Austria is in the process of erecting a border fence with its southern neighbor, Slovenia. When complete the fence will be 3.7km (2.3mi) long. It is the first barrier erected between two member states of the free-movement Schengen Area.
In other news, J.K. Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” books, says that the U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump is “worse than Voldemort”, referring to the fictional villain featured in her books.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dora, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, Matt Bracken, Oz-Rita, Steen, 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.
Fear Grips Market as Oil Leads Commodity Crash
Brent crude prices have crashed below $40 a barrel for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis as Opec floods the market to drive out rivals, with a parallel drama unfolding across the gamut of industrial metals.
The Bloomberg commodity index has fallen to within a whisker of lows last seen in 1998 and has now dropped by two-thirds from its peak, wiping out the entire gains of the resource supercycle. What China giveth, China taketh away.
While plummeting commodity prices can be a warning sign that the world economy is heading into recession, the latest sell-off has a different character.
The slump is chiefly due to excess production, and amounts to a “positive supply shock” that should boost global recovery.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Funds ‘Not Necessary’ For Greek Bailout: Tsipras
(ATHENS) — IMF funds are no longer necessary for an international bailout of Greece due to reduced loan requirements and the Washington-based lender’s “unconstructive” position, the country’s prime minister argued Monday.
“I have the impression that IMF funding is not necessary” for the bailout, Greek premier Alexis Tsipras said in an interview with public broadcaster Et1.
Greece in July obtained a three-year 86-billion-euro ($93-billion) rescue from its eurozone partners. The International Monetary Fund has so far not contributed to the aid programme, and has said it could decide in January whether it will do so.
The bailout included 25 billion euros to recapitalise Greece’s cash-starved banks, but the final figure required turned out to be dramatically lower than that, and as a result, “it therefore needs less money”, said Tsipras.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ratings of 12 Major Companies Reflects Russian Economic Recovery — Moody’s
The ratings outlook on the financing of 12 Russian utility and infrastructure companies has been raised from negative to stable, the New York-based Moody’s Investors Service said in a statement.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The actions follow Moody’s change of the outlook on Russia’s government Ba1/Not Prime (NP) bond rating to stable from negative on December 3. It reflects the stabilization of Russia’s external finances and the diminished likelihood of the Russian economy or finances facing a further shock in the next 12-18 months, the statement noted.
“Moody’s Investors Service changed to stable from negative the outlook on the ratings of 12 Russian utility and infrastructure companies government-related issuers (GRIs) and their subsidiaries,” the statement said on Monday. “Concurrently, Moody’s has affirmed these ratings.”
The companies include RusHydro, Atomenergoprom, Inter RAO and Transneft, according to the statement.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Car Sales Plunge Most in 2015 as Ruble Undercuts Demand
Russian car sales plummeted the most this year as a weakening ruble worsens the slump.
November sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles fell 42.7 percent from a year earlier after a 38.5 percent drop in October, the Association of European Businesses in Moscow said in a statement on Tuesday. The median of six estimates in a Bloomberg survey was for a 43 percent decline.
Car sales have slid for 11 months as consumer demand collapsed, threatening to push the economy into a second year of recession. The ruble’s weakening has spurred inflation and undercut household purchasing power, the main growth driver for more than a decade.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump is ‘Worse Than Voldemort’, Says Harry Potter Author JK Rowling
The author of the Harry Potter books, JK Rowling, has weighed in on the issue, saying Donald Trump is not comparable to Lord Voldemort — he is worse.
But others have pointed out that Mr Trump has not murdered anyone.
The fictional character Lord Voldemort dedicated a large portion of his life to killing a young boy — Harry Potter — because of a prophecy.
He also had a hateful murder campaign against ‘Mudbloods’ — people without ‘pure’ wizard blood, and did not respect ‘Muggles’, non-magical humans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump: Police ‘Afraid for Their Lives’ In ‘Radicalised’ London
Comments by US presidential hopeful Donald Trump that parts of London are “so radicalised the police are afraid for their lives” have been attacked as outrageous and appalling.
The Republican nomination contender made the remarks in a TV interview, following his call for Muslims to be banned from entering the US.
He also said Paris is “no longer the same city it was”.
The mayor of London said the comments were “complete and utter nonsense”.
Boris Johnson said the remarks were ill-informed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump’s Muslim US Ban Call Roundly Condemned
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has provoked condemnation from across the political spectrum, by saying Muslims should be banned from entering the US.
Republicans, Democrats, Muslim leaders, the UN and foreign leaders criticised the call as dangerous and divisive.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal icon targeted Germans, Italians, and Japanese in wartime.
So Donald Trump saying that there should be a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” makes him some sort of crazy, dangerous guy?
If liberals — and even, astonishingly — some Republicans believe this? Wow. What in the world to then make of President Franklin D. Roosevelt? FDR, if one takes in the current wisdom, was Trump on steroids.
For those who read history, and alas, perhaps lots of people who should do not, there was FDR in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the U.S. into war with Germany, Italy, and Japan doing the following things that would make Donald Trump look like a nerdy weakling.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Google’s Chairman Wants Algorithms to Censor the Internet for Hate Speech
In an op-ed for The New York Times (paywall), Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, inserted himself directly into the middle of a heated debate about the line between fighting terrorism’s online reach and internet censorship.
“It’s our responsibility to demonstrate that stability and free expression go hand in hand,” he writes. “We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media—sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IBM to Develop Hardware to Wipe Out Errors in Quantum Computing
The race to build a full-blown quantum computer is heating up. Tech giant IBM has been working on error-correcting techniques for quantum hardware, and has now won funding from the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to take it to the next level.
Quantum computers promise to vastly outperform normal PCs on certain problems. But efforts to build them have been hampered by the fragility of quantum bits, or qubits, as the systems used to store them are easily affected by heat and electromagnetic radiation. IBM is one of a number of companies and research teams developing error-correcting techniques to iron out these instabilities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Investigators Looking Into Possibility Tashfeen Malik Was ‘An Operative’
Officials investigating the San Bernardino, Calif. terror attack are looking very strongly into the possibility that Tashfeen Mailk, the wife accused in the shootings, was “an operative,” an official told Fox News on Tuesday.
A law enforcement official said authorities are certain Malik was radicalized before she came to the United States, and are looking very closely at her family overseas as also being radicalized.
Malik was one of just 519 Pakistanis allowed into the country last year specifically to marry a U.S. citizen. Her path to the United States has raised warning flags on the U.S. government’s immigration vetting practices after she was identified as one of two attackers in California.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lawmakers Spar Over RD-180 Ban, Air Force Launch Procurement
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, which oversees military space, asked the Air Force to review and explain its bidding requirements for the 2018 launch of a GPS 3 navigation satellite. Credit: Rep. Coffman
WASHINGTON — A Colorado lawmaker says the U.S. Air Force’s first competitive launch procurement in a decade was “prejudiced” against incumbent United Launch Alliance, which has effectively ceded the work to archrival SpaceX.
In a Nov. 25 news release, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, which oversees military space, asked the Air Force to review and explain its bidding requirements for the 2018 launch of a GPS 3 navigation satellite.
The announcement is the latest salvo in jockeying among lawmakers over the Defense Department’s newly competitive satellite launching program.
On Nov. 19, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who chairs the Senate Armed Service Committee, asked the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), to reject the idea of inserting a provision into a must-pass federal spending bill that would give the U.S. military access to a controversial Russian rocket engine until an alternative becomes available…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 100 Million Guns Sold in US Since Obama Became President (Video)
William La Jeunesse reported today on FOX News that 100 million guns have been sold in the US since Obama became president. Today’s increase in sales is nationwide not just in California.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Post-San Bernardino, Democrat Gun-Control Dishonesty Reads Loud and Clear
The enemy of every single law-abiding gun owner in the country.
The Obama Democrats used the San Bernardino shooting by a DHS-vetted Islamist terrorist as an excuse to repeal the Second Amendment, but they were fortunately stopped by the Republican-controlled Congress. All they have done is identify themselves very clearly as the enemies of every law-abiding gun owner in the country, and that includes hunters, target shooters, and people who keep firearms for self-defense.
