louis-Area Churches Are Arson Targets; Reward Offered
(CNN) Arson fires have been set at half a dozen St. Louis-area churches in recent days. Authorities want to know who did it and why.
In each case, the fires were set at an exterior door and when no one was at the facility, according to a joint statement from the St. Louis Police and Fire Departments and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
“We believe that this fire-setting activity is meant to send a message,” the statement said. It didn’t specify what the message was.
The six fires were set over 10 days. All were at predominantly black churches, CNN affiliate KMOV reported.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
ABC News Engages in Total Censorship to Downplay Racism Against White Americans
(NaturalNews) It has been weeks since Vester Lee Flanagan, also known as Bryce Williams, shot and killed two former co-workers — TV journalist Alison Parker, 24, and her cameraman Adam Ward, 27 — as they were doing a live report one morning for a small station in Roanoke, Virginia.
Shortly after Flanagan — an African-American who was gay — murdered his victims in cold blood, and well before he killed himself as police closed in on him during the resultant manhunt, he faxed ABC News a 23-page “suicide-manifesto” in which he leveled numerous charges of racism, bigotry, homophobia and other disparaging remarks.
Since the incident, ABC News has only made some portions of the manifesto public. They have not released the entire multi-page screed.
As noted by John Sexton in Breitbart News’ “Big Journalism” section, the network news agency has also not given an explanation for why it is withholding the full contents of the manifesto from the public. Given that Flanagan is no longer among the living, there appears to be little rationale for not revealing it. After all, there is no pending trial and no reason to worry about any ongoing investigations or tainting evidence and potential jurors
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
After 10 Years, Google Books is Legal
Thanks to a landmark ruling, information just got a little more free.
On Friday, a federal circuit court made clear that Google Books is legal. A three-judge panel on the Second Circuit ruled decisively for the software giant against the Authors Guild, a professional group of published writers which had alleged Google’s scanning of library books and displaying of free “snippets” online violated its members’s copyright.
To some digital-rights followers, the Google Books case had seemed to drag on forever: The Authors Guild first filed suit 10 years ago. But the theory behind the eventual ruling was a quarter-century in the making.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Propaganda: Constitutionalists, Sovereign Citizens Are Bigger Terrorist Threat Than ISIS
(NaturalNews) The corporate media, which has acted as a Pretorian Guard of sorts for Big Government for years, is jumping the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) bandwagon after the agency released a report decrying the “dangers” posed by “sovereign citizens.”
One of the report’s biggest cheerleaders has been CNN, whose guest “analysts” and hosts have described such Americans as being a bigger threat to the country than the terrorist group ISIS.
CNN further noted that the “new intelligence assessment” by DHS “focuses on the domestic terror threat from right-wing sovereign citizen extremists and comes as the Obama administration holds a White House conference to focus efforts to fight violent extremism.”
The term “right-wing” has often been used by mainstream media and government officials as code to describe Americans who tend to be more conservative, believe in the letter of the Constitution, prefer smaller, less intrusive government, are religious and, in particular, Christian.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-U.S. Agent Gets Over Six Years for Bitcoin Theft in Silk Road Probe
A former U.S. federal agent was sentenced to 78 months in prison on Monday for stealing bitcoins during the government’s investigation of Silk Road and for secretly soliciting payment from the operator of the online black market for information on its probe.
Carl Force, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, admitted to charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. In a San Francisco federal court on Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said the scope of his betrayal was “breathtaking.”
U.S. prosecutors had requested an 87-month prison sentence, while Force’s attorneys asked for a four year sentence.
Force’s attorneys said he deserved less time partly because of mental health issues. In court on Monday, Force apologized to the American people, and to his family.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Judge Kicks Family Off Property Near Area 51, Gives Land to Air Force
Last month, the Sheahan family was facing eviction threats from the U.S. federal government for refusing a $5.2 million buyout to vacate their 400-acre mine near Area 51 that has been in their family since the late 1800s. And it’s now official: a federal judge’s pen officially took the land and handed it over to the United States Air Force.
The family resisted the initial offer saying the property is worth far more because of the rich ore it contains but also the buildings, mining equipment, and the unique history of the property, which still holds the remains of past family members. An agreement has yet to be worked out as to where the bones will go.
A News Channel 8 report states the family has asked for a jury trial to determine what the Air Force will have to pay for the contents of the property. Though the USAF valued the acreage at only $1.5 million, they offered nearly five times as much to the family. The report states that “the issues will be limited” in a jury trial as to what financial responsibility belongs to the Air Force.
“This has been, like I said, a 60-plus year nothing short of criminal activity on the part of the federal government, the AEC, Black Ops, CIA and you can go on and on,” said Joe Sheahan.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News Expert May Face 35 Years in Prison for Lying About ‘CIA Career’
Fox News expert Wayne Simmons, who claimed to have worked as a CIA operative for 27 years, has been arrested on charges of major fraud against the United States and making false statements to the government.
Simmons served as an expert on Fox News since 2000 and talked about various subjects such as the CIA’s presence in Benghazi, ISIL and CIA tortures.
Simmons repeatedly commented on a number of political issues. For instance, it was him who called US House Minority Leader Nance Pelosi a “pathological liar”, criticized the policies of the Democrats and claimed that there were 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States.
“It is incomprehensible that anywhere in the United States these types of things would be allowed and yet […] we’ve got at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States. Are you kidding me?” he announced during a broadcast.
Simmons was arrested for allegedly lying about his CIA career as a special operation officer from 1973 to 2000. It turned out that he never worked for CIA and he could now face a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison if convicted.
“He never worked for the CIA at all. He’s been a liar, he’s been for fifteen years on Fox News on one issue after another,” Brad Friedman from radio Sputnik’s BradCast said while discussing Simmons’ recent arrest.
“No, we don’t have 19 paramilitary training camps in the US,” Friedman added, commenting on Simmons’ statement.
According to Friedman, his lies have affected millions of people, who watched the program and took his statements on trust.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
GA Tech Students Use Cell Phone Pings to Find Missing Person
“The students rallied together and then they started searching,” Connolly told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The students stayed out until midnight last night, putting out pamphlets and combing the area, anywhere they could possibly find [cell phone] pings along the route.”
The students “were not going to stop. They checked every hospital, every hotel, they checked everywhere,” Connolly said. “They didn’t give up on their friend.”
That doggedness paid off Monday morning, when Hubert was found battered, but alive, by a female student searching the area where Hubert’s cell phone had pinged.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Sought in ‘Horrific’ Stabbing Attack on 2 Detroit EMTs
DETROIT (AP) — A man stabbed and slashed two Detroit emergency medical technicians early Tuesday, leaving them with “horrific” injuries before he fled the scene, a fire department official said.
The attack happened at around 12:30 a.m., interim Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told reporters. They had responded to a 911 call and were treating a woman for an injured ankle when a man attacked one of the EMTs, he said.
The other EMT tried to intervene and was attacked, Jones said. He said the EMTs — a man and a woman — suffered “horrific” wounds to their faces and hands but managed to drive to a hospital. Both required surgery and were listed in stable condition, he said.
They came “within inches of dying,” said Jones, who didn’t say what type of weapon was used.
[So let me get this straight. This is “horrific” but when it’s an Israeli who gets stabbed, it’s not. In fact we’re all supposed to feel sorry for the guy wielding the knife!]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims of America Cancel Conference
From the Christian Action Network
An American Muslim organization with ties to terrorism has canceled its planned conference called “Countering Islamophobia,” which had been scheduled for Oct. 24 at a Holiday Inn in Binghamton, NY.
The group, which calls itself The Muslims of America (MOA), abandoned the conference after an aggressive campaign led by the Christian Action Network that exposed its ties to terrorist activity inside the United States.
Prior to the cancellation, MOA leaders said the conference would expose how Martin Mawyer, president of Christian Action Network, was leading “mass raids with X-ray weapons.”
Leaders of MOA gave no explanation for the cancellation, but Mawyer said he was pleased to learn the event had been scrubbed.
“I’m not surprised the conference was canceled,” said the CAN president. “They clearly wanted media attention. They wanted national coverage. But what legitimate media outlet was going to cover a conference postulating some outlandish, sci-fi conspiracy theory that I was targeting Muslims with X-ray weapons. It was laughable to begin with.”
The Muslim group has been active in the United States for more than 30 years.
In 2012 Mawyer wrote the book Twilight In America, which exposed the group’s terrorist past and its links to murder, assassinations, kidnappings, firebombings and an assortment of other crimes including drug distribution and workers compensation and unemployment scams.
A 2007 FBI report stated, “MOA [exhorts] membership to pursue a policy of jihad or holy war against individuals or groups it considers enemies of Islam which includes the U.S. Government.”
MOA has announced an alternate conference, set for Nov. 4, 2015 in Schenectady, NY.
The new conference is different in several ways from the canceled Oct. 24 event. It is being held at a mosque rather than a hotel. Promotional materials no longer mention CAN president Martin Mawyer (or his alleged X-ray weapons). It also has a decidedly less eye-catching title: Conference on Contemporary Issues of Religion in America: Discussing, Dissecting and Destorying [sic] Islamophobia.
| — Hat tip: Marty | [Return to headlines] |
ObamaCare Creates More Departments Than FDR’s New Deal
What a jumble of departments, regulatory authorities, and offices. From the Joint Economic Committee, Republican Staff Congressman Kevin Brady, and Senior House Republican Senator Sam Brownback.
The healthcare law provides for 159 new agencies in all with provisions for creation of an unknown number of agencies. Every box that is white is an agency that had already existed. White boxes with a red outline are entities with expanded powers. White boxes with green outlines are entities with new powers. This chart only shows about one third of all new agencies created. Colored boxes (with the exception of HHS) are new departments or responsibilities of the government.
This chart also tells you where in the law the mentioned provisions can be found. That is helpful. The bill is over 2400 pages long in large print, 900 pages long in fine print, and very hard to read.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
P.C. Police on Patrol: Boston College Launches Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT)
(NaturalNews) Coming to a college campus near you: an emergency response force that will address any bias — perceived or otherwise — that a student feels.
Sadly, this isn’t a joke. It’s a new entity at Boston College: The Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT).
But then again, maybe it’s not the university’s fault. When your student body is comprised of pansies who get their feelings hurt just by getting out of bed in the morning, what are you supposed to do?
As reported by Campus Reform, the Boston College Dean of Students announced the formation of the team recently after receiving complaints that the former bias reporting system was inadequate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
School Bans 21 Gun Salute Honoring Veterans Claiming it ‘Promotes Gun Violence’
A school in Iowa is banning a time-honored tradition memorializing veterans who served the country with their lives.
Administrators at Belle Plaine High School in Belle Plaine say the facility will no longer hold their annual Veteran’s Day assembly on school grounds, claiming the event’s traditional 21 gun salute “promotes gun violence,” according to NBC affiliate KWWL…
Similar efforts to demonize firearms have already popped up in other schools across the country. In one school in West Virginia, a 14-year-old faced a year in jail simply for wearing an NRA shirt which featured a hunting rifle and the words “protect your right.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Six Largely Black Churches Torched in St. Louis Days Apart
Someone has been setting fire to predominantly black churches in the St. Louis area, and investigators are trying to determine if the arsonist is targeting either religion or race.
Investigators have no suspects or motives. But the possibility of a hate crime — for religious or racial reasons — “is part of the dynamic” of the investigation, St. Louis Fire Capt. Garon Mosby said.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Socialist Professor Says America’s Gun Owners Should be Shot: “It’s Very Simple”
In what will go down as one of the most disgusting, hate filled articles ever published on the hard left clickbait rag Salon.com, an author and liberal college professor has written a piece that calls for all gun owners to be shot.
No, you did not read that incorrectly and this is not hyperbole.
The article, written by Coppin State University teacher D. Watkins, not only calls for all gun owners to be shot but also ridiculously compares them to slaveholders while claiming that there is no legitimate reason to own a weapon.
