Various state governors — Republicans, as far as I can tell — are rebelling against the Obama Administration’s plan to resettle Syrian “refugees” across the United States. The numbers given in news reports vary — 12, 16, or 22 states are said to have refused to accept the resettled migrants, depending on which story you read. But there is definitely a groundswell of revolt. And some congressional Republicans are pushing to defund the program, which the House has the authority to do.
In other news, over 400,000 “refugees” have arrived in Croatia in the space of two months.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Ivan Winters, JD, Jerry Gordon, LP, MC, Nick, 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.
Asia Markets Down After Paris Attacks, Japan in Recession
Asian stock markets tumbled and the euro lost ground early Monday in the first trades after the deadly weekend terror attacks in Paris.
The late-night assault on Friday in French capital, which killed 129 people, sparked concerns about security in Europe and its impact on the already struggling eurozone economy.
It also sowed fresh uncertainty in already nervous markets, which ended last week on a low owing to increasing worries about the state of the global economy.
Losses across Asian stock markets were joined by a fall in the euro, which is already under pressure from expectations the European Central Bank will loosen monetary policy to shore up the eurozone…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
High Unemployment a ‘Stain’ On the Netherlands Economic Prospects
High unemployment will continue to dog the Dutch economy in 2016, Rabobank economists said in a new report on Monday.
They forecast the jobless total will only decline slowly because the increase in job vacancies will be offset by increasing demand for work. The bank describes the unemployment rate as a ‘stain’ on the country’s economic prospects…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ben Carson Compares ISIS to America’s Founders
Steve Peoples reports for the AP (via Yahoo) that on Jan. 15, 2015, in a 35-min. luncheon speech to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting outside San Diego, presidential aspirant Dr. Ben Carson compared ISIS or the Islamic State (who chop off the heads of their enemies, especially Christians) to the patriots of the American Revolution. See FOTM for full story. Here is the video of that speech:…
American Thinker’s Article, “Ben Carson in His Own Words,” has several of Carson’s statements. [At Yale in the late 1960s], “I was proud to see groups such as the Black Panthers standing up to brutal police tactics, and though I never joined any radical student organizations, I kept abreast of the activities of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Weathermen, and other groups willing to use aggressive tactics to accomplish “social justice.” I’d urge you to read this article in full as Carson’s statements belie the fact that he’s a conservative…
Carson proclaimed that he supported the Obama White House in its plan to force the Trans-Pacific Partnership down the throats of US citizens…a deal that would provide one of the last nails in the coffin of US sovereignty. Ben acts as though he’s a staunch conservative, but he leans more and more towards Marxism. (The prayer breakfast attended by Carson, where he made such a good showing as a conservative, is run by Doug Coe’s secretive “The Fellowship” or “The Family.” They have such members of so-called opposite political stances as DeMint and Hillary Clinton. [Link] See Constance Cumbey’s five part article entitled, “The Family, and its hijacking of Evangelicalism.”) We have to watch what people do, not just listen to what they say. Ben Carson said that he supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement negotiated by the White House — aligning himself more with the GOP’s establishment wing than with the social conservatives who have powered his campaign. [Link]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Busted: WikiLeaks to Release Tapes of White House-Linked Corruption Scandal
WikiLeaks to publish a trove of classified audio files said to shed light on $1-billion corruption schemes with links to an as-yet-unidentified White House administration.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said on Monday it planned to publish a trove of classified audio files said to shed light on $1-billion corruption schemes with links to an as-yet-unidentified White House administration.
“Today we release 30 hours of tapes related to a billion dollar corruption scandal with links to the White House,” the organization tweeted.
The announcement did not indicate whether the corruption links related to President Barack Obama’s administration or his predecessor, George W. Bush
The whistleblowing group has been at the forefront of publishing information detailing government overreach and various abuses conducted by intelligence agencies, including a US National Security Agency global surveillance program.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
‘Charlie Sheen HIV Positive’: How Hollywood Urged the Star to Come Forward to Remove the Stigma
The Anger Management star is set to appear on the Today show for a “revealing interview” with Matt Lauer
Charlie Sheen will reveal himself as HIV-positive according to claims in the US, following calls from Hollywood to come forward.
After reports of an unnamed actor living with the infection, there were many asking the star to reveal himself to help dispel the stigma surrounding the disease.
Now, Sheen is set to talk to America’s Today programme in the morning, whilst the National Inquirer has revealed his identity ahead of his appearance.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton Defends ‘Indefensible’ Use of 9/11 to Justify Wall Street Cash
During Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her acceptance of Wall Street donations with a questionable reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Her campaign is now scrambling to defend those comments that many found to be a tactless political exploitation of the 2001 tragedy.
Since 1999, US presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has received roughly $13 million in campaign contributions from “securities and investment” donors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Understandably, that money has raised questions about Clinton’s pledge to regulate America’s financial industry.
These concerns were raised by Democratic rival and Bernie Sanders during Saturday night’s debate. Given that his own campaign is funded by small donations from individual supporters, the Vermont senator has been a leading advocate for campaign finance reform.
But Clinton’s response was…odd.
“I represented New York, and I represented New York on 9/11, when we were attacked,” she began, likely already raising a few eyebrows in the audience.
“Where were we attacked?” she continued. “We were attacked in downtown Manhattan, where Wall Street is….I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York. It was good for the economy, and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country.”
An American politician referencing 9/11 during campaign season is always a red flag, a cheap grab at sympathy by appealing to a shared tragedy. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used a similar tactic in August to deflect questions about his support for bulk data collection.
But Clinton gets credit for creativity: This may be the first time that the attack on the World Trade Center has ever been used to justify accepting $13 million.
The statement immediately came off as disingenuous. Minutes later, the debate moderators displayed a tweet that suggested Clinton’s appeal to 9/11 was inappropriate.
“I am sorry if whoever tweeted that had that impression,” she said.
That response, naturally, did little to smooth things over.
During the Central Iowa Democrats fall barbecue on Sunday, Clinton’s aides were put on the defensive over the controversial comment.
“I think she’s got a strong record on Wall Street reform. She’s put forward the strongest policies on Wall street reform,” Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, told Yahoo News. “It’s just an unfair attack.”
This still, however, does not address Clinton’s puzzling 9/11 reference. But Clinton also seems unconcerned, as her own rebuttal again alludes to the 2001 terrorist attacks in reference to Bush-era tax cuts.
“I voted against those big tax cuts. Democrats put up alternatives. We said, ‘Ok, let’s have a more moderate view, but let’s not tilt it. Let’s not get the deck stacked in favor of those who are at the top,’“ Clinton said.
“But no, that wasn’t the ideology that governed that administration and we were attacked on 9/11 — a searing, horrible experience for our country — and then two wars.”
After the question was raised by Bernie Sanders during Saturday’s debate, Clinton’s other chief rival, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, also addressed Clinton’s remarks on Sunday.
“Last night in the debate, Secretary Clinton — to try to mask her proximity to Wall Street, the huge amount of contributions and the dollars she has received personally from the major banks of Wall Street — sadly invoked 9/11 to try to mask that,” O’Malley said, according to Yahoo News.
“Look she doesn’t have to mask it. It is what it is. That is the sort of economy, that is the sort of economic advice that she would follow.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary, Dems Refuse to Say ‘Islamic Terror’
(FOX NEWS) Hillary Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates are being criticized for declining to use the words “radical Islam” during Saturday night’s debate, following the deadly terror attacks in Paris.
Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley declined to use the words after being asked during the CBS debate whether they would agree with GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio saying, “We are at war with radical Islam.”
The front-running Clinton said using the term “radical Islam” would be “painting with too broad a brush.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Threatens Attacks on Washington DC in New Video
As “details” and “intelligence” surface regarding the attacks that left 129 dead in Paris on Friday, and as French warplanes drop bombs on Raqqa, you had to have known it was only a matter of time before ISIS released another Hollywood special to, i) do some more gloating about the “successful” assault on the French capital, and ii) threaten France and anyone assissting them with still more attacks in retailiation for retailiating.
In short, this is an endless loop of attack-retailiate-attack-retailiate that, if both sides want it to, could easily end up seeing American, French, and British boots on the ground in eastern Syria, setting the stage for — you guessed it — the final battle for the political future of Assad once the ISIS distraction has been relegated to annals of terrorist history. After all, the West has always hung on to the “Assad’s brutality attracts terrorists” line and so, it would be easy enough to claim that in order to keep Syria “ISIS-free,” Assad has to go.
Well sure enough, on Monday we get the latest video from ISIS’ media arm and the group has now threatened to strike Washington. Here’s Reuters:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kurt Cobain’s ‘Suicidal Spiral’ Debunked by New Testimony
Over two decades have passed since the loss of the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and yet, key circumstances leading up to his untimely death still continue to be uncovered.
In order to provide context for this most recent revelation in the Cobain case, let’s revisit a 911 police call to the singer’s Lake Washington property in the early evening of March 18th, 1994.
“According to Detective Everett Edwards, the reality is that Kurt Cobain was not inside the house at all when the police arrived that day.”
“Instead, when Edwards and his partner attempted to enter the house through the backdoor, they discovered an unarmed Kurt Cobain sheepishly standing in the backyard with his hands in his pockets.”
“Moreover, Cobain did not appear suicidal; rather, he seemed deeply embarrassed by the situation. “He just really wanted to get out of there,” said Edwards (who had then, incidentally, never heard of Kurt Cobain).”
Additionally, Edwards disclosed that Cobain ‘calmly’ walked with the officer to sit in the backseat of his squad car to discuss the circumstances of the disturbance call. Recounting the events of that evening, Edwards recollected, “He [Cobain] was just a very, very nice guy,” and did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs.
Also, according to Richer’s interview with Edwards, Cobain acknowledged to authorities that he had “simply locked himself in a room after an argument, “and had no intention of harming himself…
Although some are familiar with the alarming forensic side of the Cobain case, it’s important to reiterate that the singer was found with three times the lethal dose of heroin in his bloodstream along with diazepam, prior to the shotgun being used near the time of his death. This has prompted many to believe the Cobain would have been unable to perform the task of using the shotgun, as the immediate impact of the heroin would have left him incapacitated.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
We accept lawless agencies, lawless actions by the government because we have been too satisfied to care. Our bellies are full, politics is a problem for someone else to care about. We have too many distractions to worry about to recognize bondage.
As the Democrats scramble to protect their narrative and agenda, partly by blaming the Islamic attacks in Paris on gun violence, they also do their best to cover their own crimes. The President, regulatory agencies, and the statist community in our government are, for lack of a better way of explaining it, acting in a lawless manner. The Constitution is an obstacle, and the rule of law is an irritant.
With each White House administration the opposition discusses the lawlessness of the President, and the lawlessness of the federal government under his authority. This leader is considered lawless. The last leader was considered to be lawless. And the President of the United States before him has been accused of being lawless. The reality is, every administration in the modern era has had an element of lawlessness, whether the people in power knowingly participated with that lawlessness, or not.
The executive branch was never intended to carry with it so much power. According to Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, the President requires the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate to make treaties, appoint judges to the supreme Court, and appoint all other ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, officers of the United States Government. However, we have Presidents making “agreements” with other nations without ratification by the United States Senate, making recess appointments while the Senate is not in recess, and a whole army of czars with incredible power that are appointed without any oversight by Congress.
Regulatory agencies, and other agencies under the executive branch, have been making and modifying law despite the fact that Article I, Section 1 grants all legislative powers to the two Houses of Congress. In violation of the 4th Amendment the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) can seize your property (or children) without due process. In the eyes of federal agencies, one is guilty until proven innocent, and fear and threats are the tools they use to ensure they receive the truth they believe to exist. While some members of the citizenry fear we may be headed towards becoming a police state, the reality is that a police state is already in place.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Madam President: Can the MSM Pull it Off Again?