[Comment: Since they propose violating the 2nd amendment it is more accurate to say they are the enemy of ALL Americans — including the useful idiots who are too stupid to see they are being played.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Spinning Up as We Speak’: Email Shows Pentagon Was Ready to Roll as Benghazi Attack Occurred
As the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was unfolding, a high-ranking Pentagon official urgently messaged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top deputies to offer military help, according to an email obtained by Judicial Watch.
The revelation appears to contradict testimony Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave lawmakers in 2013, when he said there was no time to get forces to the scene in Libya, where four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Police Chief: “I Am Encouraging You, Strongly, To Arm Yourselves!”
Randy Kennedy is the Chief of Police in my hometown, Hughes Springs, Texas. After watching Obama’s Oval Office address on Sunday night, Chief Kennedy offered much more practical and life-saving advice than the president did. Please watch and heed the advice of this Texas police chief. Since the highest leader of our country won’t help us, we need to be able to help ourselves and our families.
“I watched President Obama tonight, heard what he had to say about confronting terrorism and I didn’t find his words encouraging at all. I know our military will do the right thing and will do the right thing to protect us. But as far as the homeland goes in the United States of America, he has no effective plan apparently. So what I’m asking all my citizens to do, all my law-abiding citizens, I’m asking you to help me and our fellow law enforcement officers by arming yourselves. I want you to get a carry permit. I want you to learn how to use your weapon properly, safely…and I am calling on every able bodied person that is of legal age to do so. As law enforcement, we can’t protect every single one of you; we can’t be there all the time, we can’t be everywhere all the time, especially in rural areas where we have limited resources. So as such I am encouraging you, strongly, to arm yourselves.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The German Time Capsule in the Heart of Texas
Germans are one of the largest immigrant groups in the USA, but their culture has almost entirely disappeared — except for in a small Texan town that is more German than much of Germany.
The Vereinskirche (Club church) stands on Marktplatz, Lindenbaum restaurant is directly opposite the Biergarten. Everything totally normal — that is, if one were in Germany and not Texas.
In the middle of perhaps the most American of all American states is a town that is more German than many German towns.
And with the motto “Texan hospitality, German culture” Fredericksburg, Texas — or Fritztown, as it is known — is trying to preserve this tradition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Rivals, Media Unhinged Over Muslim Stance
Donald Trump’s fellow Republican presidential candidates have unleashed a storm of criticisms against him for daring to suggest — to much crowd applause — to his South Carolina campaign audience that Muslims ought to be halted at the border for the time being in order to secure the safety of America.
Trump explained Monday on Fox News that his proposal would not apply to Muslim Americans and Muslims already living legally in the United States.
“It does not apply to people living in the country, except we have to be vigilant,” Trump said on Fox News moments before he took the stage in South Carolina, where he acknowledged during a raucous rally that his call for barring all Muslim foreigners from entering the United States is “probably not politically correct.”
He called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. We have no choice. We have no choice. We can’ t live like this. It’s going to get worse and worse.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Worse Than Voldemort, Says J.K. Rowling
The British government — and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling — on Tuesday condemned comments by US presidential hopeful Donald Trump saying Muslims should be barred from entering the United States.
Rowling wrote on Twitter that “Voldemort was nowhere near as bad” as the Republican frontrunner, referring to the villain of the “Harry Potter” series.
Meanwhile British Prime Minister David Cameron “completely disagrees” with Trump’s remarks, which are “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong”, his spokeswoman said.
Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Doubles Down on Vow to Bar Muslims
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doubled down Tuesday on his plan to slam the door on Muslims seeking to enter the U.S., including refugees, tourists and, potentially, even Muslim Americans returning from trips abroad.
“We have no idea who is coming into our country, no idea if they like us or hate us,” Trump told supporters in South Carolina Monday night. “I wrote something today that is very salient…and probably not very politically correct. But I don’t care.”
The sweeping proposal for what Trump called a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” has drawn condemnation from Muslim groups, civil rights advocates, Democrats and Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination. But in typical Trump fashion, the tough-talking tycoon is not walking back anything.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Government Needs New Broom to Sweep Out Saudi Sympathizers
Top US government officials including CIA chief John Brennan are amenable to the Saudi regime and Muslim Brotherhood, making them obstacles to progressive US policy in the Middle East, international affairs journalist Wayne Madsen told Sputnik.
US President Barack Obama needs to take the necessary steps to clear out officials in his administration with links to Islamic extremism, including CIA director John Brennan, intelligence and international affairs journalist Wayne Madsen told Sputnik.
“This guy Brennan is playing footsie with the Turks, and the al-Nusra Front and other jihadist forces in Syria and Iraq, and as long as he is in his present position, we’re going to have this muddled policy,” said Madsen, who accuses the CIA director of also having sympathies towards the Saudi regime, the Al Thani ruling clique in Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Though Obama talks of the US leading a 65 nation coalition against Daesh, in practice its members are not those whose contribution is most effective in fighting the terrorists, said Madsen.
“He’s not talking about the real coalition members, and that’s the Syrian government, Russia, Iran, the government in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They’re the people who’ve been fighting against ISIS, Daesh in Syria, they’re the real coalition we should be supporting.”
“Turkey is really a radicalized member of NATO that is supporting the jihadists in Syria and Iraq,” he says, and through its support of Turkey, the US supports Turkmen terrorists in Syria, said Madsen.
“The question is, are American parents and spouses willing to have their loved ones die for the radical agenda of Erdogan in Turkey?”
In addition to Brennan, Madsen named Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Advisor Susan Rice as advisors who are also guilty of confusing US policy on terrorism.
“These are some of the things that Obama needs to do in his final year in office.”
Saudi Arabia’s influence on the US is demonstrated by Washington’s backing of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, “committing war crimes on a daily basis with a wink and a nod, if not outright support from the US,” said Madsen, who also expressed his concern that as a result, elements of the conflict in Syria will spread to Libya, and contribute to instability there.
“Now we see the Daesh people now setting up shop in eastern Libya, so this is going to play out all over again, and the US continues to take its lead from the Saudis, who helped foment that insurrection against Gaddafi, causing Libya to become a failed state.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Why is Nobody Investigating the Russian Air Force Plane Over California and Nevada?
As initially reported by Gary Franchi, reporter for N3 the Next News Network, a Russian Air Force jet (a Tupolev Tu-154 M) with a registration with the Russian Air Force (RA 85655) apparently flew in an erratic pattern over U.S. airspace over the weekend, both in California and Nevada. The aircraft varied in flight altitude from 4,500 feet to 10,000 feet, at approximately 445 km/hr.
The aircraft flew over San Diego on a 60 degree bearing, then doglegged back and returned again to the original heading but in a zigzag pattern, going around Sacramento. Other “tourist sights” seen in the flight were Edwards AF base, China Lake, a part of Area 51, San Diego’s naval base, the USMC’s 29 Palms, the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, Las Vegas, and the Hoover Dam.
Here’s the punch line: The Russian aircraft had no call sign.
The flight of the aircraft was tracked on YouTube by several observers, and the film was visible on fr24.com/82bbdcc@TheAviationist, @ CivMilAir.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Four Al-Huda Islamic Institute Students Went to Join ISIS in Syria
Our colleague in Ottawa, David B. Harris, of INSIGNIS Research, Inc., noted counterterrorism columnist and former Canadian Intelligence Security Service official, sent us breaking news about the Al-Huda Canadian Islamic Institute. No sooner than we posted on the extremist Al-Huda School in Pakistan that allegedly indoctrinated San Bernardino jihadi Tashfeen Malik then the CBC reported this story. 4 female students who went to Syria to join ISIS attended Mississauga school Al-Huda Islamic Institute’s sister school in Pakistan connected to mass shooting in California.