Starting out the article with the writers dreams of charging five thousand dollars per bullet, Watkins then makes his position on gun ownership in America startlingly clear.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A revolutionary political earthquake lies up ahead. The popularity of Trump foretells this. We’re feeling the tremors right now. But the feeling of revulsion for the Washington establishment is not yet clear enough and widespread enough in the minds of the people to manifest in a revolutionary “break point.” But I believe such a lack of widespread clarity is the lull before the storm. And the storm is coming in the form of a pervasive economic crash that will shake up Americans in a way they have never before experienced.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
The NRA Will Fall. It’s Inevitable.
The National Rifle Association’s days of being a political powerhouse may be numbered.
Why? The answer is in the numbers.
Support for, and opposition to, gun control is closely associated with several demographic characteristics, including race, level of education and whether one lives in a city. Nearly all are trending forcefully against the NRA.
The core of the NRA’s support comes from white, rural and relatively less educated voters. This demographic is currently influential in politics but clearly on the wane. While the decline of white, rural, less educated Americans is generally well known, less often recognized is what this means for gun legislation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tom Brady: Coca-Cola “Poison for Kids”
Regular coke does contains high-fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to a variety of health problems including high blood pressure and obesity.
“In the past 30 years, the obesity rates in the U.S. (and other fast-food nations) have absolutely sky-rocketed,” Natural Society’s Christina Sarich reported. “It isn’t even necessarily because we are eating more and lacking physical exercise, or even because of genetics.”
“Medical bills to treat diseases associated with obesity are more than $200 billion annually now; much of the obesity problem lies in food additives like fructose which food companies are so eager to put in their products.”
She also referred to a study revealing that fructose can cause uncontrolled growth of the heart muscle.
“This condition can eventually lead to complete heart failure, as the heart literally outgrows its ability to function within the body,” Sarich said. “What’s more, since one consumes fructose to cause this issue, they likely have high blood pressure as well, which is a one-two punch to the cardiovascular system.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Two California Men Plead Not Guilty to Financial Fraud in Islamic State Case
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Two Southern California men accused of conspiring to travel to the Middle East to join the Islamic State pleaded not guilty on Monday to financial fraud charges connected with their alleged attempts to support the militant group, federal officials said.
Muhanad Badawi and Nader Elhuzayel, residents of Anaheim, appeared in federal court in Santa Ana to face additional charges of bank and financial aid fraud that had been added to charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government.
Federal prosecutors have accused Elhuzayel, 25, of depositing stolen checks, drawn on three U.S. bank accounts, into his personal account and then withdrawing the money. Badawi, 24, is accused of using federal financial aid intended for his studies to buy Elhuzayel a plane ticket to Turkey, where he could move on to Syria and link up with Islamic State.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Election 2015 Hands Justin Trudeau and the Liberals a Majority Government
The Liberals had collapsed to just 34 seats and third place in the 2011 election. But they were elected in 184 constituencies by early morning, taking from both the NDP and Conservatives and riding a wave of resentment toward Harper…
Justin Treadeau says he will be an ‘ambitious’ Primeminister.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canada’s Approach to International Issues Expected to Change With Justin Trudeau
Trudeau has said he’ll take in 25,000 Syrian refugees before the end of the year. Harper declined to resettle more Syrian refugees, despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old washed up on a Turkish beach that spurred calls for action. Canada has long prided itself for opening its doors wider than any nation to asylum seekers, but the numbers waned under Harper. In times of crisis in decades past, Canada resettled refugees quickly and in large numbers. Trudeau says a compassionate Canada is back.
Trudeau has said he’ll remove Canada’s six fighter jets from the U.S.-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but said he’ll leave special forces in northern Iraq in a training role.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Liberals Win Landslide Majority in Election, Unseat Conservative Government
Canada’s Liberal Party, led by the son of the country’s most famous political figure in the second half of the 20th century, ended the nine-year Conservative premiership of Stephen Harper with a landslide victory in Monday’s federal election.
According to a tally by the Canadian Press, the Liberals passed the 170-seat threshold needed to gain control of parliament at 12:15 a.m. ET Tuesday. In all, the Liberals won 184 seats. The Conservatives were a distant second with 99 seats, while the left-wing New Democratic Party placed third with 44 seats.
The results mean that Justin Trudeau, 43, a former schoolteacher and son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, will become the second-youngest leader in Canada’s history.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Election: Five Things Stephen Harper Got Wrong
After nearly 10 years as Canada’s leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is packing his bags. Where did it go wrong?
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had a rallying call that struck a much more powerful chord, saying he would run a budget deficit to invest in the country’s creaking infrastructure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In the aftermath of Justin Trudeau whopping defeat of conservative Stephen Harper, and the resurgence of liberal Canada, all we can say is: good luck Canada, you’ll need it. From Reuters:
The US has seen that movie before, it’s not a happy ending. Oh, and enjoy that AAA credit rating while it lasts
On a more serious note, here is the full post-mortem, pardon the pun, of the Canadian elections from Bank of America:
Liberals win with a majority of seats
The Liberal party won the Canadian election with an estimated 184 seats out of 338 (as this goes to print), ousting the ruling Conservatives. The Liberals were expected to win a minority of seats, so the majority victory comes as a surprise. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau will become the new Prime Minister, commanding the confidence of the majority of Parliament. The change of government should largely keep Canada’s business-friendly environment in tact: Liberals want to keep corporate taxes low, and the party supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, as well as most major pipeline projects. However, a push for carbon and environmental regulation by the Liberal government could be negative for the energy sector.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Amid Budget Cuts US Army Forced to Borrow British Helicopters
Budget cuts in Washington have forced the US military in Europe to borrow British helicopters and conduct training exercises with equipment loaned by other NATO members.
The United States has no tanks in Europe, and 33% fewer troops there now than it did in 2012. Many of the weapons used for NATO exercises shuffle between bases in the United States and in Europe.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army’s commander in Europe, said the force is relying more and more on allies to loan out vehicles and supplies, adding that the borrowed British helicopters had been “essential.”
Cuts to the defense budget over the past several years have diminished the presence of US armed forces in Europe. Any remaining resources have been increasingly deployed elsewhere, mainly Asia and the Middle East.
Hodges told British newspaper the Telegraph that America no longer has the “intelligence capacity to do what we need to do” and that, as a result, he had been “surprised” by Russia’s actions in Ukraine and in Syria.
“We don’t have that many Russian speakers anymore,” he said. “I personally have been surprised by every single snap exercise and when they went into Syria. We just do not have the capability to see and track what they’re doing the way they used to.”
With a dwindling presence in Europe, the United State has relied on Great Britain to provide support equipment.
“One of the most important things that happened in the past year was the UK saying it would maintain its 2% GDP (on military spending),” Hodges said last week. “If the UK had dropped off that would have taken all the pressure off the other European countries.”
At the end of the Cold War, the United States had more than 200,000 troops stationed in Europe, but currently has less than one-fifth that amount.
“The mission’s still the same,” Hodges told the New York Times. “So we have to figure out how you make 30,000 (troops) feel like 300,000.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bank of Italy Governor Visco Under Investigation
Investigation into takeover of BPS
(ANSA) — Rome, October 20 — Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco is under investigation by prosecutors in the central city of Spoleto in relation to a probe into alleged corruption and fraud when the Banca Popolare di Spoleto (BPS) bank was put in the hands of administrators and subsequently sold last year to Banca Desio. The news of the investigation into Visco and seven other people was reported by daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano and confirmed in prosecution documents that ANSA has obtained a copy of. The Council of State, Italy’s highest administrative court, later revoked the order putting BPS under the control of administrators but the economy ministry confirmed it.
Members of the small Alternativa Libera party on Tuesday urged Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan to call a meeting of a banking regulation committee to clarify the situation. They said the committee should “shed light on aspects linked to what amounts to at least a serious failure on the part of the Bank of Italy in terms of supervision”.
Bank consumer association Adusbef said that putting BPS into administration had led to “serious losses” for savers and urged Premier Matteo Renzi to dismiss Visco with immediate effect. Adusbef president Elio Lannutti estimated in a statement that the decision had led to damages worth between 300 million-350 million euros to shareholders of BPS.
He highlighted that several other banking scandals have recently taken place under Visco’s watch, including the situation at Carife which led to ex-manager Paolo Bonora committing suicide in July 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
British and German Pupils Unite to Remember First World War Battle Victims
Nearly 90,000 British and German soldiers lost their lives at the Battle of Loos — the largest First World War battle.
And to mark 100 years since the fight, children from both countries came together in Staffordshire to honour those who died.
John Goodyear, who was raised in West Bromwich and is now head teacher at the Academy of English in Oldenburg, north west Germany, organised for a selection of his pupils to visit the Cannock Chase German War Memorial alongside pupils from High Arcal School in Dudley.
A service honouring the fallen was put together by Mr Goodyear, who believes the event marks how far relations between England and Germany have come since then.
He said: “This was put together for the young people, to give them a perspective of what happened in the First World War.
“Not only is it important that they understand the sacrifices that were made and the loss of life, they need to be able to reflect at just how far removed we are now from that world.
“Instead of battling one another, England and Germany share a great, friendly relationship these days.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Christians Persecuted by Muslims Even in the West
Last April, police in Sicily reported that Muslim migrants hurled as many as 53 Christians overboard during a crossing from Libya. The motive was that the victims “professed the Christian faith while the aggressors were Muslim.” Another report cited a boy seen praying to the Judeo-Christian God. Muslims commanded him to stop, saying “Here, we only pray to Allah.” Eventually the Muslims “went mad,” in the words of a witness, started screaming “Allahu Akbar!” and began hurling Christians into the sea.
by Raymond Ibrahim on October 20, 2015 in Muslim Persecution of Christians
Gatestone Institute
Last April, police in Sicily reported that Muslim migrants hurled as many as 53 Christians overboard during a crossing from Libya. The motive was that the victims “professed the Christian faith while the aggressors were Muslim.” Another report cited a boy seen praying to the Judeo-Christian God. Muslims commanded him to stop, saying “Here, we only pray to Allah.” Eventually the Muslims “went mad,” in the words of a witness, started screaming “Allahu Akbar!” and began hurling Christians into the sea.
Asylum seekers in the Swedish city of Kalmar, where Christian refugees were forced to move out of public housing after being harassed and threatened by Muslims.
It gets worse. When Christian refugees finally do make it to Western shores, they continue to be attacked by Muslims, or fellow “refugees.”
According to a September 30 report, in Germany, “Many Christian refugees from Syria, Iraq or Kurdistan are being intimidated and attacked by Muslim refugees. In several refugee centers set up by the local authorities, Sharia law is being imposed and Christians—which are a minority—are the victims of bullying.”
Gottfried Martens, pastor of a south Berlin church, said that “very religious Muslims are spreading the following idea throughout the refugee centers: Sharia law rules wherever we are.” Martens expressed especial concern for Muslims who convert to Christianity—apostates who, according to Islamic law, can be killed: “There is a 100% chance that these people will be attacked.”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
CIA ‘Queen of Torture’ May Face Prosecution in Germany
On Monday, a human rights group in Germany filed a complaint in federal court against Alfreda Frances Bikowsky, a CIA agent known as the “Queen of Torture,” containing proof of her involvement in the kidnapping and torture of German citizen Khaled El Masri.
The International Crimes and Accountability Program at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights is requesting that charges be brought against Bikowsky in Germany for the 2003 abduction of El Masri when he was mistaken for a suspected al Qaeda militant involved in the 9/11 terror plot. He was held and tortured for 23 days despite Bikowsky being warned that they had the wrong person.
El Masri was then flown to Afghanistan where he faced even more violent questioning, for four months, before being returned to Germany.
“There are already arrest warrants in Germany for the air crew who flew El Masri to Afghanistan so we’re simply following the chain of command,” Andreas Schüller, head of the ECCHR told Al Jazeera.
The complaint cites the US senate’s torture report as well as findings from investigative journalists who have uncovered Bikowsky’s direct involvement in the torture of CIA captives.