Please forgive me if I am stating the obvious. Clearly, the mainstream media plans to use the same evil dirty trick to elect Hillary it used to elect Obama. The media’s trick is to simply block voters from knowing who Hillary really is as a person, her criminal activities and true ideology. The media knows if elected, Hillary will continue Obama’s far left radical transformation of America. Rather than race, gender will be Hillary’s ever-ready trump card to silence all opposition.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Madonna on ISIS: ‘Only Love’ Can Stop Terrorism
Madonna, 57, said: “Yes, there are people who have no respect for human life and there are people that do atrocious, degrading and unforgivable things to other human beings. But we will never, ever, ever change this world that we live in if we do not change ourselves, if we do not change the way that we treat one another on a daily basis. Only love will change the world. But it’s very hard to love unconditionally and it’s very hard to love that which we do not understand, or that which is different than we are. But we have to or this will go on and on forever.”
One writer for GossipCop called her remarks naive.
“While in broad brushstrokes, there’s no argument that spreading love and treating one another with ‘dignity and respect’ will make for a better planet, but ISIS doesn’t play by those rule,” the editorial said. “ISIS detests our way of life. ISIS wants to wreak havoc on the Western world. Does Madonna really think if we gave ISIS ‘love unconditionally’ they would no longer perpetrate horrific acts of violence” And can Madonna really ‘love unconditionally’ a group that beheads, throws over the sides of building and stones to death men for being gay?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
North Carolina Joins 10 Other US States Banning Entry to Syrian Refugees
Governor Pat McCrory said that North Carolina will not accept Syrian refugees in the aftermath of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — North Carolina will not accept Syrian refugees in the aftermath of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, Governor Pat McCrory said at a news conference on Monday.
“I am now requesting the president [Barack Obama] and federal government cease sending refugees from Syria to North Carolina,” McCrory stated.
North Carolina is the latest US state to ban access to Syrian refugees along with Alabama, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Massachusetts and Florida.
However, the US Department of State said on Monday the US federal government continues to support President Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States by 2016.
Over the weekend, French police reported that one of the terrorists involved in Friday’s attacks in Paris was found to have a Syrian passport, and likely made it to the country as part of the massive refugee outflow from Syria to Europe.
The death toll of Friday’s terrorist attacks stands at 129.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
While the Power Elite’s (PE’s) controlled press/media were distracting the oblivious American public with questions about Ben Carson’s veracity, the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) was made public on November 5. In my NewsWithViews column for October 3, 2011, I wrote: “Another part of the PE’s plan is to link regional arrangements, and in that regard, on September 13 (2011) negotiations began in Chicago regarding the Transpacific Partnership (known as the “NAFTA of the Pacific”). The original members Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei joined on June 3, 2005; and Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru and the U.S. are now negotiating to join. This will mean an additional loss of jobs for American workers, especially in manufacturing, because nations like Vietnam have few (If any) labor, health, and environmental regulations as the U.S. does.”
According to U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (November 6, breitbart.com), the deal is “an erosion of sovereignty,” which is the goal of the PE. As you will recall, PE member Cecil Rhodes in 1891 formed the secret Society of the Elect “to take the government of the world,” in Rhodes’ own words. Remember that Rhodes scholar Richard Gardner wrote in the Council on Foreign Relations’ FOREIGN AFFAIRS (April 1974): “…an end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault.”
Sen. Sessions in the Breitbart News interview mentioned above also said the Obama administration is “not even asserting that it (TPP) will create jobs in America, raise wages in America or reduce our trade deficit because these agreements in the past have been bad for all three.” Relevant to the Corbett quote above, Sen. Sessions told Brietbart: “I think for President Obama, I do believe the driving force behind this is a belief that this is some sort of unified governmental structure. It creates judicial bodies. The language of it confirms what I’ve been saying.” And Sen. Sessions finally said, “The most dangerous part of it (TPP) to me is the long-term establishment of an international committee that overrides American will.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Says Would Consider Closing Some US Mosques
Billionaire Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said Monday that the United States should “strongly consider” shuttering some mosques as part of its efforts to prevent extremist attacks in the country.
“You’re going to have to watch and study the mosques, because a lot of talk is going on in the mosques,” Trump told cable broadcaster MSNBC after Friday’s horrific attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Monday that radical mosques and groups that attack the country’s values should be shut down…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Exchange, Study Abroad Programs Rethink Travel in Wake of Paris Attacks
The overseas trip for 15 students at Wesleyan College in Georgia was a chance to study business in an international market — but the last leg of the trip, Paris, was canceled following terror attacks in the French capital Friday that killed at least 129 people, including an American exchange student.
Professor Stacie Barrett and her 15 graduate business students were set to be in Paris on Monday — after time spent in Rome and Florence — but will instead be returning to the campus in Macon, Ga., the school told FoxNews.com.
“We will not be going to Paris,” Barrett said by phone from Italy Monday morning.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Transfers Five Guantanamo Detainees to UAE: Pentagon
The move means that 107 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that it was “grateful to the government of the United Arab Emirates for its willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.”
The five were named as: Ali Ahmad Mohammed al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Mohammed Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani.
The United States opened Guantanamo to hold terror suspects following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and photos of shackled men in orange jumpsuits became a defining image of US foreign policy in the early 2000s…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
When Paris Comes to America This Will Happen
The world was shocked, again. Savage Muslims executed a well coordinated terrorist attack in six separate locations in Paris. Dead bodies piled up in a concert hall swimming in blood (Warning: photos graphic). Soft targets: 4 diners/cafes, stadium and concert hall. Heartbreaking pictures. A woman hanging out of a window screaming, “Help, help, I’m pregnant”. Eye witness accounts of killers just standing there opening fire without regard to anything but carrying out their madness.
Barbarians armed with Kalashnikovs and grenades. Satan’s Soldiers doing their dastardly, inhumane acts of violence. Gunmen shout ‘Allah Akbar’ and ‘It’s for Syria’. They were sent by ISIS. One of them we know came through Greece as a Syrian ‘refugee’ and into France. A country with open borders. Like America’s virtually open southern border. After the slaughter, President Francois Hollande declared a national state of emergency and immediately implemented border control checks at all crossings and entry points — after 135 of her citizens are murdered.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal Canadian Government Drops Niqab Case Appeal
The Liberal government in Canada has abandoned a legal challenge that sought to require women to remove their niqabs or face coverings during citizenship ceremonies.
The Conservative government lead by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper had asked Canada’s Supreme Court to hear an appeal of that ruling.
Debate over the niqab came to a head during the 2015 Canadian elections.
Mr Harper was accused of using the issue stir up fears against Muslims.
Newly elected Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opposed the appeal during his campaign.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Armchair Woodchoppers’ Make DIY Timber Guide Surprise Bestseller
A practical guide to chopping, stacking and burning wood the Norwegian way, detailing everything from the drying time of a birch tree felled in winter to the correct sharpening of a chainsaw, has caught the imagination of British readers and is setting bestseller lists on fire.
Lars Mytting’s Norwegian Wood combines both eminently practical information about tree types and wood-stacking methods (the Norwegian Sun-Wall Woodpile, for example, is “a real classic — where regulations permit it”) with a history of the practice, and personal stories from the Norwegians who spend months preparing for their frigid winters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Assad is Not the Enemy of France, ISIL is — Hollande
President Francois Holland said that the Islamic State is his country’s biggest enemy, not Syrian president Bashar Assad.
“In Syria, we’re looking for the political solution to the problem, which is not Bashar Assad. Our enemy in Syria is ISIL,” French president Francois Hollande said during the emergency meeting of the French parliament.
Moreover, France is going to intensify its participation in the Syrian coalition, Francois Hollande said at the French parliament.
“France is going to intensify its operations in Syria… We will continue to strike [at the terrorist targets] in the coming weeks,” the French president said.
French President Francois Hollande called on the country’s parliamentarians on Monday to consider a bill, extending the nationwide state of emergency by three months.
“I decided to introduce a bill prolonging the state of emergency for three months and adapting it to the new threats for the parliament’s consideration,” Hollande stated, calling on lawmakers to “adopt it by the end of the week.”
The French president also voiced intention to create at least 5,000 jobs at the law enforcement agencies and 1,000 new jobs at the customs services within two years to ensure the country’s safety.
French President Francois Hollande said he would meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and US leader Barack Obama in the upcoming days to discuss counterterrorism measures.
Speaking before France’s Congress, Hollande, who skipped the weekend’s G20 summit in Turkey due to the terrorist attacks in Paris, said he would travel to Washington and Moscow seeking to “join forces” against terrorism.
On November 13, eight extremists carrying automatic weapons and wearing explosive belts coordinated and perpetrated seven attacks at venues across Paris, killing some 130 people, at restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium’s Molenbeek: Fear Grips Suburb-Turned-Islamist Hotbed
Brussels’ Molenbeek area, long infamous in Belgium’s capital city for its crime and unemployment, has emerged once again as a European hotbed of Islamist extremism where residents say they live in fear.
Residents of the largely Muslim area said they were caught in the middle of a war as police blocked off a main street on Monday in the latest of many raids since it emerged at least one of the Paris attackers had lived there…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris terrorist fugitive Salah Abdeslam — dubbed the world’s most wanted man — appears to have escaped police for a second time in three days today.
Belgian special forces stormed a Brussels apartment in a district known as the ‘jihadi capital of Europe’ believing the 26-year-old was hiding inside.
In a scene similar to the famous Iranian embassy siege in London in 1980, soldiers clambered across the roof and were seen firing tear gas through a Velux-style window to flush out a suspect who witnesses claimed came out on to a balcony with his arms up.
A hooded man was handcuffed and put in a car by plain-clothes police but the Mayor of Molenbeek has insisted that there were no arrests and the wanted man is still on the run.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chronology of Extremist Attacks on Art
Culture is the heart of a society and often a preferred target of extremists who want to squelch a people’s lust for life. In Paris, the Bataclan was a symbol of musical enjoyment. DW looks at other attacks on culture.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s Fourth Ancestral ‘Tribe’ Uncovered
Geneticists have detected a fourth ancestral “tribe” which contributed to the modern European gene pool.
Research shows Europeans are a mixture of three major ancestral populations — indigenous hunters, Middle Eastern farmers and a population that arrived from the east during the Bronze Age.
DNA from ancient remains in the Caucasus has now revealed a fourth population that fed into the mix.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Families Should Put Phones Away at the Table, Says Pope
(AGI) Vatican City, Nov 11 — Mealtimes should be a moment for families to communicate without being distracted by mobile phones or the television, Pope Francis said on Wednesday.
Silence at the table is more akin to being at a hotel than being surrounded by loved ones, and a lack of conviviality can brood selfishness, he noted during the General Audience. After his usual ride around St. Peter’s Square on the Popemobile, which he allowed three children to board as it made its way around the plaza, His Holiness made conviviality the focus of Wednesday’s catechism as a “thermometre” to measure healthy relations. “If there’s something wrong in the family, if there’s some hidden grievance, it’s immediately noticeable at the table,” he remarked. However, Francis warned against the sort of quick-fix, “buy and sell” conviviality popularised by commercials, in which children are given a snack or candy to make them happy. “Too many brothers and sisters are not at the table. It’s a bit shameful,” he commented. “Conviviality is sharing what’s precious in life and being happy to do so.