The details of the CBC News breaking report were:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
No Improvement in Health Care Wait Times as Canadians Still Wait More Than 18 Weeks for Surgery
VANCOUVER—The median wait time for Canadians seeking medically necessary surgery or other therapeutic treatment remains stagnant for the third consecutive year, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2,300-Year-Old Etruscan Tomb Discovered in Italy
A farmer working in his fields near the town of Città della Pieve discovered an Etruscan tomb dating to the late fourth century B.C. “It was a totally unexpected discovery. The area is away from the sites visited by tomb robbers and indeed the burial is undisturbed,” Clarita Natalini of the Archaeological Superintendency of Umbria told Discovery News.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A New Technique to Gauge the Distant Universe
Scientists have developed a technique to use quasars — powerful sources driven by supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies — to study the Universe’s history and composition. To demonstrate the new method, based on a relation between a quasar’s luminosity at X-ray and ultraviolet wavelengths, they made extensive use of data from ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. This approach promises to become an important tool to constrain the properties of our Universe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Airbus’s New Spaceplane Patent Shows Company is ‘Deadly Serious’ About Supersonic Flight
Airbus files another patent intended to help develop supersonic spaceplane that shows aerospace giant is considering a future that’s faster than the speed of sound.
Airbus is looking to a future faster than the speed of sound as it filed another patent intended to help aircraft fly supersonically.
Details have emerged of a application filed in the US by the pan-European aerospace company for a design of a spaceplane capable of taking off and landing like a normal aircraft but able to fly at supersonic speeds at altitudes “of at least 100 kilometres”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Average Family Income 30,500 Euros in 2014 — Bank of Italy
Top 5% of families own 30% of overall wealth
(ANSA) — Rome, December 3 — Families in Italy had an average income of 30,500 euros a year in 2014, the Bank of Italy said Thursday.
This translated into approximately 2,500 euros a month, marking the end of a downwards trend that began in 2008, the central bank said. Ten per cent of families had an annual income in excess of 55,000 euros. Further, the top 5% of families, with average assets worth 1.3 million euros, owned over 30% of overall wealth, the Bank of Italy said. For most families their assets consisted of their primary residence, the central bank added. Low-income families — namely those with an income of less than 9,600 euros per year — stood at 22.3% in 2014, the central bank added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bubbling Up: Italy’s Other Ferrari
Italians call it a brindisi, the celebratory clinking of glasses to mark a special occasion.
And if the occasion is really special, there is a good chance it will involve fizz from Ferrari, the country’s market leader in the production of top-end sparkling wine.
A 113-year-old family-run business based at Trento in the foothills of the Alps, this Ferrari has nothing to do with Formula One.
It has long been synonymous with Italian sporting success however, most famously when legendary striker Paolo Rossi glugged from one of its magnums after the national soccer team had triumphed in the 1982 World Cup final…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark’s EU Referendum is a Blow to David Cameron
So. The Danes have done it again. Old European hands will tell you that it was Denmark’s rejection of the Maastricht treaty back in 1992 that began the slow transformation of British euroscepticsm from the political fringes into the mainstream of British public opinion.
Last night’s Danish referendum rejecting Europe once again may yet be imbued with a similar significance if David Cameron’s fails to win the forthcoming referendum on Britain’s membership of Europe.
But the real blow for Downing Street and the “in” campaign is that the Danes essentially rejected the more flexible, pick-n-mix vision of Europe that Mr Cameron is espousing as a solution to Britain’s own troubled relationship with Brussels…
| — Hat tip: Matt Bracken | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Girl Isis Gets a New Name Because of Terrorist Associations
There are some 2,500 girls named Isis in the Netherlands and at least one of them is having her name changed because of the terrorist associations, RTL news reports on Thursday.
Isis Janssen is now known as Isabella because of the link to the Islamic militant group. Mother Dorinda Janssen told chat show RTL Late Night the final straw came when Facebook removed all girls named Isis from its social media channel until they could identify themselves.
Another incident in an amusement park, when Isis wandered off, was also a wake-up call, she said. ‘I lost her for a couple of minutes and went running around shouting “Isis, Isis”… people were looking around, thinking something was up.’
The little girl’s new name was celebrated with a new card announcing her birth and naming her as Isabella rather than Isis.
However, the formal change, so the new name can be included on her passport, involves a complicated and expensive legal procedure and the courts will ultimately decide whether she can formally make the switch.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Europeans Only Started Digesting Dairy 4,000 Years Ago
They can enjoy that cheese thanks to ancient nomadic herders
Europe is home to many of the world’s finest cheeses, but new research shows that the European’s taste for dairy is much more recent than scientists once thought. According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, Europeans only started being able digest cow’s milk about 4,000 years ago thanks to a group of nomadic herders hailing from Russia’s Great Steppes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fighter Jet Christmas Cookie Uproar in Norway
The Norwegian government felt compelled to apologize for an Instagram post after users complained that it was inappropriate.
Ahh, Christmas. A time for sipping gløgg and baking cookies in the shape of hearts, Father Christmas and snowmen. And, if you’re the Norwegian government, F-35 fighter jets.
A photo posted to the government’s official Instagram profile on Monday showed traditional Christmas ginger snap cookies shaped like fighter jets.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris Terrorists Wipe a Quarter Off Growth
The economic impact of last month’s attacks in Paris will likely wipe a quarter off the growth that had been expected in the final three months of the year, the Bank of France said on Tuesday.
The French central bank said it was now expecting 0.3 percent growth in the fourth quarter, against 0.4 percent previously.
A cut of 0.1 percentage points in growth represents around €500 million ($543 million) in economic activity, according to an estimate by the French Treasury.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Jews, Muslims, Feminists Urge Unity Against Le Pen
Jewish leaders in France have called for a “civic uprising” against the far-right National Front in the upcoming second round of regional elections. Their appeal has been joined by Muslim and women’s rights groups.
The National Front took nearly 28 percent of the national votes in the first round of the regional elections on Sunday and topped the polls in six of the country’s 13 regions.
They look set to win control of at least two regions in the second round of voting on Sunday.
But the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) and the country’s chief Rabbi are calling on the nation’s Jewish community to help stop the party in its tracks.
It called on Monday for people to vote to block what it referred to as a “populist and xenophobic party”, warning “not to let the Republic give way in face of threats.”
Meanwhile, France’s chief rabbi, Haim Korsia, called for a “civic uprising” of voters in the second round “to breathe life into democracy… in these particularly troubled times for the nation”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Closing Gold Loophole Puts Squeeze on AfD
Germany’s eurosceptic right-wing populist AfD party Tuesday asked its members for cash donations as a new law threatens to torpedo its main fund-raising method, an online gold shop.
On its website, the Alternative for Germany, polling at around 10 percent, urged its followers to no longer buy gold, but instead donate 120 euros each, half of the sum being tax-deductible.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hidden Portrait ‘Found Under Mona Lisa’, Says French Scientist
An image of a portrait underneath the Mona Lisa has been found beneath the existing painting using reflective light technology, according to a French scientist.
Pascal Cotte said he has spent more than 10 years using the technology to analyse the painting.
He claims the earlier portrait lies hidden underneath the surface of Leonardo’s most celebrated artwork.
A reconstruction shows another image of a sitter looking off to the side.
The Louvre Museum has declined to comment on his claims because it “was not part of the scientific team”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Enel Says 6,000 Early Retirements, 3,000 Young Hires
‘Intergenerational’ deal
(ANSA) — Rome, November 27 — Power group Enel on Friday unveiled plans to give early retirement to 6,000 workers and hire 3,000 young people.
An ‘intergenerational’ accord was signed with trade unions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Paedophile Priest Plea-Bargains 2 and 1/2 Yrs in Milan
Father Giorgio Porcellana part of Web kiddy porn ring
(ANSA) — Milan, December 2 — A paedophile priest from Piedmont, Father Giorgio Porcellana, on Wednesday plea-bargained a jail term of two and a half years for his involvement in a Web kiddy porn ring. The Salesian priest, currently under house arrest at his parents’ home in Turin, was accused of possession and diffusion of kiddy porn. Photos and videos of very young children were among the material seized in the probe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘New’ Pensioners Poorer Says ISTAT
3,000 euros less a year
(ANSA) — Rome, December 3 — New pensioners are about 3,000 euros a year worse off than old ones, Istat said Thursday.
People who started getting a pension in 2014 got an average of 13,965 euros compared to the 17,146 of existing pensioners, the statistics agency said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kalashnikov Prank Sees Panic at French School
Two masked women caused panic in southwestern France on Monday after turning up at a school with a fake Kalashnikov.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Man, Woman Arrested in Spain Over Daesh Links
A man and a woman both Moroccans, with residence permits in Spain, were arrested and accused of recruiting people into the jihadist group and maintaining contacts with Daesh militants in Syria during the operation, carried out in Catalonia and on the Canary Islands, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.