“She dropped the ball when the CIA. was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks; she gleefully participated in torture sessions afterward; she misinterpreted intelligence in such a way that it sent the CIA on an absurd chase for Al Qaeda sleeper cells in Montana. And then she falsely told congressional overseers that the torture worked,” The New Yorker reported.
While the complaint alone will not lead to Bikowsky’s arrest, the ECCHR will be able to contact foreign customs agencies to request her detention, making it more difficult for the “Queen of Torture” to serve outside of the United States.
If federal prosecutors opt not to prosecute Bikowsky, the group intends to file a complaint with Munich’s state prosecutor who already has open arrest warrants for 13 CIA officials involved in the torture of El Masri.
In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights made it easier for victims of torture to receive justice by siding with El Masri’s complaint against Macedonia’s interior ministry.
“Historically a cloak of legal immunity has been cast around intelligence operatives due to the risk of actions being revealed in court that could harm intelligence operations,” Scott Horton, a human rights lawyer and lecturer at Columbia University told Al Jazeera. “What’s happening now is that human rights groups are saying that while the courts can’t dig into everything there’s an exception for crimes against humanity.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Cops Bust Voodoo Prostitution Ring in Italy
Four Nigerians nabbed after priest saves girl from streets
(ANSA) — Bari, October 20 — Police have arrested four Nigerian asylum seekers in Italy who are accused of using voodoo rituals to manipulate young women they trafficked and forced into prostitution, sources said Tuesday.
The suspects were named as ringleader Joy Jhon, 30, her boyfriend Nosa Amen, 27, Sylvester Imadi, 24, and Confidence Ogbeide Oriaifo, 25. They may face charges of enslavement as well as abetting prostitution and illegal immigration.
Police uncovered the sex trafficking ring after a priest helped one of the young women escape the prostitution circuit near the city of Bari in southern Italy.
The witness told police she had been forced to work as a street walker by the ring along with four other young women, who were recruited from Nigerian villages with the promise of a better life.
Once chosen in Nigeria, they were made to undergo a voodoo ritual and encouraged into prostitution before they arrived in Europe. Here, each young woman reportedly earned the ringleader 800 euros a week.
The witness was rescued during the sea crossing to Italy, where she was taken to a migrant reception centre. At this point she could have escaped, but the voodoo ritual had incapacitated her psychologically and bound her to the group, she told police.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ECHR OKs Curtailing Rights if Imminent Attack Suspected
Acquits Britain in detention of three Pakistanis
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, October 20 — The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled Tuesday that member States can lawfully curtail the rights of suspects they believe are organizing an imminent terrorist attack.
The court acquitted Britain in a suit brought by three Pakistani nationals who were detained for 13 days and whose homes were searched for 10-12 days in 2009 on suspicion of terrorism.
The plaintiffs argued authorities violated their right to privacy and their right to due process in determining the legitimacy of their detention. In its ruling, the ECtHR said States can carry out some preliminary hearings behind closed doors, without this being considered a violation of suspects’ rights, and also that search warrants can be generic in cases where an imminent attack is suspected.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Le Pen Goes on Trial for Muslim Prayers Rant
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, went on trial on Tuesday on charges of inciting racial hatred after comparing Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation.
The 47-year-old, who has won a string of election successes after working to soften the image of her party, appeared in a court in the central city of Lyon over the comments she made while campaigning to take over the leadership of the party from her father five years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Goes on Trial for Inciting Racial Hatred
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, went on trial Tuesday on charges of inciting hatred after comparing Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation.
The 47-year-old, who has won a string of election successes after working to soften the image of her party, appeared in a court in the central city of Lyon over the comments she made while campaigning to take over the leadership of the party from her father five years ago.
“I have committed no crime,” said a smiling Le Pen as she entered the court. If convicted, she faces up to a year in prison or a fine of up to 45,000 euros ($51,000)…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Cologne Gang ‘Stole From Churches to Fund ISIS’
Eight young men appeared in court in Cologne on Tuesday charged with robbing churches and schools to finance Isis’ religious war in Syria.
When they broke into churches they stole collection boxes, crosses and other objects “dedicated to church services and religious veneration” prosecutors allege.
From the schools, the men stole laptops, money and a cash card, which they used to finance jihadist fighters in the Syrian civil war, alleged chief prosecutor Nadja Gudermann.
Security measures were heightened around the Cologne city court as the men were brought from police detention.
During the burglaries, which took place between 2011-14, the men are alleged to have stolen €19,000 worth of goods and often seriously damaged the premises before they left.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Cologne Gang on Trial for Burglaries to Fund Islamist Fighters
A group of eight men has gone on trial in the western German city of Cologne. They allegedly burgled churches and schools over a period of four years to finance Islamist fighters in Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Group to Examine Cutting Scots Food Bank Reliance
A NEW group set up to look at ways of reducing a reliance on food banks will hold its first meeting today.
Representatives from poverty organisations and charities said they will discuss how to address the issues which push people into food poverty.
The group is chaired by Reverend Dr Martin Johnstone, the secretary of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council.
He has been asked to make recommendations to the Scottish Government by February next year.
Latest figures from the Trussell Trust show that, in 2014/15, 117,689 people, including 36,114 children, picked up a three-day supply of groceries from their Scottish foodbanks. This was up from 14,318 people two years earlier.
[I can attest to the fact that there are collection points in almost every large supermarket in the NE of Scotland now, so that those people who can afford to buy food can donate tinned tomatoes, packets of pasta and cans of corned beef to those who can’t.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
By Bret Stephens
Having ignored its inheritance, Europe wonders why its house is falling apart.
Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary.
What Europeans no longer believe in are the things from which their beliefs spring: Judaism and Christianity; liberalism and the Enlightenment; martial pride and capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart.
What is Europe? It is Greece not Persia; Rome not Carthage; Christendom not the caliphate. These distinctions are fundamental…
[…]
“It is commendable that the West is trying to be more open, to be more understanding of the values of outsiders, but it has lost the capacity for self-love,” a prominent German theologian noted about a decade ago. “All that it sees in its own history is the despicable and the destructive; it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure. What Europe needs is a new self-acceptance, a self acceptance that is critical and humble, if it truly wishes to survive.”
That’s Joseph Ratzinger, better known as Benedict XVI. He’s out of fashion, which makes him that much more worth hearing.
| — Hat tip: RG | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Firms Win Trans Adriatic Pipeline Contracts
(AGI) Rome, Oct 16 — Two Italian firms have won three contracts for work on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. Industria Meccanica Bassi of San Rocco al Porto won contracts for 48 and 36 inch T-joints and welded curves and for scraper traps for “intelligent” inspection and cleaning devices. The T-joints connect the pipeline to check valves and compressor stations and the scraper traps allow the pipeline to be cleaned and checked. Nuova Giungas of Formigine won the tender for the design and manufacture of 48 and 36 inch insulating joints, which insulate protection systems against corrosion. Trans Adriatic Pipeline Managing Director Ian Bradshaw said: “I should like to congratulate Bassi and Nuova Giungas for the excellent technical quality of their products, for their expertise and for their proven results in safety matters. I should also like to thank all the other companies who took part in this extremely specific and rigorous series of tenders. As we move further forward with our planning, the company will assign several major contracts by the end of this year, including those for the pipes and onshore and offshore Engineering, Procurement and Construction. This will enable us to start building the pipeline in Greece, Albania and Italy in 2016, as predicted.” The award of the contracts signals the end of the tenders for companies who meet rigorous critiera, which began in May. The company awarded contracts for building and upgrading roads and bridges in Albania in April, the supply of large-diameter spherical valves in July and turbo compressors in September.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Anti-Terrorism Police Arrest Pakistani Man
Muhammad Bilal encouraged violence, jihad on Facebook
(ANSA) — Palermo, October 20 — Italian police on Tuesday arrested a Pakistani man in Mantua who is accused of links to terrorism and encouraging acts of violence and martyrdom through his use of Facebook.
Muhammad Bilal, 25, was held by anti-terrorism police in the northern Italian city following a request by investigators in Caltanissetta, Sicily. Police also searched properties in Mantua, Enna, Prato, Milan and Como.
According to investigators, he was part of an anti-Christian and anti-Shiite Muslim organisation, and had shared several images on Facebook encouraging jihad and violence which had received many “likes” from followers.
His posts included messages of approval after Islamist gunmen killed several French journalists from the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine earlier this year.
In another post on the social network he said “try to be interested in martyrdom. Jihad will continue until the end”.
Bilal arrived in Sicily on a boat from Libya in January 2014. Investigators began monitoring him while he was staying at the ‘Città del Sole’ reception centre in Piazza Armerina. He had emerged as a leader in the Pakistani community at the centre and an instigator of several moments of unrest. He had been noted as displaying particular intolerance to police when they intervened.
Italian police are also investigating two other non-EU immigrants within the anti-terrorism operation that led to the arrest of Bilal, sources familiar with the matter reported.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 41.7% of Families Renounce Health Services Due to Wait, Cost
Italians spend over 500 euros/year each in private care
(ANSA) — Rome, October 20 — In 41.7% of families at least one person goes without medical services during the course of a year due to long waiting lists or prohibitive costs, research institute Censis said in a report published Tuesday.
Each year Italians spend over 500 euros per person for private health care, or 18% of total expenditure on health, Censis added. This compares to 7% in France and 9% in Britain, the study said.
Some 53.6% of Italians now paid for many of the services that were once covered by the national health service out of their own pocket, the report found.
In addition Censis said three million Italians were not self-sufficient, with a cost to families of roughly 10 billion euros per year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Over 42% of Pensioners on Under 1,000 Euros a Month, Says INPS
Number of public workers falls under three million
(ANSA) — Rome, October 20 — Some 6.5 million Italian pensioners, 42.5% of the total, have a monthly pension of under 1,000 euros a month, pensions and social security agency INPS said Tuesday. The agency added that 1.88 pensioners (12.1% of the total) are on less than 500 euros a month. It added that Italy now has less than three million public sector workers employed on permanent, open-ended contracts. It said there were 2,953,000 public workers in 2014, almost 300,000 less than the 3.23 million people on the public payroll in 2011, after a government-imposed halt on new hires to replace retiring civil servants.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen Stands Trial for Muslim Street Prayer Outburst
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National, stands trial in Lyon for likening Muslim prayers in French streets to a foreign “occupation” Marine Le Pen stood trial on Tuesday over comments made five years ago in which the far-right Front National leader compared Muslim street prayers to a foreign occupation.
[Note: The article is in The Telegraph, so I’ve used the Flipboard link to get around the subscription issue if you go there direct — hopefully]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen Accuses French Government of Persecution
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right Front National, has accused the government of using the judiciary to persecute her as she appeared on trial for hate-speech after comparing Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation.
Le Pen told the court in Lyon she had not committed any offence and had been expressing “political ideas” as part of her role as a politician when making the comments in a speech at a party rally in the city in 2010.
She stood by her remarks, saying she had used the word occupation “with a small o” and had not been referring to the second world war. She denied Islamophobia and said street prayers were a threat to public order, arguing they were “not a race, ethnicity or religion, but a behaviour”.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland’s Recent Unexploded Bomb Finds
WITH the news of unexploded ordnance being removed from Aberdeen beach, The Scotsman looks at some of the nation’s most explosive finds.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Some 100 Gypsies Burn Cars, Block Railways in Eastern France
About 100 members of a French nomadic community are rioting in commune of Moirans in the French department of Isere, local media reported on Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the local BFMTV television channel, they are blocking the local railway station and have burned five vehicles and a nearby restaurant.
The protesters are demanding the release of two members of their community to allow them to attend a funeral. The media outlet added that a hundred policemen have been deployed to the scene to bring the situation under control.
At the same time, there is unrest in a prison in the Savoie department where the inmates in question are being detained. At least 20 prisoners broke cell locks and set a corridor on fire.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Woman Planning to Join Islamic State Arrested at Madrid’s Barajas Airport
A 22-year-old woman was arrested at Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez-Barajas Airport on Monday night, on suspicion that she was planning to fly to Turkey to join the militant group Islamic State (ISIS), Interior Ministry sources have told EL PAÍS.