Sharing, knowing how to share, is a precious virtue. The iconic family is gathered at the table. Sharing a meal and therefore affections, stories, events, is a fundamental moment.” Breaking bread together has also long been a tradition for important events, he observed. “When there’s a party, a birthday, an anniversary, we gather around the table. In some cultures it’s common to do so also in mourning, to be close to those suffering for their loss,” he said. “A family that almost never eats together, or would rather give their attention to a television or smartphone at the table, is a rather ‘unfamilial’ family,” the Pope admonished. “When children are on their phones or computers at the table instead of listening to each other, you don’t have a family, you have pensioners.” Christianity “has a special vocation towards conviviality”, the Pope added. He explained that Jesus loved to teach at the table, and chose the dining hall as the place in which to impart his spiritual testament to the Apostles.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The pictures are clear enough to pick out individual faces in the crowd, some of whom were among the 89 victims slaughtered at the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris on Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fury Over Italy Paper’s ‘Islamic Bastards’ Splash
An Italian national newspaper, Libero, has been accused of inciting racial hatred for publishing a front page headline reading ‘Islamic bastards’ after the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday night.
Tomaso Notarianni, editor of the online paper PeaceReporter, reported the photo to police after seeing the headline, which he said was “criminal and dangerous”.
“There are laws that regulate the freedom of the press in Italy and they determine limits on inciting hatred,” Notarianni told Il Fatto Quotidiano.
“As far as I’m concerned he has committed a crime — now a judge can decide.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Unlikely to Increase Security Budget Following Paris Attacks
There were no talks in Germany on possible increase in security spending, according to Pamela Muller-Niese, the spokeswoman for the country’s Interior Ministry.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — Germany has no plans to increase security budget following the terror attacks in Paris, the spokeswoman for the country’s Interior Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.
Pamela Muller-Niese said that the German Ministry of Interior had finalized its budget for the next three years on November 12, a day before the Paris attacks.
“We finalized our budget for 2016, 2017 and 2018, so it was held prior to the attacks in Paris. If anything else is coming up, I don’t know about it yet and it will be a speculation,” Pamela Muller-Niese said.
She added that there were no talks in Germany on possible increase in security spending.
“We have increased our security and personnel at the airports, train stations. It was going on since Friday night,” Muller-Niese said, speaking about the security measures implemented by Germany after the Paris attacks.
Several European governments said on Saturday they would step up security following attacks in the French capital, stopping short of announcing high terror alert.
Late on Friday, extremists coordinated attacks on several venues across Paris, killing some 130 people and injuring over 350 at several locations, including restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium. The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: ‘Triple Agent’ Admits He Spied for CIA for Cash
A German suspected triple agent charged with treason admitted Monday to spying for the CIA, telling a court he had done so out of dissatisfaction with his secret service job.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
History: Einstein Was No Lone Genius
Lesser-known and junior colleagues helped the great physicist to piece together his general theory of relativity, explain Michel Janssen and Jürgen Renn.
Two friends from Einstein’s student days — Marcel Grossmann and Michele Besso — were particularly important. Grossmann was a gifted mathematician and organized student who helped the more visionary and fanciful Einstein at crucial moments. Besso was an engineer, imaginative and somewhat disorganized, and a caring and lifelong friend to Einstein. A cast of others contributed too.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Urges De Luca to ‘Get to Work’
‘Justice must run its course’ says premier
(supersedes previous)(ANSA) — Rome, November 13 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Friday embattled Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca “should get to work if he’s capable”. “Justice must run its course…and at the same time De Luca has a right and a duty to be in office,” the premier said of the Democratic Party (PD) governor, who is being investigated for corruption.
The PD premier added he has “full, total, unconditional” confidence in the investigating magistrates. “If the judiciary takes action we will take note of that”. De Luca is being investigated for allegedly giving in to pressure from Judge Anna Scognamiglio, who is also being probed along with several others.
Prosecutors say the judge pressured De Luca to give her husband a managerial post in exchange for a favorable verdict, which allowed him to take office earlier this year.
Scognamiglio was transferred and is being scrutinized by the justice ministry due to the corruption probe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Federalimentare May Sue WHO Over Meat Cancer Alert
Food producers say meat consumption dropped after WHO report
(ANSA) — Rome, November 13 — Italian food producers’ association Federalimentare said Friday it may sue the World Health Organization (WHO) for damages after it said eating processed meat is as carcinogenic as smoking.
In the report released October 26, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said every 50-gram portion of processed or cured meat eaten daily increases the risk of colon cancer by 18%.
The report also documented links between red meat consumption and stomach, pancreatic, and prostate cancer.
WHO’s IARC classified cured and processed meats in the same carcinogenic category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic, plutonium and tobacco.
Federalimentare said it may sue for damages because WHO’s “imprudent” report has no scientific basis and unfairly penalized the meat sector.
It cited figures from Italian meat associations Assica and Assocarni showing consumption of some meat products dropped up to 17% in the week following the release of the WHO report. Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin has said the alarm raised by the WHO report was “unjustified”.
Confagricoltura farmers’ association said its impact could prove worse than the mad cow scare.
Coldiretti farmers’ association said some 180,000 Italian jobs are at risk because of the report.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bill on Gangmasters, Field Labour Launched
To combat southern Italian phenomenon
(ANSA) — Rome, November 13 — The cabinet on Friday launched a bill aimed at combatting gangmasters and undocumented labour in southern Italian agriculture, sources told ANSA. The plague of gangmasters in Italy’s impoverished south, driving poor and migrant workers to pick tomatoes and other crops, has been highlighted by a number of recent cases including a woman who was worked to death for a few euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bagnasco Says No to Fighting Violence With Violence
CEI head says risk of multiplying hate
(ANSA) — Genoa, November 16 — Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the archbishop of Genoa and head of Italian bishops conference CEI, on Monday warned against trying to fight violence with violence following Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
“Reacting to violence with other violence would not resolve anything,” Bagnasco said. “It would only multiply hatred. The reaction should be greater vigilance”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Foreign Minister Hopes Closing Schengen Unnecessary
Temporary border closure contained in Schengen Agreement
(ANSA) — Brussels, November 16 — Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Monday he hopes France won’t request closure of the Schengen Area in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris.
Gentiloni noted that temporary border closure under emergency circumstances is envisaged under the Schengen Agreement.
“I hope not,” Gentiloni said when asked about the possibility France may ask for a Schengen shut-down at a summit of EU interior ministers on Friday.
Gentiloni added that in his view the terror threat can be contained with more police checkpoints and “collaboration between intelligence services”. The Schengen Area comprises 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders, also referred to as internal borders.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Can be Hardline on Terror Says Renzi
‘We beat domestic terrorism, mafia, now let’s beat fear’
(ANSA) — Rome, November 16 — Italy is capable of taking a hard line on terrorism, Premier Matteo Renzi told reporters at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey on Monday. “I want Italians to know we are capable of taking a hard line against those who do not respect the laws of our country,” he said. “Italy has expelled 55 suspected terrorists in a year…Italy beat domestic terrorism and the mafia,” he said.
“The biggest challenge now is to conquer our fear”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Flags at Half-Mast in Venice for Paris Victim Valeria
28-year-old Venetian was doctoral student at Sorbonne
(ANSA) — Venice, November 16 — Flags will fly at half-mast in the hometown of Valeria Solesin, the sole Italian victim in Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, until the day of her funeral, said Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro on Monday.
Solesin, 28, was a doctoral student in sociology at Sorbonne University and was killed at the Bataclan concert hall.
Brugnaro declared the day of Solesin’s funeral as a city-wide day of mourning.
Solesin graduated from the Trento University and was remembered on Monday during a minute of silence at noon in all public offices throughout the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, declared by regional governor Ugo Rossi.
The university followed suit with a minute of silence at noon during a class in the sociology department, followed by a statement from the conference of Italian university rectors (CRUI).
The Italian consul in Paris, Andrea Cavallari, spent Friday night confirming Solesin’s identity and on Saturday officially notified Solesin’s family of her death.
Cavallari confirmed that for the moment there are no other Italians known to have been killed in the attacks. Solesin’s mother, Luciana Milani, said her daughter was in the last year of her sociology doctorate, specialising in family welfare, and that she did volunteer work with Paris’s homeless population.
“It was a way to better know the place where she went to live temporarily, to satisfy her desire to help, beyond (the desire) for knowledge,” Milani said.
“I’ll miss her very much, and I think that our country, Italy, will miss her, for the gifts that she had”.
Solesin’s death was also recognized by Italian heads of state President Sergio Mattarella, who said she represented “our future”, and Premier Matteo Renzi, who said a scholarship will be created and named in her honour.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Public-Stake Firms Total 10,964, Add 57 Bn in Value
Istat report says 7,767 active firms, nearly 1 mn workers
(ANSA) — Rome, November 16 — In Italy in 2013 there were 10,964 so-called ‘partecipate’ — firms that public bodies hold a stake in — which generated a total added value of more than 57 billion euros when excluding finance or insurance businesses, said Istat in a report released Monday. The national statistics agency said 7,767 of these firms were considered active and employ nearly one million workers — 927,559.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Culture Ministry Urges Museum Anti-Terror Measures
‘Ask local police for help in setting up protocols if nec’y’
(ANSA) — Florence, November 16 — The culture ministry on Monday called on the nation’s museums and archeological sites to check their emergency procedures and make sure they include measures in case of terrorist attacks.
The ministry urged officials to make sure “security procedures are followed rigorously” and to “immediately report potentially dangerous situations to police”.
Museums or sites that do not have security protocols in case of a terrorist attack should put them in place immediately, asking their local police officials for assistance if necessary, the ministry said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Joystick Jihad: Sony’s Playstation 4 Could be Terrorists’ Communication Tool, Experts Warn
After Friday’s horrific terror attacks on Paris, security experts are weighing the frightening possibility that Sony’s PlayStation 4 has become a communication tool for terrorists.
Three days before Friday’s terrifying events in the French capital, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon warned that terrorists have harnessed the popular game console to pass messages between each other, making communications difficult, if not impossible for intelligence experts to track.
“The most difficult communication between these terrorists is via PlayStation 4,” said Jambon at a conference organized by Politico. “It’s very, very difficult for our services — not only Belgian services but international services — to decrypt the communication that is done via PlayStation 4.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mastermind Behind Paris Attacks Identified as Active ISIS Executioner From Belgium — Reports
Investigators have identified the alleged sponsor and mastermind of Friday’s massacre in Paris.
He had direct contact with the terrorists, media report. The suspect is believed to be a Belgian national and an active Islamic State executioner in Syria.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, financed and organized the attacks and the explosions in the French capital, RTL radio said, citing investigating authorities. The report added that Abaaoud was the “butcher” of the Islamic State group and had carried out several grisly executions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
No, The EU is Not Going to Make Hyperlinks Illegal
But its copyright changes will have a big impact on the web
You may have read that the European Commission intends to prevent hyperlinks to copyrighted material. The good news is that this isn’t true.
The bad news is that there is a real proposal to change copyright law that could change how we use hyperlinks — the bedrock of the World Wide Web.
How does the humble hyperlink fit into copyright law? Back in 1996 the World Intellectual Property Organisation approved a treaty designed to bring copyright law in line with the latest technological developments such as the internet.
This included a newly devised right of communication to the public, granting copyright owners the right to decide the time and manner in which they made their content available to the public. The idea was to allow rights holders to stop others from making infringing copies of their works available online.
In the years since, courts around the world have interpreted this right as a means to stop online copyright infringement, as it was intended. But some have begun to interpret the right too broadly, arguing that any hyperlink to copyrighted material — not just copies of the material — posted by someone other than the creator is a “communication to the public” and so could be considered breach of copyright.