MADRID (Sputnik) — Spanish National Police arrested a man and a woman on Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in Islamic State- (ISIL or Daesh in Arabic) related terrorist activities.
The operation was carried out in Catalonia and on the Canary Islands, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The detainees are Moroccans with residence permits in Spain. Both are said to be Daesh members who have been accused of recruiting people into the jihadist group and maintaining contacts with Daesh militants in Syria.
Propaganda material and various documents were discovered during searches of the suspects’ homes.
A total of 100 individuals affiliated with Islamic State have been arrested in Spain since the beginning of 2015.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks ‘Ringleader’ Abdelhamid Abaaoud Evaded Athens Police
Greek police tried to capture the suspected ringleader of the Paris terror attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, in January but the operation failed.
A Belgian anti-terrorism source told the BBC the Athens operation planned to target Abaaoud before anti-terror raids in Belgium, but that did not happen.
Abaaoud had been directing the Belgian cell by phone from Athens.
Abaaoud died in a battle with French police five days after the 13 November Paris attacks that killed 130 people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Puppy Love: Russia Gives Paris Replacement for Killed Police Dog
In a gesture of support, Russian police have handed over a puppy to the French ambassador in Moscow. The puppy will replace the French police dog killed in a raid in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Renzi: EU Institutions Risk Becoming Le Pen’s ‘Best Allies’
“If Europe does not change its course now, European institutions risk becoming (awaringly of it or not) the best allies of Marine Le Pen and of those who try to imitate her,” Italian PM Renzi wrote on Facebook. He called for a “strategic design” on the economy and growth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scottish Cabinet to be Handed Petition to Block TTIP Trade Deal With US
A petition calling on the SNP-controlled Scottish government to oppose a controversial EU-US trade deal is due to go before the Cabinet on Tuesday, according to the anti-TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) grassroots movement.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The TTIP trade deal has faced sharp criticism from activists and policymakers alike for the secretive nature of its negotiations. It aims to deregulate trade between the United States and the European Union, which together comprise 60 percent of global production.
More than 28,500 people have signed the petition on the 38 Degrees website urging Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Europe and External Affairs and member of the ruling Scottish National Party, to make sure that the SNP “takes a tougher stand against TTIP.”
Scotland’s Stop TTIP Today campaign website said the petition will be submitted to the Scottish government on Tuesday afternoon.
Another petition urging the European Union to stop the TTIP agreement has meanwhile gathered more than 3 million signatures on the petition website.
The secretive deal has drawn widespread criticism for its potential to lower environmental, health, safety, and workers’ rights standards, as well as for enabling the extra-judicial settlement of disputes in circumvention of national sovereignty.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sicily’s Valley of the Temples Surveyed
An international team of scientists has conducted a survey of Sicily’s Valley of the Temples. It had been thought that the 2,500-year-old Greek temples were aligned with the rising sun, but the new measurements suggest that at least four of the ten buildings, including the Temple of Zeus, were aligned with the town’s grid along the cardinal directions. “For such temples, only a general rule imposing the façade towards the eastern horizon was applied,” Giulio Magli, professor of archaeoastronomy at Milan’s Polytechnic University, told Discovery News.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stonehenge May Have Been First Erected in Wales, Evidence Suggests
Evidence that bluestones were quarried in Wales 500 years before they were put up in Wiltshire prompts theory that Stonehenge is ‘second-hand monument’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Study Undercuts Idea That ‘Medieval Warm Period’ Was Global
A new study questions the popular notion that 10th-century Norse people were able to colonize Greenland because of a period of unusually warm weather. Based upon signs left by old glaciers, researchers say the climate was already cold when the Norse arrived—and that climate thus probably played little role in their mysterious demise some 400 years later. On a larger scale, the study adds to building evidence that the so-called Medieval Warm Period, when Europe enjoyed exceptionally clement weather, did not necessarily extend to other parts of the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Asked to Help US in Global ISIS Fight
Sweden’s Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist has been contacted by the US government, asking for support in the fight against the extremist group Isis, also known as IS.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two Arrested in Catalonia and Canaries Over Islamic State Links
A 32-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were arrested on Tuesday during a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the Spanish National Police in Catalonia and the Canary Islands.
Both suspects are accused of recruiting and training people for Islamic State (ISIS) via the social networks and of seeking to send them to conflict zones.
During a search of the suspects’ homes, officers seized computer files and other evidence that purportedly shows that the two helped train ISIS recruits to use explosives and assault weapons. They also helped spread jihadist propaganda, including images of executions carried out by ISIS.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: David Cameron Uses ‘You Ain’t No Muslim, Bruv’ Catchphrase as Rallying Cry
British Prime Minister David Cameron has praised the viral popularization of the phrase “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv”, originally shouted by one witness at 29-year-old Muhaydin Mire, who reportedly attempted to stab several people in the London tube on Saturday evening; the phrase subsequently became a rallying cry against increasing Islamophobia.
The phrase can be heard in video footage that was filmed by one eyewitness during the notorious stabbing attack. The saying generated the trending social media hashtag #YouAintNoMuslimBruv and has been applied to a string of recent terror attacks around the world, including those in Paris and in California.
“Bruv” is a local London version of the British slang word “bruvva,” similar to the American “bro.”
David Cameron lauded this anti-Islamophobic trend during a news conference on Monday, saying that the author of this “brilliant” expression should be praised.
“Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and sound bites and everything to this subject. But ‘you ain’t no Muslim bruv’ said it all much better than I ever could,” Cameron commented. “Thank you [author of the saying] because that will be applauded around the country.”
From the standpoint of many internet users, the fact that the expression went viral reflects the popularity of a simple sentiment: Muslims are not terrorists.
However, there were some who have condemned the trend, stressing that the phrase itself has overshadowed the suffering felt by victims of the stabbing, one of whom was seriously wounded when he was stabbed in the throat.
Moreover, one UK-based Muslim Twitter user claimed that the phrase misrepresent Islam in the eyes of many people.
“This #YouAintNoMuslimBruv hashtag is one of the most depressing things I’ve ever seen on social media, propagated by ignorant Muslims,” Ismail Ibrahim wrote.
The stabbing attack occurred at Leytonstone tube station in London on December 5 after British Parliament approved conducting airstrikes on Daesh (the Islamic state) positions in Syria. Police later labelled it a “terrorist incident.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Former Leader of the EDL Tommy Robinson Will Front a New Anti-Islam Movement
Tommy Robinson will launch the right-wing group Pegida’s UK branch.
Mr Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, will campaign to ban Muslim immigration to the UK for five years, ban the funding of mosques abroad and stop mosques being built in the UK.
Pegida UK say the new launch is taking place under the sanction of the German movement.
Mr Robinson, who was released from prison earlier this year after being jailed for mortgage fraud, says Pegida UK will be a moderate campaign group.
The Patriotic Europeans Against Islamisation of the West (Pegida) has attarcted members of right-wing and far-right groups.
Veteran Tim Scott has also been announced as leader of the anti-Islamic movement.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, Mr Scott, who fought in Afghanistan and was a fighter with Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State (ISIS), said he fears the UK could become like Iraq…
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
US Asks Norway to Join ISIS Fight in Syria
The Norwegian Ministry of Defence has confirmed that it is considering a request from the United States to up its contributions in the fight against Isis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wilders Sparks Fury With Message to Turks: ‘You’ll Never be Europeans’
Prime minister Mark Rutte has condemned a video posted online by Geert Wilders telling Turkey to ‘forget about’ joining the European Union, the AD reports. In the film, spoken in Dutch and English versions with Turkish subtitles, the anti-Islam party leader describes Turkish leader Tayyip Recep Erdogan as a ‘dangerous Islamist who is raising the Islamic flag’. He also repeats his call from last year’s municipal elections for ‘not more, but less Islam’ in the Netherlands. Wilders addresses his comments directly to the Turkish people. Commenting on Ankara’s long-standing ambition to become an EU member, he says: ‘Just forget it. You’re not Europeans and never will be. An Islamic state like Turkey doesn’t belong in Europe.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Beachhead: Islamic State Uses Libya to Gain African Foothold
The Islamic State is using the same strategy it deployed in Syria in order to expand its territory in North Africa. Libya has become the center of its deadly activities in the region.