The woman is originally from a village in Huelva, in southern Spain, and had converted to Islam and become radicalized in a short period of time via internet messages.
The Civil Guard, which was in charge of the operation, became aware of the suspect thanks to its constant monitoring of jihadist forums on the internet, the sources added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Street Artist Reported to Danish Police
After Danish police determined that there were no grounds to charge controversial Swedish street artist Dan Park, he will get off with a fine for his flyers comparing refugees to terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish ‘Slaughter the Jews’ Rally Slammed
Israel’s ambassador to Sweden has strongly criticised videos circulating of a pro-Palestinian rally in Malmö in which protestors appear to praise recent attacks in Israel.
Footage from the demonstration on Sunday, which is circulating on social media in Sweden, includes chants in Arabic which are understood to translate to “slaughter the Jews” and “stab soldiers”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
TATA Steel to Axe 270 Scottish Jobs
TATA Steel has today confirmed that its two Scottish plants in Motherwell and Cambuslang are to be “mothballed” with the loss of 270 jobs.
The firm has blamed a shift in market conditions caused by a “flood of cheap imports” particularly from China, a strong pound and high electricity costs.
Plate mills in S
horpe, Dalzell and Clydebridge would be mothballed while one of the two coke ovens at the S
horpe steelworks would be closed with the loss of 1200 jobs.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Tommy Robinson has told a 40,000-strong crowd gathered to celebrate the first anniversary of anti-refugee group Pegida that Angela Merkel is “handing out the birth right of German citizens like she is handing out candy”.
As he continues he his attempts to rehabilitate and reinvigorate his public profile the founder and former leader of the English Defence League commanded his biggest audience yet in Dresden on Monday night. Robinson’s speech comes little over a week since he suggested he was going to move back into the political spotlight after helping launch Pegida Netherlands in Holland, and comes little over two years since he quit the EDL saying he was unable to control “extremist elements” within its ranks.
The 32-year-old told the crowd: “Do not let Germany be dragged back to chaos and destruction. All of your progress is now threatened.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
When it’s just the general public and foreign citizens of dozens of nations, politicians generally agree there’s a “debate” to be had over dragnet surveillance. The debate then takes place with minimal input from those affected and tends to include large amounts of terrorist fear-mongering and quibbling over how much exactly national security agencies should be allowed to get away with. (As much as possible, usually. Especially when the fear-mongering side has the floor.)
When it’s those up top discovering they, too, might be subject to the same surveillance they’ve inflicted on the rest of the nation (and foreigners who have been granted no rights whatsoever), they step all over themselves in their haste to “debate” the side of the issue that states they should continue to be excepted from the laws that apply to everyone else.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Trojan Horse’ Pupils Had to ‘Stare at Bushes as Punishment’
Pupils at a school involved in the “Trojan Horse” affair were put in “stress positions” as punishments, a misconduct panel heard.
Monsoor “Moz” Hussain, former head teacher at Park View School, is alleged to have allowed this to happen.
He and four other senior Park View staff all deny unacceptable professional conduct.
The Birmingham school was investigated amid claims of a Muslim hardliners’ plot to take over several schools.
It is claimed Mr Hussain allowed pupils to be subjected to unusual, and disproportionate punishments, including “being made to stand in the rain” and “being made to stare at bushes”, the National College for Teaching and Leadership panel in Coventry heard.
Also accused are:
- Lindsey Clark, executive head teacher at Park View
- Hardeep Saini, former head teacher of sister school Golden Hillock
- Razwan Faraz, former deputy head teacher of Nansen Primary
- Arshad Hussain, an assistant head teacher at Park View
‘Extreme pornography’
They all face a common allegation they agreed to the inclusion of “an undue amount of religious influence in the education of the pupils” at Park View, and, for some of the accused, the other sister schools.
Mr Saini is alleged to have advised a teacher, who was under a police caution for having “extreme pornography” on his mobile phone, to throw it in the canal.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Coseley Woman’s Terror Over Taxi Sex Attack
She was put through a sickening ordeal that no person should ever have to face.
Having taken ill during a night out with friends, Enya Emerson desperately wanted to get back to the comfort of her own home.
Like many people, she relied on a cab driver to transport her safely to her house in Coseley, but on this occasion almost a year ago she suffered the gross misfortune to get into in the taxi of Muhammad Zia.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Caparo in Administration: Black Country Workers Fall Victim to Growing Steel Crisis
It is the biggest manufacturing business in the Black Country — but looks set to be yet another victim of the growing steel crisis.
Caparo employs 1,600 people at around 20 sites across the Black Country, part of a vast multinational business empire headed by Lord Swraj Paul — Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton — and his family.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Govt Conveniently Deleted Entire Database of Evidence of Documenting Paedophile Rings
London, UK — The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) apologized this week after vital testimony from victims of child sexual abuse was “instantly and permanently deleted” from their servers. The agency said that the loss of data was due to a technical malfunction, which dumped an untold number of testimonies that were submitted to their official website. The agency now claims that there was no security breach, and that while the testimonies were lost, the privacy of the victims is not at risk.
An Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was established by the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, on 7 July 2014. The inquiry was intended to investigate why pedophile rings seemed to be exempt from capture.
[Comment: Coverup. Banksters use knowledge of deviant pecadillos to control politicians and highly placed government functionaries.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Shocking Images Show ISIS Brutally Murder Prisoner by Dragging Him Behind Car
The horrifying images show the man, who is named as Rushdi Ageela Omran Al-Masouri, 43, murdered in the city of Derna, Libya.
Another man — Mohamed Tayib Ali Al-Amri, 23 — was shot in the head after being made to dig his own grave.
Both men were forced to wear orange jump suits — which the terror group often forces its prisoners to wear.
The sick gesture is linked to Guantanamo Bay where the US forces its political prisoners to wear the same orange coloured clothing.
Mr Al-Masouri allegedly confessed to spying.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Ready to Help Egypt Enhance Its Army’s Capacities
The Russian side reaffirmed its readiness to strengthen cooperation to enhance the capacity of the Egyptian armed forces.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Egyptian counterpart Sedki Sobhi held a phone conversation on Monday, discussing issues including the Syrian crisis and bilateral military-technical cooperation, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“During the conversation, the sides discussed matters of Russian-Egyptian military and military-technical cooperation. The Russian side reaffirmed its readiness to strengthen cooperation to enhance the capacity of the Egyptian armed forces… The defense ministers also discussed the situation in conflict regions, including the situation in Syria,” the statement reads.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Arab Nations Ask UN to Designate Western Wall as Muslim Territory
False rumors about Israel’s designs on a site held sacred by both Jews and Muslims helped trigger the bloody wave of attacks plaguing Jerusalem, but a tangible plan by six Arab nations to purge the Jewish State’s claim to its holiest location will be voted on Wednesday by the United Nations’ cultural arm.
A UN draft decision circulated by Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates reviewed by FoxNews.com “affirms that the Buraq Plaza is an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” — a statement that would specifically fold the Jewish Western Wall into Islamic domain on the Temple Mount.
“This is a clear endeavor to distort history, in order to erase the connection between the Jewish People and its holiest site, and to create a false reality,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Monday statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas to West Bank Members: Commit Suicide Attacks
Hamas has instructed its members and affiliates in the Fatah-controlled West Bank to perform suicide attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Israeli officials told Ynet on Monday.
The instructions were given to Hamas militants, mostly in the Hebron and Nablus areas, who can more easily reach Jerusalem. It is believed that Hamas will indeed attempt such attacks if they become operationally feasible.
In addition, a Palestinian security official told Ynet that the Palestinian security forces have recently arrested a Hamas squad in Hebron, finding money and explosives in their possession.
The official also noted that the squad had at least six members, who admitted that they wished to die when interrogated. It was not immediately clear if they planned on performing a suicide terror attack.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
IDF Soldier Stabbed in Hebron; Israeli Run Over Following Rock Attack
An IDF soldier was stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist Tuesday morning in the southern hills of Hebron in the first such attack in over 24 hours.
The soldier was stabbed during a “violent riot” in the village of Beir Awwa, the army said. The terrorist was shot and killed during the attack.
The soldier, identified as a commander in the Givati infantry brigade, sustained light injures. He was treated at the scene by paramedics and transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the terrorist as 24-year-old Adi Hashem al Masalmeh from Beit Awwa.
In a separate incident, an Israeli was killed near Kiryat Arba, located south of Hebron, after Palestinian hurled objects at his car. The man was hit by a passing vehicle when he exited his car following the attack.
Magen David Adom paramedics administered treatment at the scene and the man was airlifted to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The current outbreak of violence and terror hitting Israel has injured or killed dozens of Israelis in cities across the country.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Urges Palestinians to Step Up Attacks Against Israelis
The Islamic State group has launched an unprecedented media campaign calling on Palestinians to step up attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, taking advantage of a wave of violence between the two sides to deliver rare incitement against Israel.
In a video posted Monday, the group urged Palestinians to carry out attacks using every means at their disposal, including knives, vehicles, poison and explosives.
In the past two days, IS posted six videos in which militants deliver speeches to the backdrop of scenes from recent stabbings and other attacks carried out by Palestinians against Israelis… The IS group has no organized presence in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. But dozens of Palestinians in Gaza are believed to be inspired by the group’s extremist ideology, seeing Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers as too soft.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Arrests Hamas Co-Founder, Accusing Him of Inciting Recent Violence
Israeli forces arrested one of the co-founders of the Hamas militant group Tuesday, accusing him of inciting recent violence that has resulted in the deaths of nine Israelis, many in stabbing attacks.
The military said Hassan Yousef was arrested near Ramallah. It marks the most high-profile arrest since a wave of unrest swept through the region a month ago.
The military said Yousef had been “actively instigating and inciting terrorism” by encouraging attacks against Israelis. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told the Associated Press, “Hamas’ leaders cannot expect to propagate violence and terror from the comfort of their living rooms and pulpits of their mosques.”
Yousef’s eldest son, Mosab, spied for Israel between 1997 and 2007.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinians Celebrate Stabbing Attacks With Wave of Cartoons
Palestinians are celebrating a spate of stabbing attacks with a slew of political cartoons as violence across Israel and the Palestinian territories rises… Vocativ used our technology to collect online chatter about the swelling conflict, revealing that Palestinians are using cartoons to spread their perspectives on the unrest. Many of them are saying the Intifada, or uprising, has launched. They’re posting symbols of the swelling violence, including knives — used in an ongoing spate of deadly stabbings that shows no signs of subsiding.
[Take a look at those cartoons — they’re like something you would have found in Der Sturmer.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Christians Donate Money to Israeli Victims of Latest Terror Upsurge
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews announced on Tuesday, October 13, that it will immediately grant 4,000 Israeli Shekels, or about $1,034, to every individual or family injured in the ongoing wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis.
The aid will allow families who have been victimized in the current wave of stabbings, car attacks and shootings to pay for hospital transportation, the cost of therapists, psychologists and other medical care, as well as for lost workdays.
The Fellowship, led by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, is launching the emergency fund after conferring with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and senior ministry officials. It is backed by an outpouring of support from Christians across the United States.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Media Making Martyr of Dead Palestinian Who Tried to Ambush Israeli Soldier
Some of you are going to think I’m being unfair to the media on this one. After all, the AP merely shot raw video without comment. USA Today merely posted it without comment. How is that bias? How are they making a martyr of the guy whose funeral was shown in the video?
I’ll tell you how. First, let’s be clear on what happened. A 20-year-old Palestinian terrorist named Eyad Awawdeh ambushed a member of the Israel Defense Force by dressing up like a journalist to get close to him, then proceeded to stab him. Other IDF forces were on the scene and defended their colleague by killing the Palestinian.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Blair Has ‘Blood on His Hands’ Over Thousands of Christians Killed by ISIS Since Iraq War
TONY Blair has the blood of thousands of slaughtered Christians on his hands after his decision to go to war in Iraq sparked a “mass genocide” across the Middle East, a church leader has told Express.co.uk.