This doesn’t just refer to creative works like films, music or literature. Practically everything is someone’s copyright unless otherwise excluded, which means that under the strictest interpretation, linking to any website containing any text or imagery would be a copyright infringement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Special Forces Fear Personal Data Being Handed Over to ISIL by Iraq
Personal data of Norwegian special forces’ may be getting sold or handed over to ISIL in Iraq, and it poses a major security concern for the Norwegian military deployed to the country helping train local forces to fight jihadists.
Norway has had its military contingent participating in the US-led military campaign in Iraq since November 2014. The main purpose is officially to train local forces capable of defeating ISIL.
First, there were a small number of staff officers, and in spring 2015 the kingdom finally deployed its soldiers: special forces, FSK, to the capital, Baghdad, and battle-tested elite mechanized infantrymen from the Telemark battalion to the Kurdish town of Erbil.
Just before the deployment, in early March, the Defense Security Department (FSA) made a security evaluation, supported by other secret services, which suggests that there is a high risk of personal data of Norwegian soldiers being transferred to ISIL due to a likely leak from Iraqi authorities, Aldrimer.no revealed.
But how did Iraqis get personal data on Norway’s ostensibly secret soldiers? Simply because they were required to fill in applications for an Iraqi visa with their real names, addresses and so on. That clearly makes their family members potential targets of terror attacks by revenge-seeking ISIL terrorists.
Despite the security risks, the contingent was still later sent to Iraq. An obvious reason for Oslo to ignore such a great security concern is heavy pressure from Washington: Americans wanted more allied boots on the ground by any means.
Last week, the Norwegian Officer Union (NOF), which was contacted by concerned soldiers and officers, stated they’ve launched an investigation to clear up whether the current deployment of Norwegian troops to Iraq does not violate the personal data legislature of the kingdom, Aldrimer.no reported.
“By providing personal information whenever, as we believe, there is no secure handling of the personnel data in place, both personnel and their family members are being put under risk,” NOF head, Egil Andre Aas told Aldrimer.no. “We wish to clarify if in this case a risk evaluation that was made corresponds to the demands of the Personal data law.”
Earlier this month, the head of the parliamentary military and foreign committee, Anniken Huitfeldt, called for a re-evaluation of the deployment of special forces’ operators and Telemark battalion infantrymen in the light of serious security concerns, according to Aldrimer.no.
ISIL is a terrorist group that has seized vast areas in Syria and Iraq, and declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
A US-led international coalition of around 60 nations has been launching airstrikes against ISIL targets since August 2014.
Since February 2015, German soldiers have been leading the training of Kurdish militias in Iraq to fight against ISIL. The training camp in Bnaslava is located in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq, just 50 kilometers away from the front. In addition to the Germans and Norwegians, there are Dutch, Italian, British, Canadian and American military advisers in Iraqi Kurdistan. They teach everything from how to use different weapons to platoon moves.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks Have Drawn Attention to Europe’s Muslim Population
The Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily by about 1 percentage point a decade — from 4 per cent in 1990 to 6 per cent in 2010, according to figures.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks: France ‘At War’ Says President Hollande
France “is at war” after Friday’s attacks on Paris, President Francois Hollande has told a rare joint sitting of both houses of parliament.
He said he would table a bill to extend the state of emergency declared after the attacks for three months.
He said France was committed to “not just containing, but destroying” the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
Mr Hollande said he would meet the presidents of the US and Russia in the coming days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks Reveal Belgium as the Heart of European Terror
The deadly violence in Paris on Friday is the latest in a series of attacks with strong links to Belgium, adding to mounting evidence the country has become one of the main havens for radicalized young men intent on terrorizing Europe.
As French investigators try to piece together the identity of radical networks responsible for the bloodiest act of terrorism in Europe in a decade, it emerged that two of the killers were Frenchmen who had been living in Belgium. Since Friday night’s attacks, police have detained seven other people in Brussels who they suspect have links to the atrocity.
Wedged between the euro area’s two largest economies of France and Germany, Belgium has for decades been best known for its chocolate shops and breweries, attracting tens of thousands of tourists every year to its cobbled streets and sidewalk cafes. Now it’s facing up to a grim new reality: the country also is a playground for terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks: The Belgian Connection
From the moment the Paris attacks investigation began, it was clear that Belgium was central to the story and the Brussels area of Molenbeek its focal point.
Salah Abdeslam, 26, was stopped on the border as he fled France with two other men but not detained.
Now Belgian fighter Abdelhamid Abaaoud, based in Syria, is being described as the brains behind the attacks.
If the co-ordinated plot was hatched in Syria, then it was prepared in Belgium and at least some of the attackers emanated from there. Two cars used in the plot were hired in the Brussels area.
Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim, who blew himself up on Friday, were both from Brussels. Another suicide bomber, Frenchman Bilal Hadfi, had also been living in Belgium.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pictures: Tens of Thousands of Polish Nationalists March, Burn EU Flag
The event, which saw attendance from Hungary’s genuine Neo-Nazi, far right Jobbik Party, passed off completely peacefully with only one arrested made. Pictures from the rally show the blurring of lines between Poland’s nationalists and Hungary’s Neo-Nazis, with one protester even offering a Nazi salute during the event (below).
Police estimate it attracted some 25,000 people; the organisers said it was closer to 50,000.
The rally was held under the slogan, “Poland for the Poles, Poles for Poland”, in reference to the ongoing the migrant crisis.
Banners read, “Great Catholic Poland” and, “Stop Islamisation” with demonstrators chanting, “God, honour, homeland” and, “Yesterday it was Moscow, today it’s Brussels which takes away our freedom”.
The marchers in Warsaw trampled on and burned an EU flag at one point…
| — Hat tip: Ivan Winters | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Wants Muslims Involved in Jubilee Year Says Parolin
Vatican Secretary of State calls for ‘a mercy offensive’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, November 16 — Pope Francis wants Muslims involved in the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy, which can serve as common ground to find solutions to overcoming hate, said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in an interview published Monday by French Catholic daily La Croix.
“The pope wants the Jubilee to serve for people meeting, to understand and overcome their hate,” Parolin said.
“In a world lacerated by violence, it’s the right time to launch a mercy offensive,” Parolin said in the wake of Friday’s attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris in which at least 129 people died.
“Mercy is also the most beautiful name of God for the Muslims, who can be involved in this Holy Year, as the pope wishes”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Populists Pull EU From Right to Left as Europe Loses Faith in Brussels
Following the Paris attacks, far-right groups in France have called for a restriction on immigration and permanent border controls, questioning the Schengen free movement zone. Meanwhile, disillusionment with EU austerity policies has seen an equally Euroskeptic push from the European left.
Backing President Francois Hollande’s decision to declare a state of emergency in France, Marine Le Pen, leader of the Euroskeptic, anti-immigration National Front party, called on the government to crack down on Islamist cells operating in the country.
“France and the French are no longer safe. It is my duty to tell you so,” she said.
Le Pen also called on France to renege on the EU’s free movement Shengen zone and permanently close its borders.
“Whatever the European Union might say, it is essential that France recover the control of its national borders, once and for all,” she said.
“Without borders, neither security nor protection is possible.”
Political analysts in France have noted that the recent Paris terror attacks could lead to a surge in support for far-right groups like the National Front, with citizens seemingly unhappy with the current status quo in Europe.
With French regional elections coming up in three weeks, far-right groups — many of which favor an exit from the EU and strict controls on borders and immigration — are tipped to make historic gains, amid criticism that the current government isn’t doing enough to stamp out the terror threat.
The Rise of the Right
However, the right-wing backlash against the EU certainly isn’t isolated to France.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has clashed with Brussels on numerous occasions over the country’s hard line approach to the refugee crisis, is another leader on the right of the political spectrum, gaining increasing domestic support for his party’s approach to recent events.
Many have been critical of the EU for failing to come to an agreement over the refugee crisis, with Orban among the strongest opponents to calls for a voluntary refugee quota system to be adopted by EU member states.
In Poland, the conservative Euroskeptic Law and Justice party came into power last month, marking the first time since 1989 that there will be no left wing party in parliament.
The Conservative win came amid ongoing frustration with the previous Centrist government, which many voters believed were too willing to support EU policies in Brussels, rather than represent Polish interests.
Meanwhile, perhaps the most dangerous Euroskeptic threat to the EU comes from the UK, where Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to give the British public an In/Out vote on EU membership before the end of 2017.
While Cameron himself has argued that he would prefer Britain to remain within a reformed EU, many within his Conservative party are diehard Euroskeptics, who are pushing for the country to cut ties with Brussels regardless of reform negotiations.
The Rise of the Left
Just as the right wing of European politics has experienced a resurgence in popularity amid dissatisfaction with EU governance, so has the European left, with many parties vehemently at odds with Brussels-imposed austerity policies in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
The most well-known left wing rebellion came in the form of Greece’s Syriza party, who emphatically stormed to power in January on the back of an anti-austerity message in a country struggling to deal with eight years of Brussels-enforced cutbacks.
Many in Athens were critical of the EU’s insistence that in return for financial aid bailouts, Greece needed to implement a strict austerity policy which saw savage cuts to public services, leading many Greeks into unemployment and poverty.
While Alexis Tsipras’ government ultimately failed to secure reforms from the Eurozone, many commentators noted that the Greek uprising had the potential to spark more left wing rebellion in other countries still reeling from austerity politics.
This fear among Europhiles was seemingly realized earlier this month when a Leftist coalition of parties in Portugal — once seen as the EU’s poster child of successful austerity — won enough votes to form a government.
While the coalition, headed by the center-left moderate socialists, have said they will abide by EU fiscal spending rules, leaders are set to defy Brussels by increasing public wages and boosting spending.
With Europe arguably facing its toughest test in many decades as a result of terrorism, immigration and economic problems, EU politics have proven to be even more volatile. Increasing numbers of voters are rejecting EU-aligned governments, which are seen by many as a symbol of failure, incapable of coping with Europe’s current ordeals.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Radicalized Muslim Ghettos Could be Source of More Terror Attacks
Muslim ghettos in France and Belgium which security experts warn are being radicalized and flooded with weapons could be the source of more terror attacks in Europe.
Reports are emerging today that authorities in Belgium carried out a heavily armed raid against suspected Islamists in Molenbeek, which is notorious for being a Muslim “no-go” area despite the mass media’s insistence that such places don’t exist.
As the New York Times reports, Belgium’s home affairs minister has acknowledged that the government does not “have control of the situation in Molenbeek,” which has been the source of numerous jihadist plots. The Independent reports that Molenbeek is a “police no-go zone that was home to two of the gunmen.”
Certain areas of Paris have also been labeled Muslim “no-go” zones since the 2005 riots, although when terror expert Steven Emerson made such a reference after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, he was ridiculed in the media and the Mayor of Paris sued Fox News over the remarks.
But in the aftermath of Friday’s devastating massacre, the threat of such ghettos being radicalized by jihadists must be treated as a primary concern by authorities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sturgeon Urges Scots to Stand Shoulder to Shoulder After Paris Attacks
Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland must “stand united, shoulder to shoulder” after visiting a mosque in light of the Paris terror attacks.
The First Minister observed a minute’s silence on Monday morning at the Glasgow Central Mosque in tribute to the victims of the French atrocities on Friday. She urged Scots to “not let the actions of the few destroy the safety of the many”.
Ms Sturgeon visited the mosque with justice secretary Michael Matheson and Humza Yousaf, the minister for Europe and international development, where she made a statement to the people of Scotland.
She said: “We must stand together as one and cabinet secretaries and ministers will be reinforcing this message to communities across Scotland.