Libya has become by far the Syrian-Iraqi caliphate’s most important beachhead as it seeks to expand its footprint in North Africa, and there are numerous reasons for this development. Libya’s disintegration into competing factions and regions provides fertile soil for the jihadists’ creeping rise to power. More than 1,000 kilometers (612 miles) of coastline and uncontrolled borders in the south make for easy access to the country. Tunisians, who comprise the largest group of IS foreign fighters, established a broad network in Libya early on and often travel from here to the “caliphate.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisians Receive Nobel Amid State of Emergency
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Thursday to four civil society groups who led Tunisia’s transition to democracy, though the country has now been plunged into a state of emergency as it battles the threat of jihadism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Seizes Palestinian Stone-Throwing Dolls
Israel said Tuesday that customs officers seized a shipment of dolls bound for Palestinian stores that were masked in keffiyeh scarves and holding fake stones in their hands.
The customs authority said in a statement that the cargo of 4,000 dolls shipped from the United Arab Emirates to the Israeli port of Haifa was meant to “incite against Israel”.
“These were dolls in the colours of the Palestinian flag and bearing the slogans ‘Jerusalem is for us’ and ‘Jerusalem we are coming’,” the statement said.
It said they were in a container marked “clothing, carpets and plastic products.” It did not say when they were intercepted…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
America’s Creeping War in Syria
A string of recent provocations against both Russia and Syria are meant to look like isolated incidents, but in fact constitute incremental “mission creep” into what may become full-scale US intervention in Syria.
The Background
It was clear in 2011 that the United States sought regime change in Syria, just as it did in Libya. It was clear that it had backed heavily armed sectarian extremists to carry out this regime change. What wasn’t clear, at least apparently to US policymakers, was the resolve the Syrian government, the Syrian Arab Army, and the Syrian people themselves had to defeat this conspiracy, revealed as early as 2007 by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his 2007 New Yorker piece, “The Redirection.”
In it, Hersh revealed that the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel were determined to build a proxy army of sectarian extremists aligned with or sympathetic to Al Qaeda, for the purpose of undermining and overthrowing the nations of Syria and Iran.
By 2011, with Libya already decimated by NATO-backed extremists, the US State Department was busy transferring weapons and terrorists from Benghazi and Eastern Europe to Turkey where they would be staged, armed, trained, and sent in to invade Syria…
The Provocations
Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber inside Syrian airspace, with Turkish-backed terrorists then gunning down one of the parachuting pilots — a blatant war crime — before ambushing a subsequent rescue mission which left a Russian Marine dead, was the first major provocation. While the United States has attempted to distance itself publicly from Turkey’s actions, it is clear that Turkey would never have undertaken such a brazen move without coordinating it with the US directly.
In the days and weeks before the incident, US Senators openly called for the shooting down of Russian planes over Syria. Their goal has been clear since 2011, overthrow the government of Syria before moving on to Iran, then finally Russia and China.
Turkey then moved troops and heavy armor into northern Iraq to begin what it claims will be a permanent occupation. It has carried out a “beta test” for its long-sought after “safe zone” the US has engineered and attempted to implement in northern Syria since at least as early as 2012.
And now reports indicate that the US itself has struck Syrian troops near Deir ez Zor City, Deir ez Zor province. There are also unconfirmed reports that the airstrikes which the Syrian government claims killed several of its soldiers, was also followed up by a coordinated ISIS counterattack.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bilal Erdogan Denies Allegations He is Funding ISIS: Here’s the Problem
Bilal has joined his father in denying the family’s role in the smuggling of ISIS crude.
It was just three weeks ago that we posed “the most important question about ISIS that no one is asking.” Namely, we wanted to know who the middlemen are that assist Islamic State in smuggling some 45,000 barrels of stolen crude each and every day.
To be sure, that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s not exactly trivial either especially considering this is a non-state actor (well, Baghdadi would say his “caliphate” is most certainly a “state” actor, but you get the idea). We suggested that the answer may well lie with the the Glencores, the Vitols, the Trafiguras, the Nobels, the Mercurias of the world and indeed, when we look at one of the likely trafficking routes from Iraq and through Turkey, it seems possible that if ISIS is taking advantage of the same system that the KRG uses to get its crude to Ceyhan, these trading houses or at least their former employees may well be involved. After all, sources have said Trafigura and Vitol deal in Kurdish oil and when Kurdistan went looking for an advisor to assist in the effort to circumvent Baghdad, the KRG chose Murtaza Lakhani to help them find ships. Lakhani used to work for Glencore in Iraq in the 2000s.
Well when it comes to ships, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son Bilal has a fleet via his BMZ Group. Here they are:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CyberBerkut: Ukraine Selling Soviet-Made High Explosive Bombs to Qatar
According to information provided by the hacktivist group CyberBerkut, Qatar is willing to spend big bucks on high-explosive fragmentation bombs from Ukraine at $2,100 each.
Ukraine, set to earn some extra money at the expense of the complicated situation in the Middle East, is allegedly planning on supplying weapons through front companies and offshore companies, according to the recent investigation by hacktivists CyberBerkut.
Kiev is allegedly ready to conclude a lucrative contract with Qatar for the purchase of Soviet-made high-explosive OFAB-250-270 bombs.
Moreover, it seems that Qatar has an urgent need for this ammunition, given that Doha set the price much higher than the market price at $2000 apiece instead of $700.
The details of the deal were obtained by CyberBerkut after they managed to hack into the company’s mail servers ‘Spetstehnoexsport’ (part of the group ‘Ukroboronprom’).
The mediator between the company and the Qatari Ministry of Defense is a Polish company called Level 11.
According to CyberBerkut, Qatar’s Air Force fighter aircraft are the French “Mirage 2000” and light attack aircraft Alpha Jet, which do use Soviet bombs. In this regard, the hackers have concluded that Doha is buying high-explosive bombs to destroy ground targets.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus to Allow Russia to Land Warplanes
Cyprus is in talks to allow Russian warplanes returning from Syria bombing raids to land on the island in case of emergency, reports Radio Free Europe. Cyprus’ minister of foreign affairs Ioannis Kasoulides said the deal would include allowing housing evacuated Russian nationals from neighbouring countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Eased Sanctions Will Permit Iran to Export Oil to North Korea: Report
Pyongyang may want to pay for much-needed energy supplies with weapons and nuclear technology, analysts suggest. Julian Ryall reports from Tokyo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Fighters to Iraq and Syria Have Doubled: Report
The number of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria has more than doubled since last year to at least 27,000, a report by an intelligence consultancy said on Tuesday, highlighting the global dimension of the conflict.
The figures, compiled by The Soufan Group, indicate that efforts by countries around the world to stem the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria and blunt the appeal of violent organisations such as the Islamic State group (IS) appear to have made little impact.
ADVERTISING”The foreign fighter phenomenon in Iraq and Syria is truly global,” the New York-based security consultancy’s report said.
“The Islamic State has seen success beyond the dreams of other terrorist groups that now appear conventional and even old-fashioned, such as Al-Qaeda…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
In ISIS Video, Son of Jordanian MP Turned Suicide Bomber Threatens Jordanian King, MPs
On December 6, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) information bureau in Iraq’s Al-Anbar province released a 10-minute video titled “Walaa’ wa-Baraa’ [i.e. loyalty to Islam and Muslims and renunciation of apostates].” The video focuses on the story of Abu-Al-Baraa’ Al-Urduni — Muhammad Mazen Al-Dhala’in, the son of Jordanian MP Mazen Al-Dhala’in, who joined ISIS in Iraq and carried out a suicide attack against Iraqi Army soldiers in the Al-Ramadi region. The video describes Muhammad’s transformation from a young Jordanian bon vivant who even studied medicine in Ukraine into an ISIS suicide fighter loyal to ISIS’s view of Islam who renounced his family.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Tweets Reveal How the Group Rules Its Territories
A close look at ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts is giving us an insight into how the group governs the territories it has conquered — and throwing up some surprises
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Urges Action Against ISIS Antiquities Dealing
Germany, Italy and France called on Tuesday for the European Union to crack down on the illegal trade in antiquities used to bankroll attacks by the Islamic State group.