Father Douglas Bazi, who preached in Mosul, Iraq, said life was infinitely better under Saddam Hussein than it is now.
Tony Blair claimed he freed the Iraqi people from tyranny. But in a scathing rebuke the clergyman said Britain and America’s controversial invasion of his home country in 2003 unleashed a catastrophic wave of Islamist extremism which has seen minority groups persecuted and destroyed.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Says Up to 13,000 Islamic State Fighters Are Active in Iraq
Britain believes there are between 10,000 and 13,000 Islamic State fighters active in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday.
Hammond added that excluding Islamic State and Al Nusra fighters, he believed there were also some 80,000 opposition fighters in neighbouring Syria.
“It is estimated … that there are 10,000 to 13,000 active ISIL fighters in Iraq,” he told lawmakers, using a different title for Islamic State.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Ayatollah: ‘Abducting Women’ And ‘Destroying Churches’ Is ‘Real Islam’
During a recent televised interview with Grand Ayatollah Ahmad al-Baghdadi, the leading Shia cleric of Iraq made clear why Islam and the rest of the world can never peacefully coexist.
First he spent some time discussing “defensive jihad,” saying that all capable Muslims are obligated to fight for the “liberation” of “occupied” territory, for instance, Israel (see here for a list of European countries also deemed “occupied” in the eyes of Islam).
He then explained “offensive jihad,” Islam’s primary bloodline, which forged what we now call the “Muslim world” over the centuries.
According to the ayatollah, when they can—when circumstance permits it, when they are strong enough—Muslims are obligated to go on the offensive and conquer non-Muslims (a fact to be kept in mind as millions of Muslim “refugees” flood the West).
The Muslim cleric repeatedly yelled at the secularized host who kept interrupting him and protesting that Islam cannot teach such intolerance. At one point, he burst out: “I am the scholar of Islam [al-faqih]. You are just a journalist. Listen to me!”
Expounded Al-Baghdadi:
“If they are people of the book [Jews and Christians] we demand of them the jizya—and if they refuse, then we fight them. That is if he is Christian, he has three choices: either convert to Islam, or, if he refuses and wishes to remain Christian, then pay the jizya [and live according to dhimmi rules].
“But if they still refuse—then we fight them, and we abduct their women, and destroy their churches—this is Islam! Come on, learn what Islam is, are you even a Muslim?!
“As for the polytheists [Hindus, Buddhists, etc.] we allow them to choose between Islam and war! This is not the opinion of Ahmad al-Husseini al-Baghdadi, but the opinion of all five schools of jurisprudence [four Sunni and one Shia].”
Towards the end of the interview, because the clean-shaven, suit-and-tie-wearing host kept protesting that this cannot be Islam, the ayatollah burst out, pointing at him with contempt and saying, “Who are you? You’re going to tell me what to believe? This is the word of Allah!”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Jews in Syria Annihilated in Wave of Jihadi Terror Sweeping Blood-Soaked Syria
JEWS in Syria have been all but wiped out, with just a handful of families left in the blood-soaked country’s biggest city, it has been claimed.
The alarming claim from one of Syria’s senior faith leaders lays bare how the shocking persecution of religious minorities risks turning the embattled country into a single-religion state.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Has Been Trying to Send Nuke Material to Iran, Argentinian President Claims
(NaturalNews) The president of Argentina made a bombshell allegation during a recent speech at the United Nations, accusing President Obama of treason for asking her country to supply Iran with enriched uranium.
As reported by The Blaze, during her speech, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner told the General Assembly that a former Obama administration official attempted to convince her to “provide the Islamic Republic of Iran with nuclear fuel.” It might have been a much larger story had it not been overshadowed by the president’s high-stakes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a translation of Fernandez de Kirchner’s comments posted at Mediaite:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Asks Iraq to Stop Cooperating With Russia in Anti-ISIL Fight
US General John Allen, who is coordinating the US-led anti-ISIL campaign, asked Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi not to cooperate with Moscow in the fight against the radical Sunni group, which has largely remained unaffected by American airstrikes, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported.
“John Allen… informed Haider al-Abadi that Washington was disturbed by Iraq’s alliance [with Russia], and said, to the letter, that ‘President Barack Obama is enquiring regarding his role [in the fight against ISIS]… Shouldn’t Iraq be thanking the US?’“ a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the London-based daily.
The meeting allegedly took place in early October.
In 2008, Washington managed to help Iraq tackle a massive wave of Sunni insurgency through a strategy which became known as the surge. This time Sunni radicals are showing greater resilience. The US has not been able to help Iraq push ISIL militants from the country so far.
Impressed by the Russian-led aerial campaign in Syria, Iraq appears to be open to greater cooperation with Moscow. As a matter of fact, Russia, Iraq, Iran and Syria have been coordinating military actions against the extremist group through an information center located in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Although the Russian operation is limited in its scope, it has been hailed as a success prompting Shia forces fighting in Iraq to lobby al-Abadi for greater involvement of Moscow.
At the same time, the White House seems to be strongly opposed to the idea of a partnership between Baghdad and Moscow. General Allen, according to the source, explicitly asked al-Abadi “not proceed with cooperating with Russia.”
The Iraqi prime minister agreed to the request and promised to discuss any future developments on the issue with the US, Asharq Al-Awsat added.
However, on Monday, al-Abadi’s office released a statement reaffirming “Iraq’s desire to build better relations with Russia in order to serve the interests of the two peoples.” Fighting terrorism is likely to be one of those mutual interests.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Rising Storm: Coup: War: Chaos Signal Risk of Instability in Saudi Arabia
A black hole that has opened up in the region after the US fiasco in Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussain is apparently beginning to drag down Saudi Arabia.
In the last few months the debates about the future of the Saudi regime have been gaining momentum. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and one of the leading consumers of high-tech weapons of the US. If the Saudi regime falls, the oil markets will turn over upside down, and Saudi weapons will disperse throughout the world, Ergin Yildizoglu wrote.
The Mecca stampede that killed at least 2,177 pilgrims during the annual period of Hajj last month has seriously cast doubts over the ability of the Saudi regime to carry out its functions of providing safety to Muslims while performing the pilgrimage.
The rise of the terrifying ISIL which is based on the Wahhabi school of thought and Salafi Islamist terrorism has resulted in the Saudi regime being firmly linked with international terrorism.
The falling popularity of the Saudi regime is also linked to the war in Yemen. It was started without any consideration of the consequences mainly due to Saudi Arabia’s ‘Iran-phobia’. This war as experts have noted, has not given any results and continues to have a heavy impact on the Saudi treasury. It has also called into question the decision-making abilities of the regime, Yildizoglu wrote for Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet.
If that was not enough, the House of Saud is also facing a losing battle in its oil business. It is trying too hard to maintain a high price on the oil in order to sideline the American oil producers from the market. The price of a barrel of oil is $90 whereas; the actual price is almost two times lower than that. The treasury revenues, which are 80-90% dependent on oil exports, are gradually declining, Yildizoglu noted.
According to secret documents (leaked to the press last week) that indicate economic and public expenditures being reduced by King Salman, one might think that the effects of the economic pressure are beginning to show in the country.
But the biggest threat of all may well be the instability within the royal family itself. According to the documents that were published a few weeks ago by The Guardian, a prince of the royal family (whose name was undisclosed), wrote a letter of appeal to the palace to conduct a coup against the king and his son Salman.
Allegedly, the letter received broad support among other members of the family and nation.
The rising tension with Iran and ISIL’s threats that have directly started to take aim at the Saudi regime all add up to the Saudis being in an extremely dangerous geopolitical situation.
Just until recently the House of Saud in the face of all these geopolitical risks relied on the protection of the US administration. However, today, the United States and Iran are improving their ties and that is yet another heavy blow to the shaken Saudi regime.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Blazing Sun Missile Launcher to Attack Islamic State Terrorists
Putin sends DEADLIEST ‘Blazing Sun’ flamethrower missile to Syria to wipe out ISISRUSSIA’S army is preparing to deploy its most DEADLY weapon yet in the fight to wipe Islamic State (ISIS) from the face of the Earth.
Vladimir Putin’s ‘Blazing Sun’ flamethrower missile launcher will be mobilised as part of the increasingly savage battle to destroy ISIS terrorists waging war in Syria.
The mobile killing machine features thermobaric weapons that are capable of destroying as many as eight tower blocks in one strike.
Thermobaric warheads, which shoot flammable liquid around a target before igniting the air, are thought to have arrived in Syria last month.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Prince Charged With Sex Assault of His Maid is the Son of King Abdullah
Daily Mail Online can reveal that the Saudi prince accused of a sex attack on his maid in Los Angeles is Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, son of the late King Abdullah.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Activist Sentenced to 10 Years Prison for Rights Work
A Saudi human rights lawyer says an activist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and banned from travel abroad for another decade.
Abdel-Karim al-Khadar, a professor of Islamic Studies from the conservative province of Qassim, has been under arrest since April 2013. He was considered among the most vocal critics of religious extremism and militancy. He had posted videos online giving religious lectures in support of greater women’s rights and co-existence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Showdown: Russia, Iran Rally Forces, US Rearms Rebels as “Promised” Battle for Aleppo Begins
On Friday, we previewed the battle for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city prior to the war.
It’s now run by a hodgepodge of rebels and militants including al-Qaeda, the Free Syrian Army, and ISIS and for the Assad regime, regaining control of the city is absolutely critical. As Reuters noted last week, “the assault means the army is now pressing insurgents on several fronts near Syria’s main cities in the west, control of which would secure President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power even if the east of the country is still held by Islamic State.”
In other words, if Assad can secure Aleppo, Iran and Russia will have successfully restored his grip on the country for all intents and purposes.
Here’s a look a map showing where Aleppo is in relation to Russia’s base at Latakia, along with the before and after images we highlighted last week which depict nighttime light emissions on the way to vividly demonstrating the effect the war has had on the city.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: US-Russia Accord to Prevent Aircraft Colliding
Reports of NATO plan for ‘6-month transition with Assad’
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, OCTOBER 20 — Moscow has received a signed memorandum from Washington to prevent aircraft from colliding over Syria, reported the Russian defense ministry on Tuesday. NATO is meanwhile discussing an exit strategy for Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad foreseeing his leaving office after around six months in an attempt to resolve the Syrian crisis, Turkish media report. According to the plan, a six-month transition with Assad in a ‘symbolic’ role would lead to a handover of power. “Work on a plan for Assad’s departure is underway He can stay for six months and we will accept this so long as there is a guarantee that he will leave. We have moved forward on this issue to a certain point with the US and other allies,” Turkish sources say, who added that the plan would be submitted by the US to Russia. “There is no agreement on when this six-month period would begin, but we think it will be soon.” Pro-government daily Yeni Safak said that Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan had discussed Assad’s role in a transition period during Erdogan’s visit to Moscow last month. It is not clear what would happen to Assad after he leaves power, assuming he does. The Turkish sources say that Russia is seeking a safe exit for him and his family but that it is not willing to host him in its territory in order to avoid possible diplomatic conflicts with Western nations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
US to Sell Saudi Arabia Four Advanced Warships
The US government has approved an $11 billion deal to sell Saudi Arabia four advanced warships, officials said Tuesday, amid mounting regional tension.
Saudi Arabia is modernizing its eastern fleet, which faces off against Iranian forces across the oil-rich Gulf.
The four ships, based on the US Navy’s littoral combat ship, are relatively small but designed to be fast and maneuverable in shallow water and to pack a punch.
The statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it had notified the US Congress of the State Department’s decision and was awaiting final approval…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
At least 70 thousand people fleeing the southern suburbs of the city; Russian and Iranian military presence growing. Msgr. Abou Khazen: Moscow more “effective” in the United States in the fight against jihadists. Washington and Saudi “legitimize” extremists like the Nusra Front. The prelate calls for a “political process” for the country’s future. Christians and Muslims would like to thank the pope for his solidarity.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) — With the support of allied forces the Syrian army “is taking the initiative” and “is freeing several areas from armed rebel groups” in the countryside around Aleppo. People “afraid of violence, are fleeing the area waiting and hope to return when the fighting” is over.
In cities, however, “the situation is calmer than in the past, there are fewer bombings because the forces are engaged on other fronts and there is a feeling of greater security”, says the Latin rite Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo, Msgr. Georges Abou Khazen, commenting to AsiaNews on the offensive going on these days in the outlying areas of the second largest city of Syria, in the north of the country.
“There is no precise information — adds the prelate — but it is clear that the government army is advancing on the ground, and the people are leaving the areas so as not to be caught up in the battle”.
Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes and lands following the offensive waged by the Syrian government forces, supported by Russian air raids and Iranian military experts.
In addition to the southern outskirts of Aleppo, the fighting is concentrated in rural areas north of the city of Homs and Hama, and in the coastal province of Latakia.
Zaidoun al-Zoabi, head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, confirmed to the BBC that many villages around the city of Aleppo are empty; at least 70 thousand people have left their homes in a hurry, heading south into the open country.
Meanwhile, the growing presence of Iran and Russia, whose intervention helped to halt the advance of the Islamic state militia and the extremist groups — including the Nusra Front, a branch of al-Qaeda in Syria — is visible on the ground.
Moreover, the Iranian Brigadier General Qasem Soleimani, leader of the al-Quds Force, which coordinates the operations of Shiite militias from three different countries, including Iraq and Lebanon (Hezbollah) will be commanding the offensive on Aleppo.
“The Russian intervention has led to greater efficiency in the fight against militants of the Islamic State — underlines Msgr. Georges Abou Khazen — because their fighter jets hit their targets, they do not pretend to hit them”.
The reference is military operation launched last year by the United States and allied countries which, in the prelate’s opinion, “was purposely not effective.”
Added to this is the “legitimacy” that Washington and Saudi Arabia are giving to movements like the Nusra Front, which actually consist of “fighters, 80% of which come from outside, are not Syrians, and have no interest in creating a really modern and democratic nation”.
“That’s why we should not look at them as moderate internal opposition groups — the prelate explains — and yesterday’s news that Saudis have decided to supply new weapons to Nusra Front militiamen to withstand the advance of ‘Syrian army is certainly far from positive. We need to start taking the fight against extremist groups seriously”.
“Now — says the prelate — what we really need is a resumption of a political process between the warring parties in Syria. Besides the bombings target IS and other jihadist groups, we also need a dialogue between the government and the opposition, because all the parties involved should participate in the political process. It seems that Moscow is moving in this direction, and we [Christian leaders and Syrian civilians — ed] have some hope. “
The Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo reports that “the common people who are under the government today are more optimistic and welcomes the latest developments, there is a climate of renewed, albeit cautious hope for the future, there is more calm.”
This, he adds, “facilitates our work to encourage people” and the fact that “we have electricity again for at least an hour a day, we have water distributed more days a week, even though other problems remain, including widespread unemployment “.
Finally, the prelate wants to emphasize “the importance of the support of Pope Francis” who in recent days has renewed calls for peace in the Middle East.
“The population — concludes Msgr. Georges — feel the closeness of the Pope, not only Christians but also Muslims themselves. In fact, when some of us [priests or bishops of Aleppo] go to Rome, Christians and Muslims always ask us to thank Pope Francis for what he does, which is a push forward towards a future of peace and coexistence. “ (DS)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China UnionPay System Launches in Crimea Despite Western Sanctions
Crimean residents cannot use MasterCard and Visa credit cards because of Western sanctions. China UnionPay does not support the restrictions and is currently operating in six cities in the region.
BaykalBank is the first financial institution that started issuing UnionPay payment cards on the peninsula.
The new payment system is designed to replace MasterCard and Visa. Both major international payment systems disappeared from the Crimean market after the US imposed economic sanctions against Russia.
“BaykalBank has already started issuing payment cards on the peninsula […]. The UnionPay card is rapidly expanding and currently covering six cities in the region: Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Yevpatoria, Saki and Kerch,” an official statement said.
UnionPay has been successfully operating in Russia since 2013 and will be the first major international payment system to operate in Crimea since the start of the sanctions.
According to head of the Crimean branch of BaykalBank Olesya Burdukovskaya, UnionPay card owners will be able to pay for goods, services and withdraw cash in over 150 countries. The card will be of use for those who frequently travel abroad, as the system is used by more than 300 banks worldwide.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ousted President Yanukovych Sues Ukraine in European Court
He fled to Russia following anti-government protests
(ANSA-AP) — MOSCOW — A law firm representing former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says he is suing Ukraine for violating his human rights. Yanukovych fled to Russia in February 2014 following months of anti-government protests. He later insisted he was threatened and forced to leave the country.
London-based Joseph Hage Aaronson said in a statement on Monday that Yanukovych has lodged a lawsuit against Ukraine’s government with the European Court of Human Rights for “repeatedly” violating his human rights.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Police Detain 20 Suspects Linked to Outlawed Islamist Group
Twenty people were detained Tuesday during a Russian police raid in Moscow on suspicion of having links to an outlawed international Islamist network.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Twenty people were detained Tuesday during a Russian police raid in Moscow on suspicion of having links to an outlawed international Islamist network called Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, a spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry said.
“As a result of the operation, 97 people were taken to police stations to be screened for links to any unlawful activities… Twenty members of the extremist cell, including leaders, were apprehended,” Elena Alekseeva said, as quoted in a statement published on the ministry’s website.
Hizb ut-Tahrir (Islamic Party of Liberation) is an international Islamist network that positions itself as a political organization. It seeks to unify Muslim countries into one caliphate ruled by strict Islamic law.
According to Russian investigators, the Moscow-based Hizb ut-Tahrir cell has been focused on recruiting new members and raising funds, “including financial aid for militants.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1953. It is believed to have branched out to 40 countries and runs a regional division in Copenhagen. The radical group is banned in Russia according to a 2003 Supreme Court ruling.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Families Flee as Taliban Advances on Southern Afghan City
Taliban forces advanced on the capital of the volatile southern Afghan province of Helmand on Tuesday amid fierce fighting with government forces that threatened to cut off a major highway and prompted many families to flee.
The fighting near the town of Lashkar Gah comes three weeks after the Taliban won its biggest victory in the 14-year war, capturing the northern town of Kunduz and holding the city centre for three days before government forces regained control.
“Helmand’s capital appears to be under serious military pressure,” a Western official said. “We’re hearing reports about civilians fleeing in large numbers.”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
India Uber Driver Convicted of Raping Client
To be sentenced Oct 23
(ANSA) — New Delhi, October 20 — A New Delhi court on Tuesday convicted a Uber driver of raping a young female client in his car last year, the IANS news agency reported Tuesday.
Shiv Kumar, 32, was found guilty of sexual violence, attempted murder, kidnapping and intimidation.
He will be sentenced on October 23.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Aceh: Three “Illegal” Churches Torn Down, More to Come
Seven additional religious buildings are slated for demolition in Singkil. The police used clubs and hammers to tear down the wooded constructions. The army was deployed to prevent clashes. The demolition was decided on 10 October in the presence of Christians and Muslims. On 13 October, Islamists attacked the churches and torched one, causing an exodus of Christians.
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The authorities in Singkil, Aceh province, began to tear down ten churches deemed “illegal” because they did not have the appropriate building permit (Ind. Izin Mendirikan Bangunan).
Islamic extremist groups had been pressing for their destruction, and took matters in their own hand on 13 October when they attacked two churches, torching one. This prompted an exodus of hundreds of Christian families, fleeing sectarian clashes.
For now, tensions in the only Indonesian province that enforces Islamic law (Sharia) remain high. The authorities have deployed the army around the sites to be demolished to prevent further violence.
The police used clubs and hammers to tear down the small wooden “provisional churches” (undung-undung) as members of the Protestant congregations looked on.
Three religious buildings have already been destroyed in the village of Siompin. Seven more will be demolished in the coming days.
The demolitions were decided on 10 October, after the authorities met with Muslim and Christian community leaders.
Local Muslims complain that Christians built a number of churches in excess to what was agreed in 1979 (reiterated in 2001).
Paima Brutu, guardian of one of the demolished churches, blames the government for the lack of permits.
“We applied for permission to build a thousand times,” he explained. “At this point, we want to know whether the government will ever allow us to have it.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Shows Off Its First Graduating Class of Soldiers in Afghanistan
ISIS just released a trove of photos that show its first graduating class of soldiers in an Afghanistan training camp engaged in various drills and exercises.
The images, released by the ISIS’ Khorasan Province and published toJustPaste.It early on Tuesday, show approximately 24 armed men undergoing weapons, physical fitness and boxing training. Some of the photos show the soldiers training with what appears to be anti-aircraft machine guns. The photos were unearthed by Vocativ on Tuesday morning, hours after they were posted online.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Nightmare: Kabul Could Ditch US, Ask Russia for Military Assistance
Russia’s aerial campaign in Syria prompted the US president to halt the planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. In particular, Obama is afraid that Putin, who is increasingly hailed as a problem solver in the Middle East, will supersede the US in Afghanistan, Walla!News reported.
The balance of power in the Middle East has shifted following Russia’s involvement in Syria. Disappointed with the US, regional states, plagued by sectarian and religious violence, are increasingly turning to Moscow to help them solve internal conflicts. Iraq and Afghanistan could well be the next to ask Russia for assistance.
Last week, a senior Russian defense official did not rule out that Russian troops could help Tajikistan patrol its border with Afghanistan to prevent extremists from entering the country. The Taliban has been increasingly active in Kunduz, an Afghan province adjacent to Tajikistan.
Should this happen, Russia’s growing presence in the region will coincide with America’s diminishing one, Walla!News noted. Putin is using the moment to promote ties with former Soviet republics and allies, many of whom are concerned with the rising terrorist threat.
Afghan security forces prepare to check on reports of a possible ambush by the Taliban on the Baghlan-Kunduz highway, Afghanistan October 1, 2015
At the same time, the United States has tried to distance itself from the Middle East. The primary reason to keep US troops in Afghanistan has to do with Obama’s legacy.
The 44th US president will soon leave the Oval Office. He decided not to tarnish his name by pulling the plug on the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, the media outlet noted.
The other reason to remain in Afghanistan has to do with the Taliban’s growing assertiveness. Washington is increasingly aware of the fact that the US-trained Afghan Armed Forces have been incapable of rooting out the insurgency.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Cracks Down on Religious Freedom, Arresting Record Numbers for ‘Blasphemy’
More than 1,400 cases of blasphemy were registered in Pakistan in 2014, marking a new record for the prosecution of religious crimes in the country amidst growing protests of abuse and arbitrary arrests of Christians and other religious minorities.
Pakistan boasts some of the most severe blasphemy laws in the world, where freedom of speech is severely curtailed. Those guilty of “defiling the Prophet Muhammad” face the death penalty, while life imprisonment is given for damaging the Qur’an. “Insulting another’s religious feelings” can result in up to 10 years in jail.
The Pakistani Constitution states: “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam” (art. 19).
Human rights groups increasingly assert that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are abused by extremists. False charges are often brought against minority groups in order to settle personal scores or even to seize property or businesses.
One of the best known cases is that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy and subsequently sentenced to the death penalty. Her case made global headlines when two prominent politicians were assassinated after trying to help her.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Increasingly Investing Money in New Nuclear Power Plants
This would help China to reduce its dependence on the coal-fired power plants, meet the rising energy demand and improve air quality in the country, media reported.
The Chinese leadership recently developed the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), according to which China is planning to increase the number of operating nuclear power plants and triple the national capacity of electricity production up to 58 million kilowatts, China Times reported.