“I urge people not to let these terrorists win by dividing us and driving a wedge between the multi-cultural society Scotland is home to. We are stronger when united and that is one of our strengths.”
“We are due to welcome Syrian refugees to Scotland tomorrow and we need to show that we are a country of compassion and acceptance.”
[These people are absolutely crackers.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorist Involved in Paris Attacks Was Previously Charged by Interpol
One of the Paris attacks terrorist was previosly charged, the French prosecutor François Molins said.
Fingerprints from one of the suicide bombers behind the attacks at the Stade de France in Paris matched the prints of a man registered in Greece in October, the prosecutor said on Monday.
It is known that International terrorism warrant was issued for one of the attackers by Interpol.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Makes Danish Firm Search for New Name
The Danish food producer Isis have launched a Facebook competition to change its name due to negative associations in the wake of the Paris attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trial Requested for Italian Jihadist Fatima, 10 Others
Woman reported in Syria with husband, joined ISIS
(ANSA) — Milan, November 16 — Milan prosecutors on Monday requested that Maria Giulia ‘Fatima’ Sergio and 10 other people, including her father Sergio and sister Marianna, be sent to trial for crimes including alleged criminal association for terrorism and aiding and abetting. Prosecutors allege that the 11 have joined ISIS. Fatima, a young convert to Islam, is reportedly in Syria with her Albanian jihadist husband.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
U.K. To Hire More Intelligence Officers to Fight Terrorism
The U.K. is to beef up its security services with an extra 1,900 intelligence officers as David Cameron’s government adapts to the prospect of a long fight against terrorism following the downing of a Russian passenger jet and the killings in Paris.
Britain’s intelligence agencies currently employ about 12,700 staff, split between MI5, which handles domestic security, MI6, responsible for overseas intelligence, and GCHQ, the communications monitoring service. Cameron will also double spending on aviation security, including on employees to assess security at foreign airports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A 43-year-old woman has been arrested over a ‘racially abusive’ message posted on a beauty salon’s Facebook page.
The woman has been named locally as April Major, the owner of the beauty business in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
The post, made following the terrorist attacks in Paris, said the salon is ‘no longer taking bookings from anyone from the Islamic faith’ , ‘whether you are UK granted with passport or not’.
It added: ‘Sorry but time to put my country first’.
Thames Valley Police arrested the woman yesterday after receiving a number of complaints about the message.
She has been released on bail until 30 November.
It was also met with criticism online, with social media users branding the person behind the post ‘racist’, ‘ignorant’ and ‘vile’.
Laura Burt wrote: ‘Thank God you have been arrested! Foul woman you deserve all you get!’
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Video Captures Five Children Launching a Vicious 20-Minute Attack on Grown Man
CCTV footage captured by Andrew Britton shows the moment a man was kicked, punched, stamped on and dragged to the floor by a gang of children in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
This is the moment a gang of five children launch a violent 20-minute attack on a grown man.
Shocking footage captures the moment the man was kicked, punched, stamped on and dragged to the floor by one of the gang.
The attack which happened at around 6.45pm on Tuesday may have lasted up to 20 minutes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Wakefield Man Sentenced for Knocking Out Sister’s Teeth in Row Forty Years Ago
Patrick Ackroyd, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, punched his sister Anita in an argument over John Lennon’s Christmas record Happy Xmas (War Is Over) when they were teenagers in December 1975.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Rows With Sweden Over Paris Comments
Israel has criticised “appallingly impudent” remarks by Sweden’s foreign minister after she drew a parallel between the Paris attacks and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The row emerged on Monday but related to comments made on Saturday, hours after Friday’s Paris attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, also known as Isis.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström told Swedish public broadcaster SVT that the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a factor of radicalisation in the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Authority Claims Israel Planned Paris Terror Attacks
The Palestinian Authority, while condemning the terror carried out Friday evening in Paris, blamed Israel for the horrific attacks and equated the Jewish State with the Islamic State.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah, its ruling party, both headed by PA head Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the terror attacks in Paris on Friday and blamed Israeli intelligence for carrying them out, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported.[…]
The PA leaders exploited the Paris attacks that killed 129 and wounded 350 — at least a third critically — to “draw an imaginary false parallel to Israel’s alleged terror against Palestinians and to repeat the allegation that Israel is like the Islamic State (ISIS) terror organization,” the watchdog said.
According to PMW, an op-ed in the official PA daily claimed that the Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence service, was behind the terror attacks in Paris, saying it “is not a coincidence that ‘blood is spilled in Paris’ at the same time that Europe decided to label Israeli products made in settlements.”
The terror attacks, the op-ed alleges, serve the “goals” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “hides in his soul enough evil to burn the world.”[…]
[and the Pallys and their alliies will believe it]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Bodies of 78 Women Who Were Shot and Buried by ISIS Found in Iraq
The grim discovery was made outside Sinjar, a northern Iraqi town near the Syrian border that was ruled by ISIS for more than a year before the extremists were driven out last week.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France Funded Syrian Rebels, aka Radical ISIS Terrorists, To Overthrow Assad
How many times will history have to repeat itself before something changes?
Watch a video of this report here:
Take a moment to read this short extract from The Guardian’s 2012 article, entitled ‘France funding Syrian rebels in new push to oust Assad’, where we have highlighted the points of most concern in bold font:
“France has emerged as the most prominent backer of Syria’s armed opposition and is now directly funding rebel groups around Aleppo as part of a new push to oust the embattled Assad regime.
Large sums of cash have been delivered by French government proxies across the Turkish border to rebel commanders in the past month, diplomatic sources have confirmed. The money has been used to buy weapons inside Syria and to fund armed operations against loyalist forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Futures Unclear, Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Start Family Planning
In a tent in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Sanaa al-Absi extracts a condom from its wrapper in front of a group of giggling Syrian refugee women and begins explaining its use.
It is the first time some of the women have seen the contraceptive, which they are learning about as part of a rare programme teaching Syrian refugees family planning in Lebanon.
The subject is a sensitive one, strewn with cultural, religious and even political landmines.
In much of the Middle East, large families are seen as a blessing from God, and contraception is regarded with scepticism or outright hostility…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Says it Shared Information That France, U.S., Iran Were Targets
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has said his country’s intelligence services shared information they had which indicated that France, the United States and Iran were among countries being targeted for attack.
He did not elaborate, but the comments came after 129 people were killed in Paris on Friday by gunmen and suicide bombers in attacks claimed by Islamic State.
“Information has been obtained from Iraqi intelligence sources that the countries to be targeted soon, before it occurred, are Europe in general, specifically France, as well as America and Iran,” Jaafari said from the sidelines of talks in Vienna on ending the war in Syria on Saturday.
He said the countries had been informed. A video of his comments was posted on his website.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Vows All Nations in Syria Air Strikes ‘Will Suffer France’s Fate’ In Video
Militants have threatened an attack on the US capital Washington DC in a new video which emerged as France paused for a minute’s silence to remember victims of the massacre in Paris.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: For Eastern Churches, Mideast Governments Can No Longer Guarantee Peace and Security
In their final statement, Lebanese patriarchs and bishops refer to the deadly attacks in Paris (and Beirut). They call on world powers to find “peaceful solutions” to conflicts, and ensure countries’ territorial unity. The prelate spoke about pastoral collaboration between the Eastern Churches, nullity of marriage and election of the Lebanon’s president.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — The Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon (ACPBL) issued a statement on Saturday at the end of its annual session (9-14 November), which was centred on “the pastoral cooperation among Catholic Churches in Lebanon”.
Notwithstanding strictly ecclesial concerns, the ACPBL session was taken up by geopolitical changes underway, the news of the terrible massacre in Paris, and the slaughter in Bourj el-Brajneh, both claimed by the Islamic State group, which the patriarchs and bishops condemned in the strongest terms.
Although coming at the end of the statement, the ACPBL’s geopolitical concerns reflect the fact that security is no longer within the reach of the region’s states. Thus, the ACPBL believes that “regional security has become an international responsibility”.
As it condemns the violence against Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq, the ACPBL also calls on the international community and the major powers to end the war and reach a “peaceful settlement” to the conflict “in accordance with international law, which ensures the rights of peoples and states as well as their territorial integrity.” This is a clear reference to partition plans for Syria, which the Eastern Churches oppose.
In his Sunday homily, the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara al-Rahi, strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris, whilst deploring the fact that some countries “financially and morally” support terrorist groups.
The head of the Maronite Church also referred to the duplicity of some states in the region whose relations with violent Islamic groups are at best ambiguous.
Pastoral issues
With respect to “pastoral cooperation among Eastern Churches”, the report says that participants “made concrete proposals likely to reinforce (this cooperation) in order to establish working mechanisms to strengthen the communion of Churches.” However, no indication was given about these concrete proposals.
Turning to the encyclical Laudato si’, the assembly largely ignored its social aspects in favour of its environmental component, as evidenced by the decision to entrust the follow-up to the encyclical to the “ACPBL health committee, which becomes hereafter the health and environment committee.”
The ACPBL also noted that the educational and hospital services provided by religious congregations, as well as Caritas-Liban (Lebanon), have been placed on alert. Likewise, government authorities have been urged to assume their social responsibilities, including paying arrears owed to free schools.
Finally, with respect to the motu proprio on simplifying and personalising the procedure of declaration of nullity of marriage, the Assembly listened to the explanations of the dean of the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota, Pio Vito Pinto. These provisions will be applied by the respective courts and bishops, when it comes into effect on 8 December, start of the Holy Year of mercy.
At home, the ACPBL is satisfied of the sitting of parliament on 12 and 13 November, stressing that “this Assembly cannot legislate during the period of presidential vacancy.”
For the patriarchs and bishops, the exception cannot become the rule. Their report in fact stresses the need to elect a new president as a “preamble to the process that leads to the common good.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Says Creating No-Fly Zones in Syria is Counterproductive
According to the US president, creating a no-fly zone in Syria will not help improve the situation in the region.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Imposing a no-fly zone in Syria to improve humanitarian situation in the region is counterproductive, US President Barack Obama said Monday at a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
“It is determined that it would be counterproductive to take those steps,” he said, referring to proposals to make the Syrian sky off limits to aviation.
Obama argued that the Islamic State (IS) militant group does not have planes. He added that “a true safe zone requires us to set up ground operations,” noting that the bulk of civilian casualties stemmed from ground operations.
It is important to limit the space in which the Islamic State extremist group can operate in Syria and put the country on path toward reconciliation to eliminate terrorist threat there, Obama stressed.
“Our ability to shrink the space in which they can operate combined with a resolution of the Syria situation, which will reduce the freedom with which they feel that they can operate, and getting local forces who are able to hold and keep them out over the long term — that ultimately is going what’s going to make a difference,” he said.
“It is going to take some time, but it is not something that at any stage in this process that we have not been aware needs to be done.”
The US president Barack also ruled out putting boots on the ground in Syria as part of an operation against Islamic State (IS, or ISIL) jihadist group.
“The military could march into Mosul or Raqqa or Ramadi and temporary clear out ISIL,” Obama said, adding this was not an option “unless if we are prepared to have a permanent occupation.”
He said that without “local populations that are committed to inclusive governance and who are pushing back against ideological extremes” Islamists would eventually resurface and “We would see a repetition of what we’ve seen before.”
The United States does not want embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad to play a role in the Syrian future, according to Obama.
“There are still disagreements between the parties, including, most critically, over the fate of Bashar Assad who we do not believe has a role in Syria’s future because of his brutal rule,” Obama said as he accused the Syrian leader of waging a war against his own people.