The culture ministers of the three countries wrote in a letter to the European Commission urging concerted measures against the illicit trade in cultural treasures for the benefit of the jihadist group.
“By taking part directly or indirectly in the trade in cultural artifacts from archaeological digs, museums and libraries finance their (Isis’s) atrocities in the region and in Europe,” Monika Gruetters, Dario Franceschini and Fleur Pellerin wrote.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadist Veterans Pose Generational Threat Even if IS Defeated: Experts
Even if the Islamic State group is one day defeated on its territory, the world could face an even greater threat from tens of thousands of battle-hardened jihadist veterans, experts have warned.
US intelligence services estimate some 30,000 people have joined the ranks of IS from around 100 countries, adding to the huge number that have fought with older Islamic extremist groups over the decades.
In Afghanistan alone between 1996 and 2001, some 10,000 to 20,000 people received jihadist training, many under the guidance of Osama Bin Laden.
After the fall of the Taliban regime, many of those fighters dispersed around the world, taking their radical ideology and knowledge with them…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 60% of French Citizens Consider Su-24 Downing by Ankara Unjustified
More than three in five French respondents do not believe Turkey had grounds to shoot down the Russian Su-24 attack aircraft, a recent survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) exclusively for Sputnik revealed Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On November 24, a Russian Su-24 jet was brought down over Syria by an air-to-air missile fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter. According to Ankara, the missile was targeted because it violated Turkish airspace. Russia insists that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace and claims the attack was pre-planned.
Sixty-one percent of those polled said Turkey had no reason to shoot down the Russian aircraft, while only 18 percent found Turkey’s actions justified.
The survey was conducted on December 1-3 and involved 1,211 adult respondents. It has a statistical discrepancy of no higher than 3.1 percent.
One of the pilots of the downed aircraft was killed by artillery fire from the ground after ejecting, while the co-pilot was rescued and returned to the Russian airbase near Latakia. The incident also claimed the life of a Russian naval infantry soldier, who was killed in the rescue operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Turkish attack as a “stab in the back” carried out by “accomplices of terrorists.”
Four in Five French Citizens Support Russian Military Campaign in Syria
Almost 80 percent of French people approve of the Russian military operation in Syria, a recent survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) exclusively for Sputnik revealed Tuesday.
The survey, conducted on December 1-3, involved 1,211 adult respondents and has a statistical discrepancy of no higher than 3.1 percent.
Among the 91 percent of respondents who were aware of the Russian campaign in Syria, 77 percent said they supported Russia’s actions.
Twelve percent said they opposed the operation.
The Russian Aerospace Forces commenced precision airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State (IS, or Daesh in Arabic), a group that is outlawed in Russia and a number of other countries, on September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The survey was conducted by IFOP, France’s oldest market research and opinion poll institute, as part of the Sputnik.Polls international public opinion project.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Strikes ISIS in Syria for First Time From a Submarine
Russia has unleashed another barrage of airstrikes against targets in Syria, including the first combat launch of a new cruise missile from a Russian submarine in the Mediterranean Sea, the country’s defense minister said Tuesday.
The Kalibr cruise missiles launched by the Rostov-on-Don submarine successfully hit the designated targets in Raqqa, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin. The submarine was in a submerged position during the launch, he added.
Putin noted that the new cruise missile can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads, adding he hopes that the latter “will never be needed.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Military Helicopters Stationed Near Turkey
Russia has stationed numerous attack and transport helicopters at its Armenian base near the border with Turkey. The move has come amidst rising tensions between Moscow and Ankara over the shooting of a Russian warplane.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia to ‘Reopen’ Sri Lankan Maid Adultery Case
Saudi Arabia has agreed to reopen the case of a Sri Lankan maid sentenced to death for adultery, Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister said.
The woman — a 45-year-old mother of two — was convicted in August along with an unmarried Sri Lankan man.
She was sentenced to death by stoning, while the man was sentenced to 100 lashes.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to stone the woman was condemned in Sri Lanka, where protests were held.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sri Lankan Maid Wins Reprieve From Death by Stoning in Saudi
Saudi authorities have agreed to retry a Sri Lankan housemaid sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, her country’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Harsha de Silva told parliament in Colombo the government had secured a fresh trial for the woman after Sri Lankan diplomats visited her in a Saudi jail over the weekend.
“Through our intervention, they (Saudi authorities) have agreed to reopen the case,” de Silva told parliament.
“This can be considered a big victory. We will provide her with legal counsel,” he added, without elaborating on the grounds for a retrial…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sunnis Working With Turkey to Prevent Shias Liberating Mosul of Daesh
Turkish forces entered Iraq with agreement with Sunnis of Iraq and they are participating in the liberation of Mosul, according to a representative of the Peshmerga, Iraqi Kurdish armed forces.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — The Arab population of Iraq’s Mosul are cooperating with Turkish forces to ensure that the city will be liberated from Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh in Arabic) by Sunni, and not Shia, militias, a representative of the Peshmerga, Iraqi Kurdish armed forces, told Sputnik on Tuesday.
On December 4, Turkey deployed up to 150 military personnel to northern Iraq’s Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval, allegedly to provide training to Kurdish militia who are fighting extremists.
“These [Turkish] forces have entered [Iraq] with agreement with Sunnis of Iraq and they are participating in the liberation of Mosul. The Arabs [of Mosul] don’t want Iraqi Shia militias to enter Mosul hence they asked Turkey to supervise the Sunni militia,” the Peshmerga representative said.
On Sunday, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby condemned what he called Turkey’s blatant invasion of Iraq, noting that only the UN Security Council could facilitate the withdrawal of the Turkish troops.
Large territories of Iraq and Syria have been occupied by Daesh, a terrorist group outlawed in Russia. Daesh has carried out numerous terror attacks and committed many human rights atrocities worldwide.
Amid Turkey’s deployment of troops in Iraq, the government in Baghdad has warned that it is ready to take appropriate measures against the Turkish forces if Ankara does not pull its troops out of the country by the deadline set out by the government, which is late Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Charges American With Helping Al-Qaeda Linked Rebel Group
The United States has charged a naturalized American citizen with providing military supplies to a Syrian rebel group that often fights alongside the country’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Washington Post reported.
The Post identified the man late Monday as Amin al-Baroudi, aged 50, and said he was charged in an indictment unsealed last week.
The specific charges are violating US sanctions against Syria and conspiring to defraud the United States, the newspaper said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Remains Blind to Ankara’s Complicity in Terrorism
Although Turkish President Erdogan insists that he never smuggled oil from Syria, it does not sound convincing, security consultant and Veteran’s Today senior editor Gordon Duff notes, adding that Erdogan’s illicit oil trade with Daesh (IS/ISIL) is just the tip of the iceberg.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is playing innocent and pledging to resign if he receives proof of his involvement in Daesh’s oil smuggling, evidence is mounting that Turkey has taken part in other sinister activities in Syria and Iraq.
“While Erdogan talks only of oil, there are other issues to note as well. First of all, let’s talk about arms shipments that cross Turkey and move into Syria and Iraq. By Erdogan’s claim of total innocence, we must assume that ISIS (Daesh), al-Qaeda and the other openly terrorist groups that make up 95% of those fighting against Iraq and Syria are operating without any outside supplies,” Gordon Duff writes in his recent article for New Eastern Outlook. Duff is a US Marine combat veteran who served during the Vietnam War and is senior editor of Veterans Today.
To some extent this was true, the expert notes, referring to the fact that back in 2012, Daesh obtained hundreds of American Humvees and Abrams tanks, not to mention a few Syrian Air Force planes.
“In fact, much of the best of this equipment, including dozens of updated Soviet-era T-72 tanks, are in wait inside Turkey, protected by Erdogan for that ‘drive on Damascus’ that seems more and more unlikely as time goes on,” Duff remarks.
The military expert points out that much of the fighting is for control of roads in and out Turkey. These roads are used for carrying oil from Daesh-controlled regions to Turkey and for transporting arms and supplies from Turkey to Islamist militants.