Overall, Beijing is planning to invest more than 500 billion yuan (70 billion euros) in the nuclear power plants in order to construct eight new nuclear facilities annually.
“As long as the security is guaranteed, the construction of nuclear power plants should be quick and efficient,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the Energy Research Center of Xiamen University, according to the CIIC.
Economic commentator Liang Haiming, for his turn, stated that the development of nuclear energy in the next five years will attract investments of more than one trillion yuan (140 billion euros).
China had temporarily suspended its nuclear energy projects after the meltdown in Fukushima in 2011. The country’s authorities decided to resume the initiatives after the investigations of the atomic energy authorities which showed that there are geologically safe places available for the construction of new nuclear power plants.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany to Expand Military Presence in UN Mali Mission by Spring 2016
Germany is set to expand the military presence of its armed forces, the Bundeswehr, in Mali’s north as a participant of a UN mission in spring 2016, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the German minister, Mali is an important transport hub on the routes taken by the refugees that is why the sustainable peace in the African state is also crucial to prevent human trafficking in the region.
“Combat forces are urgently needed in Mali to determine stationing of the terrorist groups and militants in this vast country. At present, the Netherlands is carrying out this duty. The Bundeswehr units will be able to share this burden beginning with spring 2016 via its intelligence,” Leyen said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
To date, Germany is engaged in an EU training mission, EUCAP Mali, in the south of Mali with around 150 soldiers.
In the larger UN MINUSMA mission, present in Mali since 2013, Berlin has only seven officers and two junior officers.
Mali has witnessed consistent violent instability following a 2012 military coup, after which separatist tribes seized control over large areas in the northern part of the country. Islamist groups that emerged in Mali in the last decade have recently staged several terrorist attacks in the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Build 4 Units at 2 Thermal Power Plants in Cuba
Russia might build four units at two thermal power plants in Cuba.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia and Cuba are planning to sign an agreement to construct four units at two thermal power plants in Cuba, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s decree said Monday.
“Approve… a draft agreement between the Russian Government and the Government of Cuba on the construction of power units at Maximo Gomes and Este Habana thermal power plants,” the decree reads. “And after coming to terms, to sign the agreement on behalf of the Russian Government.”
Russia’s Inter RAO-Export and the Cuban company Union Electrica signed a memorandum of understanding on the prospective contract for the construction of four power units in Cuba with a capacity of 200 megawatts each during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Havana on July 11, 2014.
One of the units is to be constructed at Maximo Gomes in the Mariel municipality; the other three will be installed in Santa Cruz del Norte’s Este Habana.
The deal was previously estimated to cost $1.35 billion.
Both power stations, where the four generators are planned to be installed, were built by Soviet experts using domestic energy equipment.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Achtung: Frau Merkel! German Refugee Policy Pushing PEGIDA to Popularity
The German approach to the refugee crisis is not only splitting European Union member states apart — but also residents living in towns and cities across the country.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is welcoming refugees with open arms, accepting that the country will need to resettle up to a million new people by the end of the year; all the while German media are reporting a rise in anti-refugee sentiment.
So-called “invaders” are being blocked by residents from entering their town if they do not look familiar. Locals are manning improvised checkpoints 24 hours a day to keep refugees and migrants out.
According to German newspaper, Der Spiegel, more than a thousand people recently marched in silence in a small suburban district of Chemnitz, where slogans like “protect our homeland” were daubed on buildings. A speaker then, thanked the Pegida movement for its support.
Pegida, which stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident, had posted an online warning addressing local residents in Einsiedel, saying that “invaders” were en route towards a nearby refugee camp. In response and under the nose of Saxony police, local residents blocked the road, stopping the refugees from accessing accommodation.
It was believed that support for the Pegida movement had dwindled ever since its leader Lutz Backmann temporarily stepped down after being caught posing for a photograph as Hitler. Attendance at weekly rallies also diminished.
Yet according to Der Speigal, Pegida is back and “is also becoming more radical.”
Recent demonstrators marched through Dresden shouting “deport, deport” against refugees.
Tensions towards refugees have grown in Germany in parallel with the open arms approach to migrants led by leader Angela Merkel. Attacks on asylum shelters are increasing along with the re-ignited support for Pegida.
A recent rally in Dresden attracted 40,000 supporters, suggesting the extreme right-wing movement is gaining support due to the ongoing debate on how to solve the refugee crisis in Germany.
Tommy Robinson, a name more familiar in the UK and associated with the far-right extremist group the English Defense League (EDL), told a crowd which gathered to celebrate Pegida’s first anniversary, that Angela Merkel is “handing out the birth right of German citizens like she is handing out candy.”
Deutsche Welle (DW) reporter Jaafar Abdul Karim was recently attacked covering a Pegida rally in Dresden. Karim has since written an open letter to Angela Merkel.
“This new culture of welcoming people to Germany is great! But now we need to make it official policy. Lots of people are freaked out over all this migration, but integrating people into German society really isn’t all that hard.
“The way I see it, we can overcome the challenge. The trick is prioritizing people’s needs, much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It has five levels. Security — Acceptance — Trust — Freedom — Home.”
Amid the rising tensions and resentment, Germany is still set to become “home” to over one million refugees by the end of 2015. The crisis continues to hang in the balance for Angela Merkel, whose popularity, unlike that of Pegida, has slumped in recent weeks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Are the Libyans Residing in Malta a Real or a Perceived Threat?
A recent stabbing spree by a Libyan man in Paceville left seven people injured, including a fellow Libyan who claimed the attack was politically motivated.
The incident triggered off accusations that many Libyans residing in Malta were a threat. Others have raised questions about their residency permits.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
EU Migrant Resettlement Scheme Risks Halt
Not enough countries stepping up, refugees wary of plan
(ANSA) — Rome, October 20 — The European Union’s migrant resettlement scheme risks coming to a halt, EU sources said Tuesday, with a planeload of 100 refugees from Italy taking up the last places set aside so far. Only six countries have said they will take in migrants, and only small numbers, the sources said.
At the moment those are Austria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden. The scheme calls for 40,000 asylum seekers presently in Italy to be resettled over the next two years — which would require at least 1,500 places a month.
The refugees themselves are wary of the resettlement scheme, fearing that once they board the plane they will be deported outside of the EU instead — as is happening currently with a group of Syrian refugees in Greece, who are refusing to fly to Luxembourg because they believe they will be tricked. So far no Syrian refugees in Italy have agreed to the deal, and authorities had a tough job convincing 19 Eritrean refugees to leave on the first resettlement flight to Sweden on October 9.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Refugee Relocation Plan Risks Stalling Within Days: EU Source
An EU scheme to relocate asylum seekers from overstretched Italy and Greece could grind to a halt just two weeks after it began if member states fail to meet their obligations, an EU source said Tuesday.
The source said Italy is due within days to fly around 100 asylum seekers to other cities in the bloc, part of a scheme that requires most of the 28 member states to admit a share of 160,000 people from the two Mediterranean nations over two years.
So far only 19 Eritrean asylum seekers, who were flown from Italy to Sweden on October 9, have been relocated under the plan adopted in Brussels last month over the opposition of eastern European countries…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France: 96 Percent of Asylum Rejects Stay
France’s asylum procedures have been slammed as too long and inefficient, with as many as 96 percent of refugees who are refused asylum not being deported, an official report found.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Daily Documents Anti-Migrant Hate Speech on Facebook
Germany’s top-selling Bild daily Tuesday documented racist vitriol against migrants posted by Facebook users in a double-page newspaper spread, as pressure grows on the social network to eliminate hate speech.
A day after thousands of anti-Muslim PEGIDA protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators rallied in the eastern city of Dresden, Bild published dozens of anti-migrant rants under the headline “The Pillory of Shame”.
Facebook “agitators” posted xenophobic and threatening comments, which Bild urged the prosecutor general to investigate.
Tensions have grown as Germany has opened its doors to an unprecedented wave of people fleeing war and misery, with arrivals expected to reach one million this year, an influx that has seen Chancellor Angela Merkel’s poll ratings slip.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Anti-Migration PEGIDA Movement ‘Here to Stay’ Year After Creation
The Pegida movement is set to continue its campaign against the alleged Islamisation of Germany to preserve the national culture for next generations, Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann pledged Monday at a rally marking the first anniversary of the movement’s founding in Dresden.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In his opening address to thousands of Germans outside the Dresden opera house, Bachmann said the sight of such a huge crowd of activists gave him “goose bumps.”
“A one-time protest has grown into a widespread and unprecedented national movement,” the leader of the Dresden-based group said, as cited by the Epoch Times Deutschland news website.
“We received death threats, our cars and homes were attacked. But we are still here. We came here to stay and we will stay here until we win. We do this for our country, our culture and the future of our children,” he continued.
According to Bachmann, the square outside the Dresden’s Semperoper had a capacity of 32,000 and was filled to the brim, making Pegida’s January record of 25,000 people a history.
After Bachmann, the podium in front of a banner-waving mob was taken by Czech, Italian and Polish lawmakers and activists.
Anti-Islamist Pegida Participants Won’t Escape Responsibility for Violence — German Minister
An organization member from Pegida’s Polish branch accused EU governments of conducting “anti-family” policies and justifying unchecked immigration. This was echoed by a legislator from Italy’s right-wing Lega Nord party who urged a joint action against “mass immigration, loss of [national] identity and destruction of the family.”
The Pegida demonstration was rivaled by an Antifa rally, with anti-Nazi protesters booing and whistling at Pegida demonstrators. The Dresden opera house itself spotted canvases stretched over the façade that read “We are not a stage for xenophobes” and “We are not a backdrop for intolerance.”
The square outside Semperoper in the heart of Dresden has become an established assembly point for dozens of Pegida’s regular Monday demonstrations that spilled over into other German cities and European countries earlier this year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Latvia Considers Fence on Belarus Border to Curb Immigration
Latvia may build fences on sections of the Belarus border that are the most likely to be used for illegal crossings by migrants.
RIGA (Sputnik) — Riga is considering constructing a fence on its border with Belarus as a way of preventing migrants from arriving in Latvia, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma said Tuesday.
“Many European countries are building fences. This could be a possible solution [to the EU migration crisis]. It is obvious that nobody will shoot people,” Straujuma said on the Latvian LTV channel.
According to Straujuma, The amount of funding needed to complete the fence construction has not been disclosed.
In August, Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said the country needed to strengthen its shared border with Russia in order to prevent an influx of migrants who did not meet asylum seeker or refugee criteria. The initiative would require some 17 million euros ($18.8 million), according to Kozlovskis.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Rebuke Led to Knife Attack in Paceville, Court is Told
‘Two men argued over harassment of women when accused turned violent’
The argument which culminated in a 22-year-old Libyan allegedly knifing six people in Paceville erupted after one Arab man upbraided another for harassing women, telling him he was giving Arabs a bad name.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard yesterday the argument subsequently escalated and a slightly inebriated Ehab Zorgani, who was not involved in the initial argument, ran about stabbing a number of people, including innocent passers-by.
[most of the article is only available via subscription, but what a lovely photo!]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Sergeant Major Injured by Irregular Immigrant
A Sergeant Major stationed at the Police General Headquarters’ Lock Up (in Malta) sustained facial injuries when he was attacked by an aggressive irregular immigrant who was about to be taken to the Safi Detention Centre by the Detention Service.
The incident took place yesterday afternoon, at about 12.30 p.m., when three police officers assisted two members of the same service who were struggling to place a resisting thirty-three-year-old Nigerian inside a van.
It was then that the irregular immigrant headbutted the Sergeant Major below his right eye.
The detainee was eventually placed inside the van and taken to the detention centre while the police officer was driven to the Floriana Health Centre.
The aggressor is expected to be arraigned this morning.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Two Men in Critical Condition
Yesterday (14th Oct) at about 2210hrs, the Gozo Police were informed that a fight was taking place in Triq l-Indipendenza, Xewkija, Gozo.