The US president added that Washington is working with France on a new agreement to share intelligence in light of the deadly attack by Islamist terrorists in Paris.
“Today we are announcing a new agreement. We are streamlining the process by which we share intelligence and operational military information with France,” he stated.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Oil Slump May Prompt U.A.E. Spending Cuts, Central Bank Says
The United Arab Emirates may cut government spending as a result of the slump in oil prices, Central Bank Governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori said.
The decline in the government’s oil revenue “may trigger further fiscal consolidation, albeit at a gradual pace, to preserve priority spending in support of non-oil growth,” Al Mansoori said at a conference in Dubai on Monday. Oil accounted for almost a third of the nation’s gross domestic product last year, government data show.
The price of Brent crude has dropped more than 40 percent in the past year, putting a strain on economies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, where governments rely on income from oil to fund spending.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide Bomber Blows Himself Up During Anti-ISIS Raid in G20-Host Turkey
A terrorist blew himself up, injuring five policemen during a raid against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in a Turkish city near the Syrian border, the local governor’s office says. Turkish soldiers are reported to have killed four Islamists.
The incident occurred on Saturday when members of the Turkish anti-terrorist forces broke into a supposed IS hideout in the city of Gaziantep, AP reports.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The French Campaign Begins: Hollande Launches “Massive Bombardment” Of ISIS Capital
Moments ago, reports began to surface on social media that the ISIS “capital” of Raqqa was under siege from the sky.
It wasn’t hard to guess whose planes were carrying out the strikes. As we noted ten days ago, in a statement by the French presidency following a meeting of its defense cabinet, the government said it would send its only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle warship, to the eastern Mediterranean for operations against Isis in both Syria and Iraq. And as you might imagine, that’s not the only place Paris has warplanes stationed in the region.
Just yesterday we said that with the only French aircraft carrier already en route to Syria, meant to support to mission against Assad ISIS, France is oddly prepared for an all out attack to take out the Syrian president. Most importantly, it now has the outraged, incensed public’s blessing to do just that.
Sure enough, we just got confirmation that France, with the help of US intelligence, has commenced a “major” bombing campaign against Raqqa.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Told France Twice About Bataclan Bomber
A Turkish official has told the Guardian that French authorities were informed twice about the suicide bomber Omar IsmaïlMostefai by Turkey, but only received an information request about him after the Paris attacks.
The official said Mostefai entered Turkey in 2013 and there is no record of him leaving the country.
On 10 October 2014, Turkey received an information request regarding four terror suspects from the French authorities, but Mostefai was not among them.
During an investigation, the Turkish authorities identified Mostefai and notified their French counterparts twice — in December 2014 and June 2015 — the official said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK Daily Mail Senior Reporter Nick Fagge Shows Forged Syrian Documents He Bought in Turkey
This morning I chanced to watch a Fox and Friends interview with UK Daily Mail Senior Reporter Nick Fagge who revealed how be bought forged Syrian documents in Southern Turkey for $2,000 in less than four days. For Fagge this was a reprise of a mid-September interview on Fox and Friends. It was prompted because of the Syrian passport found at the scene of a suicide bombing at the French soccer stadium last Friday. The passport purportedly belonged to an alleged Syrian refugee who entered the EU via Greece in early October 2015 as an alleged ISIS jihadi who infiltrated the refugee flood from Turkey. Fagge noted that a German security expert who asked to inspect his documents said that the forged identity card and driver’s license were easy to detect because of errors. However, the German expert indicated that the Syrian Passport was an authentic one but clearly forged with Fagge’s new identity. This raised a question about the representations by White House Deputy National Security Director, Ben Rhodes. Speaking from the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, he suggested that Syrian refugees admitted to this country were capable of being ‘thoroughly” vetted. Note this New York Post report:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
US Approves $1.29bn Sale of Bombs to Saudi Arabia
The US government has approved a request from Saudi Arabia to buy more than 19,000 bombs and smart bombs for its air force, the State Department said Monday.
Congress will have to green light the deal, but the $1.29 billion dollar sale is likely to go through, with Saudi jets in action against rebel forces in Yemen.
The Saudi-led operation against the Huthi militia in Yemen has proved controversial, amid frequent reports of civilian casualties on the ground.
But Washington has stood by its ally, which is also a key player in the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group further north in Iraq and Syria…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Financed From Within 40 Countries Says Putin
Russian chief ‘shared intel with G20 partners’
(ANSA) — Moscow, November 16 — Islamic State (ISIS) extremists are being financed by individuals from within 40 countries, including G20 ones, Russian President Vladmir Putin said Monday at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
Putin added he has shared Russian intelligence on terrorist financing with fellow G20 nations at the summit.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Reveals Thwarted ‘Hand Cream’ Bombing Before Sochi
A senior Russian official on Monday revealed the thwarting of a possible attack before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, saying female suicide bombers had planned to smuggle explosives onto an aircraft in hand cream.
Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov, who has responsibility for counter-terrorism, said the suspected attackers were detained in Austria and France.
Syromolotov, a veteran of Russia’s FSB security service who took up his Foreign Ministry post this year, stressed that international security cooperation had helped to keep the Sochi Olympics safe.
His appearance Monday followed the deadly attacks in Paris and came as Moscow has been urging the West to join forces with Russia in the fight against international terrorism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: Moscow: Proposal to Manage Debt
Gazprom, pre-paid gas enough just for 4 days
(ANSA) — MOSCOW — Moscow hopes to reach a compromise on the Ukrainian debt, amounting to 3 billion dollars, and has offered a proposal to resolve the dispute, according to Russian Finance Minister Antono Siluanov, who spoke on the sidelines of the G20 summit. “Russia has made an offer on the procedure for debt payment. This proposal will be interesting and will prepare the ground to resolve this issue”, he said, reiterating that debt restructuring, according to conditions set by commercial creditors remains “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, pre-paid gas from Kiev will be enough just for four days, according to Gazprom’s CEO, Alexiei Miller, who added that he has no information on new payments.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
India to Spend $25 Billion on 127 Russian Stealth Fighter Jets
The interdependence between the BRICS nations is growing week by week.
India is set to spend a massive $25 Billion on 127 Sukhoi T-50 5G fighter jets. India’s deal with France for a similar number of Rafale jets has recently stalled.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boost for Chinese Nuclear Technology as Argentina Signs US$15 Billion Deal
China’s nuclear technology sector has made an important inroad to overseas markets with the signing of a US$15 billion deal with Argentina at the G20 summit in Turkey.
Its largest nuclear operator will help build two power plants in the South American country over 18 years, under the deal signed on Sunday.
The deal follows the signing last week of a technical cooperation agreement between nuclear energy regulators in South Africa and China amid controversial efforts by Africa’s most industrialised economy to build eight reactors.
South Africa intends to select this year an international partner to build the reactors, aimed at ending the regular electricity blackouts that have hobbled the country’s economic growth, its energy minister said in May.
Five nations — China, Russia, France, the United States and South Korea — have been shortlisted to compete for the contract, worth up to US$50 billion.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: Yakuza Gang Boss ‘Bludgeoned to Death’
A gang boss in Japan’s Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate was bludgeoned to death on Sunday, according to reports.
Tatsuyuki Hishida’s wife and fellow gang members found him collapsed and bleeding at a house in Mie prefecture, the Mainichi Shimbun said.
Hishida’s hands and feet were reportedly tied, and his head appeared to have been hit with a blunt object.
The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest organised crime group, split in two in September.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Killed Australian ISIL Fighter’s Wife Pleads Guilty for Terrorism Support
The wife of an Islamic State jihadist militant reportedly killed in Syria has pled guilty for supporting terrorism in Australia, local media reported Monday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Fatima Elomar was arrested in May 2014 in an attempt to board a plane to Malaysia with four of her children. Media outlets cited court documents as saying Mohamed and Fatima traded messages using mobile phone applications, where the husband requested clothing apparel and other items to bring to Syria.
“[Fatima] Elomar, 31, pleaded guilty to providing support for Islamic State during a brief appearance at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court,” the ABC broadcaster reported.
Elomar’s husband Mohamed travelled to Syria in 2013 and is believed to have been killed in a drone strike in June this year either in Iraq or Syria.
Elomar is due to be sentenced on April 1, 2016, according to the broadcaster.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ENI Discovers Oil Off Congo Coastline
(AGI) San Donato Milanese, Nov 5 — Eni has discovered a new gas and condensate field off the coast of Congo, in the drilling district of Nkala Marine, situated in Block Marine XII, approximately 20 kilometres from the coast and 3 kilometres from the Nene Marine production area. The discovery was made through the Nkala Marine 1 well, and offers a potential of 250-300 million barrels of oil equivalent on site. During the production trial, the well generated over 300,000 cubic metres of gas per day, with condensate. The drilling, at a sea depth of 38 metres, found the yield in the pre-saline clastic geological sequence of the inferior Cretacic Age, through a 240-metre column of hydrocarbons. Eni will commence the assessment phase in Nkala Marine, through new contouring wells.
Together with its partners, Eni will also embark on a commercial development research programme in the Marine XII district. A corporate communique announced that pre-salt sequence exploration is still making new discoveries along the West Africa rim, thus confirming the effectiveness of Eni’s exploration technologies on geologically complex areas. Eni has estimated the onsite oil and gas resources of the pre-salt discoveries made in the Marine XII Block as 5.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe). Production in the Block, which began in last December, is growing and currently stands at around 15,000 bboe per day. Through its Eni Congo branch, the company is the operator of the Marine XII BLock with a 65 percent share. The other partners are New Age with a 25 percent share, and the Congolese state-owned company Societe Nationale des Petroles du Congo (SNPC) holding 10 percent. Eni has been working in Congo since 1968, producing currently about 110,000 bboe per day. In the sub-Saharan Africa since the 60s, the company also works in Angola, Congo, Ghana, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, Ivory Coast and South Africa — amounting to some 450,000 bboe. The whole area boasts organic growth, due to the numerous effective exploration projects.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mr Y’aakobi said the incident happened ‘only because I am Jewish’
A border official drew a penis and wrote ‘Long live Palestine’ on an Israeli man’s passport, it has been claimed.
A picture of Tal Y’aakobi’s passport shows a drawing of a penis alongside the words ‘Viva Palestinia’ written alongside it, which translates to ‘Long live Palestine.’
The 25-year-old, from Rosh HaAyin, Israel, claims to have received the unusual stamping from a Chilean border official after crossing the border from Argentina while travelling.
Mr Y’aakobi told The Independent: “From the first moment, the guy at the border was hostile, and threw my passport in front of my face. They then detained us for an hour and a half on purpose until we moved.”
“There was no reason to do this, only because I am Jewish.”
Mr Y’aakobi says he didn’t notice the marking until four or five days later, and thus did not raise the matter with any officials.
After returning to Israel, he had to order a new passport which cost him 1230 shekels (just over £200).
The story was first reported by the Jewish Chronicle after journalist Itay Blumental from the Israeli-based Ynet News tweeted the photo. The incident happened while Mr Y’aakobi was travelling the continent two years ago.
Neither the Chilean or Israeli embassy in London provided a comment when contacted by The Independent.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The voters of Argentina will have a major choice to make in the upcoming November 22nd runoff presidential elections. The choice is between Daniel Scioli, who is favored by the current president Cristina Kirchner, and his opponent Mauricio Macri. Each man has different visions for the future of Argentina. Mr. Scioli, a former vice president is close to President Kirchner and as such would continue most of her foreign and domestic policies. Mr. Macri, who was a businessman and now the current mayor of Buenos Aires, would be a departure from Kirchnerism and says he would support free markets and a more centrist foreign policy.