Duff contends that when Erdogan claims that nothing of the kind is going on in Turkey, it sounds ridiculous: Russia’s surveillance photos clearly show that thousands of oil trucks are moving from the Daesh-held territory to Turkey and crossing the Syrian-Turkish border.
“They don’t go anyplace else, there is no place else,” the expert stresses.
And that is not all, Duff continues. Syrian Minister of Justice Dr. Najm Hamad al-Ahmad has repeatedly called attention to the Turkish organized crime in Syria and Iraq: some Turkish groups have been engaged in the systematic looting of oil, antiquities and, in a word, “everything that wasn’t nailed down,” the veteran narrates.
However, Turkey’s most glaring misdeed — the theft of an entire Syrian automobile assembly plant from the suburbs of Aleppo — remains largely neglected, he adds.
The expert wonders why the Turkish-Syrian border remained unsealed for almost four years. There is a lot of talk about the necessity to close the border, to stop the continuous trafficking of oil, arms and fighters in and out of Turkey, and thus cut off Daesh’s lifeline. But there is a little if any action on the part of Ankara and Western leaders.
“Every aspect of this cross-border traffic involves the government and military of Turkey and its complicity in support of terrorism, five minutes with a map will tell anyone this,” Duff stresses.
“Why are ISIS (Daesh) and al-Nusra [Front] so dependent on the Turkish border, why do they fight so hard to keep the roads to Turkey open? Why is this lifeline [there] if Turkey is, in no way as Erdogan asserts, involved in support of terrorism?” the veteran asks.
It is unlikely that Recep Erdogan would ever recognize his role in oil smuggling. Instead, he demands the detention of journalists, military officers and judicial officials who try “to stop Ankara’s and Erdogan’s full and absolute complicity in terrorism,” Duff underscores.
Remarkably, Washington remains blind to this.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Khrizantema-S: Why Russia’s Ultimate Tank Killer Cannot be Defeated
With a floristic name (translated as “golden daisy”) that belies its deadly nature, Russia’s Khrizantema-S supersonic anti-tank missile was designed to destroy current and future main battle tanks, including those protected with explosive reactive armor, small-displacement surface vessels, low-flying aerial targets and field fortifications.
The Khrizantema’s 9M123 missile travels at an average speed of 400 m/s and has a range of between 400 and 6000 meters.
The system is also unique among Russian anti-tank guided missiles in that, depending on the variant, its missile can either be guided by laser or radar.
Each missile carries a tandem high explosive anti-tank warhead with a reported penetration of 1.2 m homogeneous armor behind explosive reactive armor — an absolute record.
By contrast, America’s much-touted Javelin anti-tank missile which the Ukrainians are so eager to get, boasts maximum penetration capacity of just 70 centimeters.
Israel’s Spike-MR/LR missile does a bit better cutting through 1 m of armor but is still no match for its Russian analogue.
The 9M123 missile together with its associated guidance system forms the 9K123 missile system. It is currently only launched from the 9P157-2
Khrizantema-S tank destroyer, based on the BMP-3 chassis. Its dual guidance system ensures protection against electronic countermeasures and operation in all climatic conditions, day or night.
The system entered service with the Russian armed forces in 2005.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Local Communist Party Plans ‘Year of Stalin’
Members of the Communist Party in the Russian city of Penza have announced plans to open a study centre in honour of Joseph Stalin.
The party has declared 2016 “the year of Stalin” and is arranging a number of events in honour of the late Soviet dictator, the RBK television channel reports. Local party chief Georgi Kamenev says the Stalin Centre will host talks and show films to “counter the falsehoods and attacks on Stalin’s reputation and legacy with facts and the truth”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Vladimir Putin’s position on Syria and Ukraine may have been criticised in the West, but Russia’s president is adored and admired by many at home, as Steve Rosenberg discovers on a visit to Volokolamsk.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia, Finland Discuss Direct Railway Communication
Russian Railways and VR Group discussed the issues of direct railway communication between Russia and Finland.
On December 3-4 in Helsinki, Finland held its annual meeting on the issues of the Russian-Finnish direct railway communication.
The Russian delegation was headed by the first Vice-President of Russian Railways Anatoly Krasnoshchek, while the Finnish side was represented by the President of VR Group (Finnish Railways) Mikael Aro.
Summing up the meeting, Anatoly Krasnoshchek emphasized that constructive dialogue between railroad workers of the two countries became possible thanks to the atmosphere of mutual trust and careful attention to the arguments of partners. The interaction of Russian Railways and VR
Group based on strategic approach will contribute to the dynamic development of Russian-Finnish cooperation in the sphere of railway transport, noted the first Vice-President.
During the meeting the participants discussed the results of passenger and freight transportation in the current year and forecasts for the following.
In January-October 2015 in the Finnish-Russian railway traffic were transported 366 thousand passengers.
To maintain the level of passenger traffic Russian Railways and VR Group have agreed about preservation of the cost of travel on the train “Lev Tolstoy” at the current level until December 10, 2016. The parties also discussed the issues of optimization of the train schedule.
To increase the attractiveness of rail travel between Russia and Finland a number of additional measures are intended: system of flexible tariffs for individual and group passengers, additional services, including the appointment of special trains for New Year’s and Christmas holidays, transportation of passengers’ cars traveling in the train Moscow — Helsinki, as well as a number of marketing initiatives in the trains “Allegro”.
The parties noted the impact of the global economic crisis on the freight transportation: in January-October 2015 the volume of transportations through the border railway crossings between Russia and Finland decreased by 12% compared to the same period in 2014.
Just in 10 months 10, 3 mln tons of freights were transported. The parties expect that the tendency to stabilization and insignificant growth of freight transportation volumes which was outlined by the end of the year will allow terminating 2015 year with decrease of not more than 10%.
Thus, the parties noted, that the transit transportation of freights in containers in Russian-Finnish communication in January-February 2015 increased for 41%.
Besides, Russian Railways and VR Group discussed the continuation of the current experiment on the transportation of a number of freights via electronic consignment notes: outlined its further expansion in 2016 due to the new nomenclature of freights and stations of departure-destination.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh: ‘Attacker Shouted Allahu Akbar While Attacking Me With a Machete’
A culture of impunity in Bangladesh is to be blamed for continued attacks on bloggers and freethinkers in the country, says a secular publisher who survived a slash-and-kill attack recently.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It has emerged that Tashfeen Malik, 29, the woman who, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, carried out the mass terror attack in San Bernardino, CA, was radicalized at a Pakistani school and was connected to the radical Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad.
According to a Pakistani media report, Malik attended a school based in the Pakistani city of Multan that is part of the Al Huda network of institutions known for teaching religious orthodoxies to Pakistani women.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India Jails Hospital Staff for ‘Embezzling’ 17 Cents
An Indian court has sentenced two medical workers to a year in prison for embezzling 11 rupees (17 cents) in public funds more than 25 years ago, lawyers said Thursday.
The two — a nurse and a medical assistant — were found guilty of inflating the number of sterilisation procedures they helped to perform in 1989 to boost their earnings.
At the time, the government was providing financial incentives for medical workers to persuade men and women to undergo sterilisation under a controversial scheme to curb population growth.
The anti-corruption court in the northern city of Meerut held 185 hearings before reaching a verdict on former nurse Noor Jahan and assistant Shobha Ram, who both retired a decade ago…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Why Isn’t Delhi on Pollution Red Alert?
On Monday Beijing declared a red alert for smog.
It was the most extreme warning the notoriously polluted city has ever issued and effectively means the Chinese capital is in shutdown mode.
Some schools and businesses have been ordered to close, construction activity has been limited and restrictions have been placed on car use because the air in the Chinese capital has become so toxic.
I was shocked, not because I was surprised that the Chinese had taken the step, but because the pollution levels in Delhi — where my family and I moved earlier this year — are so much higher.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Imports and Exports Fall Again in November: Govt
Chinese imports and exports both fell again in November, authorities said Tuesday, the latest ambivalent figures from the world’s second-largest economy.
The country is a key driver of global growth and its shipments of finished goods, along with its demand for the resources to manufacture them, affect nations across the world.
China’s exports were down 3.7 percent to 1.25 trillion yuan (around $195 billion) in November, Customs said in a statement.