The Police went immediately on site and found a wounded man on the ground. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man who has not yet been identified, was allegedly stabbed by a 29-year-old Somali man who lives in Marsa.
Further investigations also showed that another 24-year-old Somali man, residing in Munxar was also allegedly stabbed by the 29-year-old.
The injured were both taken to the Gozo General Hospital for medical care. Later they were certified as being in a critical condition.
The 29-year-old man is being held by the Police for further investigations.
Duty Magistrate Dr P Coppini LL.D was informed about the case whereby he appointed several experts to assist him in the Magisterial Inquiry.
Police investigations are still underway.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Two Men in Critical Condition After Fight in Xewkija
Last night (14th Oct) just after10pm, Gozo Police were informed that a fight was taking place in Triq l-Indipendenza, Xewkija, Gozo, Police immediately went to the scene and found a wounded man on the ground.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man, who has not yet been identified, was allegedly stabbed by a 29-year-old Somali man who lives in Marsa, Malta.
Police soon discovered another 24-year-old Somali man, who lives in Munxar, Gozo, who had also allegedly been stabbed by the 29-year-old from Marsa.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Malta: Libyan Man Charged With Paceville Mayhem
A Libyan youth was arraigned in court today (14th Sep) and charged with the attempted murder of two persons and injuring another four in last Sunday’s stabbing attack in Paceville.
Ehab Zorgani, 22, from Tripoli, who is unemployed, was charged with the attempted murder of Hadji Salah and Antoon Van der Heide, seriously injuring them, and also grievously injuring Ali Mihannad Fadlalla, Brian Jan Bos, De Roo Neik and Richard Galea. He was also charged with carrying a knife and breaching the peace.
Mr Zorgani, a refugee who lives in Zebbug, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Legal Aid laywer Victor Bugeja said the accused was not requesting bail. The Libyan was remanded in custody.
Magistrate Joseph Mifsud said he wanted to make it clear that, while Malta had to show hospitality and be a pioneer in refugee protection, the court would not permit anyone residing in Malta under refugee status to commit crimes such as the alleged incident where Maltese citizens as well as others were put in harm’s way.
Inspector Saviour Baldacchino prosecuted.
On his way into the law courts building, the accused gave the middle finger sign to journalists and photographers. However, a more subdued Mr Zorgani buried his face in his lap on his way to the prison.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arraigned Over Paceville Fracas
A 22-year-old man was today (14th Sep) arraigned in court over the weekend brawl in which at least 6 people were injured.
Ehab Zorgani, a 22 year old Libyan man from who resides in Zebbug, has been remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to charges relating to a multiple stabbing which took place in Paceville yesterday.
Inspector Saviour Baldacchino arraigned Zorgani before magistrate Joseph Mifsud this afternoon, charging him with two counts of attempted murder and six counts of grievous bodily harm using a sharp instrument… An 18-year-old Dutch man and a Libyan were critically injured, whilst four other men were grievously injured by the knife-wielding Libyan following an argument in Paceville at 4am yesterday morning. The police said the aggressor was arrested after he was chased, on foot, through the streets of Paceville by officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit.
Asked to state his profession, the Libyan said he is unemployed and lives on benefits, to angry murmurs from the public gallery.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Arrivals to Greece Top 500,000
The number of migrants who have arrived in Greece this year has topped half a million, the United Nations said.
The rate of people arriving has risen to 8,000 a day, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees said, with many hoping to beat winter weather.
Most migrants then head north from Greece, but bottlenecks are forming in some Balkan states.
Slovenia has deployed its army to its border after being overwhelmed by numbers entering from Croatia.
The number of migrants reaching Europe has reached record levels in 2015:
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says more than 650,000arrived so far this year, compared with 280,000 last yearThe UNHCR says the number of migrants arriving by sea this month is already more than five times higher than the total for October last year
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
PM: ‘This is Not the Sweden We Want to See’
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven on Tuesday condemned a series of suspected arson attacks on asylum accommodation as The Local spoke to officials planning Sweden’s first tent camp for refugees.
“It is very serious,” Löfven told reporters. “It is not the Sweden we want to see.”
He spoke just hours after the latest attack on housing for asylum seekers in normally tranquil Munkedal, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in south-western Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Resettling Migrants From Middle East Camps Could Ease Crisis: Greece
ATHENS (Reuters) — Greece said on Tuesday that resettling migrants from camps in the Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where they first arrive, could ease Europe’s refugee crisis.
Greece is struggling to control the influx of more than half a million migrants through its islands bordering Turkey, with arrivals spiking over the past two days in a rush to beat the onset of winter.
Some 10,000 people arrived on the island of Lesbos on Sunday and Monday alone, officials said. Reuters witnesses said there had also been a rush on Tuesday of mainly Syrians and Afghans.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia Army to Help Patrol Border Amid Migrant Crisis
Slovenia’s army has been called in to help border police deal with the flow of migrants coming from Croatia. The new security measures come after a marathon all-night emergency meeting in Ljubljana.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden on Verge of Collapse as Illegal Immigrants Surge Into the Country
Sweden, proudly dubbed the “Great Humanitarian Power” by its ex-prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, is on the verge of collapse.
“The final consequence of the West and, above all, Sweden’s immigration policy is that the economy will collapse — because who is going to pay for it all? And economic breakdowns, once they happen, always happen very fast,” warns Danish historian Lars Hedegaard.
Increasing taxes on wage earners in Sweden to pay for the influx of illegal immigrants is not enough. In August Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said the government is looking at borrowing large sums of money from the European Investment Bank to pay for illegal immigration.
“Why has one government after another chosen to spend Swedish taxpayers’ money to support and shelter citizens of other countries, while some of them try to kill us?” asked Ingrid Carlqvist after a Swedish woman and her son were stabbed to death at an IKEA store in Vasteras, Sweden, by Abraham Ukbagabir, an illegal immigrant from Eritrea.
Ukbagabir said he lost control after learning he was going to be deported to Italy. He killed an innocent woman and her son “to make people understand him,” according to The Washington Post.
Sweden’s liberal immigration policy is responsible for the murderous rampage by Ukbagabir. Eritreans without residence permits in other EU-countries automatically get to stay in Sweden, the great humanitarian and multicultural power.
“Time to wake up, Swedish People,” wrote Björn Söder of the Sweden Democrats party on his Facebook page in August. He said the murdered woman and her son would not agree with Reinfeldtd, who urged Swedes to “open their hearts” to illegal immigrants streaming into the country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Voters Reject Mass Migration of Muslims
Swiss voters on Sunday sent a message to the European Union that they will not tolerate the mass migration of Muslims from the Middle East.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) took the largest percentage of parliamentary seats over the weekend, making it the dominant political party in Switzerland. It won 29.4 percent of the vote.
The central issue during the election was the massive influx or largely illegal immigrants.
“The vote was clear,” said SVP leader Toni Brunner. “The people are worried about mass migration to Europe.”
The SVP election victory comes nearly two years after the Swiss people voted in favor of a referendum limiting the number of foreigners living in the country.
Socialists lamented the victory and their losses during the election. The Christian Democrats and the Green Liberals also lost seats in the Parliament.
“One theme has unfortunately been very dominant during the campaign,” said Rebecca Ruiz, a candidate for the Socialists. She said the Swiss “people voted out of fear.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Election Outcome a Triumph for Country’s Populist Firebrand
The record performance by Switzerland’s rightwing populist SVP in Sunday’s elections marks a new triumph for its charismatic leader Christoph Blocher, a maverick politician known for his blustering speeches and virulent campaigns against immigration and closer ties with the EU.
The multi-billionaire art lover has become the SVP’s godfather in recent years, remaining largely aloof from day-to-day party business in favour of defining the party line.
At 75, he is officially the vice president of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP).
He did not run in the October 18 elections. But he was heavily involved in the campaign, tirelessly criss-crossing the country to rally the crowds…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Defunds Planned Parenthood, Alleges Clinics Unsafe, Unsanitary
Texas stripped Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funding Monday, citing undercover videos released by The Center for Medical Progress as evidence of “serious” Medicaid violations.
Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas are “no longer capable of performing medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal, and ethical manner,” Texas Health and Human Services said in a letter to the non-profit’s affiliates in the state obtained by the Associated Press.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A group of racist internet trolls have called for a boycott of the upcoming Star Wars film because it is ‘anti-white’, just hours after the release of the movie’s final teaser trailer.
Using the hashtag #BoycottStarWarsVII, they claim the highly anticipated movie is a ‘social justice propaganda piece’ and ‘PC anti-white diversity c***.’
But Twitter users have swiftly reclaimed the tag — pointing out the original series, and the follow up trilogy, also contain black characters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sexist Banter ‘Should be Tackled’ In Schools
Schools are being urged to tackle the use of sexist language to avoid youngsters being gender stereotyped.
An Institute of Physics (IoP) guide argues schools do not take sexist “banter” as seriously as they do racist or homophobic language.
This can lead to gender stereotyping and turn girls away from studying science subjects as often as boys.
“No woman should feel that their gender is a barrier to their success,” the government said.
The guide, Opening Doors, to be presented at a conference hosted by the IoP, also urged teachers to reflect on their own language to ensure they are “not inadvertently transmitting negative messages”.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
When Racists Tried to Strike Star Wars
A trailer for the latest instalment of the Star Wars franchise was greeted with the usual mania online — but in the midst of all the gushing, thousands of Star Wars fans also found time to fight against racism.
The vertiginous trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on Monday, and along with original stars such as Harrison Ford, the cast includes several newcomers. One of them, British actor John Boyega, who is black, caught the attention of racists online. A few dozen accounts started calling for a boycott using crude racial terms and throwing around allegations of “white genocide”. Some abuse was also also targeted at director JJ Abrams, who is Jewish, with critics taking aim at him for for his comments on a podcast that a US TV awards ceremony was “unbelievably white.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
For your inforamtion
http://order-order.com/2015/10/20/warsi-praises-terror-supporting-arab-pop-idol/#disqus_thread
This Marie Le Pen trial is a farce, it is a set-up to throw a spanner in the works of the forthcoming elections. Obvious by the fact that there is a 5 yr gap. The PS gov is getting desperate and everything now is couched in the words of “republican values”. It is a bit like throwing around the word, “Europhobe”; since it is designed to divide people into them & us. Really pathetic but what with the ongoing invasion of illegals, people aren’t buying into the narrative so much. Dec elections will be interesting to see.
Unfortunately, the strategy of the PS proved effective over the years. As long as the “front républicain” is able to marshal 50+% of the population, they will play that below-the-belt card.
As Marine LePen didn’t pronounce the word Nazi in the mentioned speech, I don’t believe she’ll be condemned. After all, every day there are people talking about occupation of Palestine by Israel, and I’m pretty sure not all people are well-minded enough not to hint at a WWII parallel when uttering it. But we don’t probe their intentions.
>> “No, we don’t have 19 paramilitary training camps in the US,” Friedman added, <<
Even more?
The MSM reported on a fire at a refugee centre in Slovenia but what they failed to mention is this ‘interesting attitude’ in that they had set fire to the camp to able to continue with onwards journey north:
https://twitter.com/Nastasssja/status/656771283179413504
and video in German on the Slovenian refugee camp situation:
http://www.welt.de/videos/article147864211/Reporter-erlebt-Eskalation-hautnah.html
Is there any organisation that logging these incidents anyway??
So “A compassionate Canada is back”, and we are to be swamped with 25,000 “refugees” before the end of the year!
Bearing in mind the vast majority will be muslims, Turdeau’s newest best friends, the future bodes ill.
If I were religious I’d probably say “god help us”, but to misquote Brits of long ago, I’ll just say “protect us from the stupidity and fury of the Liberals”.
Americans voted in a ‘community organizer’ who never worked a day in his life, and totally deluded Canadians have voted in a vacant, navel-gazing muslim-hugger–we are in deep ‘doo-doo!’
Indeed, time for Trump to discuss a northern wall?
That’s funny, I thought Muslims were members of a political/religious system, not a race.