In the first round of presidential elections that took place on October 25, contrary to all expectations, Mr. Scioli from the ruling party, Front for Victory (Frente para la Victoria) received almost 37% of the vote while Mr. Macri took over 34% of the vote.
Supporters of Mr. Scioli were not sure whether Mr. Scioli would win in the first round or in the runoff but they were confident about his victory. But the results ended in a setback for the ruling party and at this point, based on the polls, Mr. Scioli is not likely to win. The Front for Victory also lost the Province of Buenos Aires, where Mr. Scioli is still the governor, to Maria Eugenia Vidal, a woman who until a few months ago was completely unknown.
Since October 25, the ruling party is in a state of panic. As a result, Mr. Scioli is making populist pledges promising that the value of the dollar will be brought to less than 10 Argentinean pesos. Scioli also promised to adopt part of the platform of another party, United for a New Alternative (Unidos por una Nueva Alternativa) led by Sergio Massa, a former chief of staff of Mrs. Kirchner. Massa created UNA in coalition with the Christian Democrats, whose leader is Jose Manuel de la Sota, a three times Governor of the Province of Cordoba, also a Peronist like Kirchner but who also broke and distanced himself from Kirchner…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) Most people live in a Truman Show bubble of false reality, played out for them by the mainstream media and tightly controlled by the internet’s gatekeepers such as Youtube and Google.
To prevent you from learning the truth about what’s really happening with the wave of refugees and ISIS terrorists in Europe, YouTube has been desperately and rapidly censoring every instance of a must-see video entitled “With Open Gates — The forced collective suicide of European nations.”
This shocking, eye-opening video is an absolute MUST SEE for every citizen on our planet. It unveils the shocking, horrifying truth of how European nations are now being overrun by an invasion of refugees who intend to overrun western civilization and destroy Europe as we know it today.
Google and everybody else desperately trying to shut this video down
When I tried to view this video on YouTube, every single instance was censored by a bogus “copyright claim” from a dubious organization. The intent was clear: YouTube (owned by Google) was intentionally seeking to prevent the public from seeing this eye opening video.
When I went to Vimeo to find the same video, the instance that I found was scrubbed from Vimeo before I could download it. Even Vimeo is in on the act, it seems, desperately making sure the public can’t see this video.
I finally managed to get a mirrored copy of the video from an obscure video site in Europe. Now, in the interests of Fair Use and public comment, I’ve posted the entire video on TV.NaturalNews.com where it won’t be censored.
Click here to view the full film now on TV.NaturalNews.com (Note: This video won’t play on FireFox browsers. Use a different browser to view it.)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: 400,000 Arrivals in Two Months
Almost the half trasferred to Hungary, others went to Slovenia
(ANSA) — BRUSSELS, NOV. 16 — About 400,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Croatia in the last two months, since September 16, when the border between Serbia and Hungary was closed, Croatia’s Interior Ministry reported. About 180,000 of these migrants were transferred to Hungary during the first month, and another 220,000, after the construction of the barbed wire fence along the Croatian-Hungarian border, came from Croatia to enter Slovenia.
On November 2, a transit and reception camp suitable for cold weather was opened. According to Croatian authorities, the influx of migrants is not expected to decrease in the coming months.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Does Soros Want to Inflame Revolution in Europe?
Soros shares part of the blame for bolstering the migrant influx.
It looks like notorious billionaire George Soros wants to inflame an all-out revolution in Europe, Polish political analyst Adriel Kasonta notes. George Soros, a Hungarian-born American business magnate, apparently despises the idea of national sovereignty, considering it an obstacle to his new “open borders” agenda.
“A few weeks ago, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused the billionaire financier of funding activists trying to encourage the continued flow of refugees heading to the continent from the Middle East and beyond,” Adriel Kasonta, an editorial board member at the Central European Journal of International and Security Studies, writes in his article for the American Conservative.
Kasonta notes that Orban has nailed it, since the statement voiced by the Hungarian Prime Minister in fact expressed the emotions of many Europeans regarding the continent’s place in the world and the future of national sovereignty.According to the Polish analyst, a recent report of the International Organization for Migration has indicated that around 760,979 asylum seekers have poured into Europe this year. Furthermore, about 218,394 migrants reached European shores in October, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
It this does sound alarming since the total number of migrants and refugees that arrived in Europe in 2014 amounted to just 219,000.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Governor Rick Scott requested a halt to federal funding of the scheduled resettlement of 425 Syrian Refugees in the Sunshine State. This follows similar actions by Republican gubernatorial colleagues in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts Michigan, and Texas. He sent a letter this afternoon to US House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell and all members of the Florida US Senate and Congressional delegation outlining his concerns. He adds his concerns regarding the ability of the Administration to vett Syrian refugees to prevent the possible infiltration of ISIS jihadis as occurred last weekend in Paris. The Syrian passport of a suicide bomber or shahids (martyr) was found at the Paris soccer stadium a check of which revealed his entry into the EU via Greece in early October, 2015
In his letter to House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell, Governor Scott expressed his concerns:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Coast Guard Rescues 1,244 Migrants in Aegean Sea
Thousands continue to arrive on the Greek islands
(ANSA) — ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say 1,244 refugees and economic migrants have been rescued from frail craft in danger over the past three days in the Aegean Sea, as thousands continue to arrive on the Greek islands.
A coast guard statement Monday said rescuers responded to a total 34 incidents since Friday morning, near the islands of Lesbos — where most migrants head — Chios, Samos, Kos, Kalolimnos and Megisti.
The count does not include thousands more people who safely made the short but often deadly crossing from nearby Turkey’s western coast.
Greece is the main point of entry for hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in Europe. Several hundreds have drowned making the crossing, which is arranged by smuggling gangs in Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Approves ‘Last’ Round of Ethiopian Immigration
The Israeli government on Sunday approved a proposal to allow the immigration of thousands of Ethiopians claiming Jewish descent, two years after saying that none remained there.
“Today we’ve made an important decision, to bring here the last descendants of the communities with an affinity to Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel brought the bulk of Ethiopia’s Jewish community to the country between 1984 and 1991 under the Law of Return guaranteeing citizenship to all Jews.
Sunday’s decision refers to the group known as Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, many under duress, in the 18th and 19th centuries…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Shields ‘Innocent’ Refugees as Critic Backs Terror Fight
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed back against critics of her open-door policy on refugees, saying those fleeing war zones shouldn’t have to bear the blame for the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Merkel’s comments at a Group of 20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, were a rebuff to domestic opponents who cited the slaughter in the French capital as evidence that the chancellor must reverse her stance and turn people away. A statement by the Greek authorities raising the possibility that one assailant entered Europe posing as a refugee raised the pressure on Merkel still further.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Michigan Governor Stops Effort to Settle ‘Refugees’
(DETROIT FREE PRESS) — LANSING — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he is suspending efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Michigan in light of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday.
“Given the terrible situation in Paris, I’ ve directed that we put on hold our efforts to accept new refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security completes a full review of security clearances and procedures,” Snyder said in a statement released by his office on Sunday.
“Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration,” the statement said. “But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands New Refugee Total Hits 11,700 in October
A record 11,700 people requested asylum in the Netherlands in October, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday. The figure also includes 1,800 family members who have applied to join their relatives in the Netherlands, the CBS said.
Of the total, 6,400 came from Syria, including 1,200 family members. The total number of Iraqi refugees reached just over 1,000…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Urges Not to Equate Refugees to Terrorists After Paris Attacks
US President Barack Obama urged on Monday to avoid mixing up problems like terrorism and the refuge crisis after last Friday’s terrorist attack in the French capital.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Speaking on the margins of the G20 summit in Syria, Obama said that it was important that we “do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.”
In September, President Obama announced that the United States planned to accept some 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016.
“Even as we accept more refugees, including Syrians, we subject them to rigorous screening and security checks,” Obama said, reminding reporters that many of these refugees are themselves victims of terrorism in their home countries.
“Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values. Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security. We can and must do both,” the president emphasized.
A series of near-simultaneous attacks on restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France in Paris killed some 130 people and injuring over 350 last Friday. Media reports transpired over the weekend that several of Islamist militants came to Europe among a huge stream of refugees.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Allow 10,000 Migrants Into U.S. Despite Paris Attacks
President Obama still plans to accept 10,000 migrants into the U.S. despite the recent Paris attacks linked to migrants associated with ISIS.
Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told Fox News Sunday that the administration was “still planning to take in Syrian refugees” over the next year.
“We have very robust vetting procedures for those refugees,” he claimed. “It involves our intelligence community, our National Counterterrorism Center, extensive interviews, vetting them against all the available information.”
But the FBI already admitted the U.S. can’t vet all the migrants for terror ties.
[Comment: Vetting, just like France vetted?]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Plan for Syrian Refugees Scrambled by State Opposition
“The resistance at the state level is coalescing at a rapid clip. So far, governors in at least 16 states have moved to suspend or restrict the refugee resettlement, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.
“Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees — any one of whom could be connected to terrorism — being resettled in Texas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a letter to Obama.
“Some of these states previously did not object to the refugee plan. But Friday night’s terror attack in Paris, which left at least 129 people dead, fueled fears that Islamic State militants are moving into Europe as part of the wave of refugees escaping the civil war, and could eye America next. “
“I think it would be highly irresponsible to bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees at this point in time,” McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News.
He said: “We know ISIS in their own words have said ‘we want to exploit this program to infiltrate the West’ and that’s exactly what they did.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Over 20% of Refugees to EU May Have Links to ISIL — Syrian Envoy to India
Over 20 percent of asylum seekers arriving in Europe may have ties with IS-affiliated groups, the Syrian ambassador to India told Sputnik Monday.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — In early September, media reported, citing an unnamed ISIL operative, that an estimated 4,000 covert ISIL terrorists had arrived to Europe disguised as refugees.
“Among the refugees, who went to Europe, maybe more than 20 percent belong to ISIL groups. Now Europe has received bad element into their ground. They will face further problem in future,” Riad Abbas said, commenting on recent deadly terrorist acts in Paris on November 13.
According to the diplomat, terrorism has penetrated everywhere in Europe.
“Now Europe is under the pressure. Although Syrian peoples are suffering but the fact is that since terrorism has no boundaries it can reach any country,” he said, adding that all the countries must unite to combat extreme violence against civilians.
Syrians who fled their homeland due to the ongoing civil war will return to their cities and their work, Abbas noted.
The Paris terror attacks left at least 132 dead and over 350 injured, 99 critically.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks in the French capital. According to media reports, at least two suspects have been in Syria at some time in the past.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks Intensify Migrant Debate in EU
With the continent facing its biggest migration crisis since World War II, EU states have bickered for months on how to stem the flow and share out the new arrivals.
There have been steady calls from the right — and more emerged Sunday — for nations to be wary of the wave of people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
“Not every refugee is an Islamic State terrorist. But to believe that there is not a single fighter among the refugees is naive,” Markus Soeder, a politician with the conservative Bavarian party CSU told the German press on Sunday.
“Paris changed everything” and “this is no time for uncontrolled immigration,” said Soeder, whose party has been critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s accommodating stance on refugees…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Massacre Highlights the Failure of Muslim Integration in Europe
The attack in the heart of France highlights the crisis of Europe’s model of coexistence. Social unrest, poverty and marginalisation feed youth extremism and radicalisation. A New Zealander journalist, expert on expertise in religion and interfaith dialogue, talks about it after undertaking a journey through the French Muslim world.
Paris (AsiaNews) — The Paris massacre highlights once again the crisis of the model of coexistence between the West and the Muslim world, laying bare the full extent of the failure of the model of integration of young Muslims, in particular in European societies where marginalisation and poverty have become a pretext for radicalisation and the rediscovery of religion as the answer to all social ills. To take stock of the French situation, AsiaNews asked a New Zealander journalist for her thoughts on the issue.
Catherine Field, a Paris-based journalist, has a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Science from the Institut catholique de Paris. She is an expert in social studies and interreligious dialogue. In the first months of this year, she completed an 18-month research project with the University of Cambridge centred on the revival of religion in the public sphere in England and France.
In 2010, I set out on a journey to learn more about the Muslim community here in France and view, from a journalist perspective, inter-religious dialogue. It was a journey that was meant to last five months. But it continues to this day. I have visited mosques, Islamic cultural institutes and madrasas in Paris and its suburbs to understand more about religious landscape in France. At the outset, I joined four Catholic priests and seven lay Catholics delegate to expand their knowledge of Islam and to nurture inter-religious dialogue.
Once a week, the group met with imams, educators and social workers, with each side seeking to understand a bit about the other. To this day, I am still in contact with members of the group. I watch from the sidelines now though, curious at how despite the goodwill of so many inter-religious dialogue still has a long road ahead in France.
Looking at France’s religious communities close up means confronting two unique sides of French life. Two religious communities sharing the same country, but who rarely seemed to meet. On one side, those from the Christian majority, comforted by their ancient roots in France and a cultural, social and economic capital amassed over centuries. On the other, members of the Islamic religion followed by immigrants and their descendants — faster growing than Catholicism, but lacking the confidence, knowledge base and advantages of the native religion.
Some remarkable figures are behind this attempt at dialogue. One is Mohamed-Ali Bouharb, who in 2005 became the first Muslim chaplain to the National Gendarmerie, part of the defence ministry. In his daily work, Bouharb wrangles with his military superiors, often having to explain to them simple things such as religious rituals, practices and diet, and administered to Muslim troops fretting over being sent to fight in Afghanistan or the Sahal.
Another is Hubert de Charge, who has spent more than a decade trying to bring Catholic and Muslim communities together. A quiet, charming and gentle man from an aristocratic family, de Charge had a brother, Christian, who was one of seven Cistercian monks kidnapped and murdered in Algeria in 1996. The monks’ severed heads were found but their bodies have never been recovered.
Despite the skills of these bridge-builders, reality always seems to get in the way. There is lots of talk, but little common ground, and words rarely seem to be followed by action. Neither side seems to want to give ground, move out of their comfort zone.
One particular meeting stands out as an example of the extent of the work that still needs to be done. I visited a madrasa, an Islamic educational and cultural institute, in the grimy suburb of Saint Denis. Here, shoddy high-rise housing estates, thrown up in the 1960s and 70s to accommodate the influx of cheap manual labour from North Africa, are dotted around the ancient basilica where the kings and queens of France are buried.
The madrasa is located in an industrial estate built during the “Trente Glorieuses” economic boom of half a century ago, carved up by a four-lane highway — a no-man’s-land of wind-strewn fast-food wrappers where even the graffiti looked tired.
In an evening class, teachers explain to a group of young Muslim in their twenties about aspects of French life. They do not talk about the freedoms and concepts so important to France’s intellectuals, nor about the arts and food that are so important to its bourgeois bohemians. Instead, it is the basic stuff of survival: how to deal with bureaucracy at the town hall. Women sit on one side of the classroom. Men on the other.
I spoke at length with the madrasa’s deputy head, an Algerian-born man who I thought looked wary of tokenism. He aired a long list of problems. Not enough was being done to integrate young Muslims into French society, he said. “You French do not understand us,” he said — the words of the eternal outsider.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Bomber Sneaked Into Europe as Refugee Because Every Arrival is Given Papers
Documents show how Ahmad Almohammad was arrested on Leros after being saved from a sinking raft filled with migrants, but was let go and given a permit allowing him to get a ferry to mainland Europe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks: US States Halt Taking Syrian Refugees
More than a dozen US states say Syrian refugees are no longer welcome due to security fears after the Paris attacks.
Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan said he was suspending the acceptance of new arrivals until after a review.
Alabama, Texas and several other states issued similar statements but a State Department spokesman said the legality of this action was still unclear.
President Barack Obama has urged the US to “step up and do its part” to help those fleeing the civil war.
“Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Crisis Could Boost Swedish Economy
Economists from Swedish bank Nordea have suggested that the nation’s economy will grow by 0.5 percent as Sweden continues to take in record numbers of refugees fleeing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Some Republicans Push to Block Funding for Syrian Refugees
A growing political war of words over whether to take in Syrian refugees in the wake of last week’s terror attack in Paris may be morphing into the next government shutdown showdown.
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions sent a letter to colleagues Monday urging them to support adding language to the next government spending bill that would effectively block President Barack Obama’s plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year. Obama on Monday said he intends to go forward with his plan, despite numerous calls from Republican presidential candidates and governors that he scrap it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Migration Agency May Stop Accepting Syrian Passports Over Forgery Concerns
Sweden’s Migration Agency is considering not accepting Syrian passports as a valid proof of identity, as the Islamic State terrorist group is manufacturing and selling them on the black market.
According to Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT’s program Agenda, anyone can take advantage of the chaotic situation in Syria to buy a new identity online.
“As far as I can see, it’s a pretty open market when it comes to the trade of these IDs. It’s most likely not only passports, but also other types of identification. This is nothing new to us,” Jan Westman, head of biometrics and ID analysis at the Migration Agency, tells SVT.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Refugees Climb Over Fence; Police Intensify Surveillance
Police have stepped up their efforts to try to keep a closer eye on the Migration Agency’s facility in Malmö after some refugees have been reported escaping in order to avoid registering as asylum seekers in Sweden, reports news agency TT.
Anders Ygeman (Social Democrat), Sweden’s Minister of Home Affairs, told TT that this is not how it’s supposed to work. Only last week, he announced that Sweden would be instituting internal border controls, which would prevent refugees from passing through Sweden on the way to seek asylum elsewhere. The border checks went into effect on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Govt ‘Steadfastly Committed’ To Obama’s Syrian Refugee Resettlement Plan
US Department of State spokesperson Eric Toner said that the US government continues to support President Barack Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by 2016 despite calls from governor’s around the United States to halt the resettlement program.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US government continues to support President Barack Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by 2016 despite calls from governor’s around the United States to halt the resettlement program, US Department of State spokesperson Eric Toner said on Monday.
“We remain steadfastly committed to the president’s plan to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States in FY [fiscal year] 2016, we think we can do this safely and in a way that represents the best of American values,” Toner stated during a press briefing.
The United States also subjects refugees fleeing the war in Syria to the most intensive security checks of any category of immigrant, US State Department said.
“These refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States,” Toner said. “These Syrian refugees go through…[an] additional form of security screenings.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US State of Alabama Refuses to Accept Syrian Refugees After Paris Attacks
According to the Office of Alabama Governor, US state of Alabama has stated its intention to refuse Syrian refugees following the recent attacks in Paris.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US state of Alabama has stated its intention to refuse Syrian refugees following the recent attacks in Paris, the Office of Alabama Governor said in a press release.
On Friday night, extremists attacked several venues across Paris, killing at least 132 people and injuring over 350 at restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium. According to media reports, at least two suspects have been in Syria at some time in the past.
“After full consideration of this weekend’s attacks of terror on innocent citizens in Paris, I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” Gov. Robert Bentley said as quoted in the press release on Sunday.
As of today, Alabama has not accepted any Syrian refugees, however, several have been relocated to neighboring states, according to the press release.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The conflict between government forces and rebels, exacerbated by jihadist groups active in the region, has killed some 230,000 and forced over four million Syrians to flee the country, primarily to neighboring states and Europe.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iain Lee labelled Bible verses ‘homophobic’ during a heated debate with Libby Powell from campaign group Christian Concern on BBC Three Counties Radio — and described her as a ‘bigot’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India is set to spend a massive $25 Billion on 127 Sukhoi T-50 5G fighter jets. India’s deal with France for a similar number of Rafale jets has recently stalled.
India has the most under nourished children in the world. Am I alone in thinking this is a shade immoral?
All we get from India in response is a load of grievance mongering about colonisation.
Re: “With Open Gates”. I use Firefox, and was able to watch. However I gave up after a few minutes, as the rapid-fire editing and lack of information as to date, location and context felt like being bludgeoned.
Israel has criticised “appallingly impudent” remarks by Sweden’s foreign minister after she drew a parallel between the Paris attacks and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The row emerged on Monday but related to comments made on Saturday, hours after Friday’s Paris attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, also known as Isis.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström told Swedish public broadcaster SVT that the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a factor of radicalisation in the Middle East.
THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL ELITE NEVER MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISPLAY THEIR ANTI-SEMITISM.
With respect to your lead for today–Nullification did not die with the War between the States. It has already raised its head years ago with CA allowing pot, and most recently with several states stating they would not enforce federal gun law. This country is not lost, it just takes a lot to get our attention. But like bombing Pearl Harbor, once you have our attention–look out! I’m afraid it will get ugly in the next few years. Bundy ranch was a curtain-riser.
You’re right it will Get Ugly…but we will face the huge numbers of enforcers in the permanent bureaucracy. Bundy ranch was the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and they’re aggressive in doing what they want. Have made an arrangement with a rancher to “adopt” wild mustangs that BLM want reduced. The law says that any culls must be routed to humanitarian people who want them (and there are a LOT of those) but instead this lone rancher gets them and makes a killing, so to speak, from selling them to Mexican meat processors. Not everyone has the American distaste for horse meat.
Meanwhile,RRW has a post on the push-back from those VOLAGs who stand to lose a lot of money should the well of Syrian refugees they’ve been promised dry up:
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/refugee-contractors-go-into-defense-mode-with-conference-call-today/
Don’t forget, these “faith-based” “charity” groups get a per-head price on each refugee they settle in. They do NOT want this cash cow to stop giving milk. As with any bureaucracy they need a reason for being.
The last I read yesterday, there were 23-24 governors saying “No” including the one Dem in New Hampshire–one of them also commented “But there’s no way we can stop them (the feds” One southwestern state has instructed its police, etc. to “prevent” it–I am not sure how.
It’s up to 26. And these governors are very tetchy about their prerogatives, especially if anything affects them politically… I never saw anyone turn on a dime so fast as did Michigan’s governor re this issue. He has a huge Arab population and they couldn’t wait for the 25,000 “Syrians” he promised to deliver. After Paris, he immediately said “no way”
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/11/15/snyder-suspends-efforts-settle-syrian-refugees/75825736/
The same newspaper, Detroit Free Press, was full of stories like this one from September:
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/09/30/syrian-refugees-detroit-michigan-syria-war/72811502/
Remember that the state governors willing to buck some of the more expensive aspects of ObamaCare did so. It is possible to say no to Uncle. Vermont was the only state to refuse those co-ops.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/12/vermont-regulator-who-killed-obamacare-co-op-has-no-regrets/
Common Sense. When I see photos coming out of the migration of the HORDES of mostly military age Muslim men, it gives me pause. There are a few children here &there, mighty few. Same story when it comes to women. – Only thing, these “folks”,as Hussein Obama calls them, don’t hesitate to use women & children for suicide bombers! – This is serious business!
It rubs me the wrong way when Hussein Obama condescendingly tells me that I just have some NOTION or the other about this situation! – This “Jihadist” stuff just does not cut it with us. – It makes me irritated that I’ve had to dig out my grandfather’s old Smith & Wesson, clean it, load it, and
do target practice; but guess it’s high time I did that anyway.