But the decrease was better than the five percent drop forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists, and smaller than the previous month’s decline…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Will Continue Using ISS Until 2024
Japan has agreed to continue using the International Space Station (ISS) until 2024, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.
TOKYO (Sputnik) — The International Space Station, launched in 1998, consists of different modules. The station brings together the space agencies of Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan, as well as the European Space Agency.
According to the Kyodo news agency, a ministerial committee on space development, headed by Abe, made the decision Tuesday.
“We will faithfully implement the schedule for our basic space program and work on an aggressive space strategy,” Abe said, as quoted by the media outlet.
Earlier this year, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that Russia would continue to use the ISS until around 2024. The United States has already agreed to continue using the station until 2024.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Japanese Probe Fires Rockets to Steer Into Orbit at Venus
Five years after missing a shot to enter orbit at Venus, Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft completed a critical rocket burn early Monday in a bid to salvage the research mission and become the only space probe operating around Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mandarin ‘ISIL Clip’ Sparks Call From China for End to ‘Double Standards’ on Terror
A rare Isil clip of a war song in Mandarin has raised alarm in China and sparked the latest call for global powers to “abandon their double standards” towards violent unrest within its borders.
Al-Hayat media centre, the media arm of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), appears to have posted a recording online in which the slogans: “The shameless enemy would panic” and “It’s my dream to die on this battlefield” are chanted in Mandarin.
The clip appears to be professionally produced and is hauntingly catchy.
Islamic extremist material has filtered into China before, but it is usually directed towards the mainly-Muslim Uighur minority, who often speak a Turkic language and reside predominantly in the western region of Xinjiang.
Chinese officials have claimed that Uighurs have travelled to both Syria and Iraq to fight alongside jihadists. Beijing also claimed it faces a “terrorist” threat in Xinjiang from violent separatists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Deploys Spy Plane in Singapore Amid South China Sea Dispute
In response to Bejing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, Singapore has agreed to host a US P-8 Poseidon spy plane. China has said the move does not accord with the “joint long-term interests” of the region.
Southeast Asian diplomats believe the move is an “understated message” to China that the US is prepared to support its allies in the South China Sea region.
Tensions have continued to grow between Washington and Beijing since China claimed sovereignty over virtually all of the resource-rich South China Sea — parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and non-ASEAN member Taiwan.
Since 2013, Beijing has also hastened the creation of new outposts, by piling sand on top of reefs and coral atolls. Buildings, ports, and airstrips large enough to handle bombers and fighter jets have also been built on the islands — activities seen as a bid to alter the territorial status quo by altering the geography.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Naval Officer Mona Shindy Says Hijab Makes Her a Target
Captain Mona Shindy, the hijab-wearing Muslim naval officer who runs the Littoral Warfare and Maritime Support Capability Development Group in Russell, takes being abused over her religion and mode of dress in her stride.
A recent online report after Captain Shindy had been named Telstra’s NSW business woman of the year, quickly attracted the comment: “My father was in the navy for nearly 50 years and he served it with pride. He would turn over in his grave [if] he saw this piece of filth”.
“That’s reality, that’s what’s out there. You’ve got to live with it in the perspective that Muslim people in Australia have lived with varying degrees of comments over the years,” Captain Shindy said.
Captain Shindy’s other hat, as chief of navy’s strategic adviser on Islamic cultural affairs and her more recent decision to wear the hijab with her uniform, has made her a target for vilification on a range of social media platforms…
| — Hat tip: Oz-Rita | [Return to headlines] |
Brazilian President’s Woes Deepen
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is facing the prospect of impeachment, saw her woes deepen early Tuesday as the vice president appeared to distance himself from her.
Vice President Michel Temer is from the centrist PMDB party, the main partner in Brazil’s ruling coalition, along with Rousseff’s Workers’ Party.
Rousseff is accused of illegal accounting maneuvers in the government’s handling of the budget.
She has repeatedly said the accounting practices were a long-accepted practice under previous governments, and described the impeachment move as a coup…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
First Dinosaurs Arose in an Evolutionary Eye-Blink
Fossil-bearing rocks in Argentina show a quick transition from pre-dinosaurs to true dinosaurs.
Before dinosaurs ruled Earth, they had to come from somewhere. Research now suggests that dinosaurs arose more quickly than scientists had thought.
Palaeontologists who analysed fossil-bearing rocks in northwestern Argentina have found evidence that the transition from pre-dinosaurs to dinosaurs was 5 million to 10 million years shorter than was previously believed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Indigenous Group Sees ‘Racism’ In Coca-Cola Ad
A Coca-Cola advertisement has caused a furor in Mexico as an indigenous group said Wednesday the images of young white people building a Christmas tree in its community had racist connotations.
Human rights organizations and members of the Mixe indigenous group called on the government’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination to sanction the US soft drink company over the ad.
The ad shows the youths driving to the village of Totontepec, in southern Oaxaca state, bringing a cooler of Coca-Cola and building a Christmas tree made of the red-top bottles under the theme “Let’s stay united.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Army Camps in Thessaloniki to House Migrants
Seven army camps in Thessaloniki that are not currently in use have been chosen to temporarily house refugees and migrants as Greek authorities seek ways of easing the overcrowding at the Idomeni border crossing with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
“We are in an emergency situation,” said Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris. “We arrived at this decision so that we do not find ourselves having to deal with an out-of-control situation if people are returned from Idomeni or start disembarking at Thessaloniki port.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria Erecting Border Fence With Slovenia
Austria has started work to build a 3.7 km fence along its border with Slovenia to help redirect the inflow of people seeking asylum, reports German news agency Deutsche Welle. It is the first border fence to be erected between two Schengen states, which allow visa-free travel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria Begins Work on Slovenia Border Fence
Austria has begun installing a 3.7 km long fence at a border crossing with Slovenia, in what the interior ministry has said is a necessary measure to help control the flow of refugees and migrants.
A Tyrolean construction company has been driving the first metal posts into the ground and delivering the special wire mesh which will be used to build the fence. 38 soldiers from Villach are helping to assemble the fence, which is expected to be finished before Christmas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Berlin Sued Over Dangerous Conditions for Refugees
Lawyers have filed a lawsuit against Berlin’s social affairs minister over dangerous conditions for refugees waiting at the city’s LaGeSo authority. There have been several injuries, exhaustion and cases of hypothermia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Confirmed: ISIS Terrorists Attempting to Use U.S. Refugee Program to Invade America
(NaturalNews) For weeks there have been reports that terrorist organizations like the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) would attempt to use the Middle East “refugee crisis” as a way to infiltrate their operatives into Western countries including the United States. Now, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee has confirmed it.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, announced Dec. 7 during a speech at the National Defense University that, according to intelligence officials he did not name, Islamic extremists have indeed attempted to get into the U.S. through the refugee resettlement program, which is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. However, as McCaul noted, the Obama administration has yet to make that information public.
In addition to the disclosure, the Texas lawmaker and committee chairman said he was prepared to back “a slate of new bills” aimed at curbing jihadi attacks on American soil, Breitbart News reported.
“ISIS members in Syria have attempted to exploit [the refugee program] to get into the United States,” McCaul said in Washington, D.C. “The U.S. government has information to indicate that individuals tied to terrorist groups in Syria have already attempted to gain access to our country through the U.S. refugee program.”
[Comment: Obama admin. doesn’t want to make this information public since more influx of ISIS is exactly what they want. They do not want Americans waking up to this goal. More chaos -more communism…]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘EU in Danger’ of Disappearing, Warns Schulz
The European Union is under threat from rising populism and nationalism fuelled by a record migrant influx, European Parliament president Martin Schulz warned Tuesday.
“The European Union is in danger. No one can say whether the EU will still exist in this form in 10 years,” Schulz said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt.
In the EU there were now “forces at work to drive us apart,” said the German politician.
“We must avoid this because the consequences would be dramatic.”
The alternative to the EU would be a “Europe of nationalism, a Europe of borders and walls” — a formula that had led the continent into “catastrophe” repeatedly in the past, Schulz said.
Germany is on course to take in one million asylum seekers this year, half of them from Syria.
Schulz voiced concern about a lack of solidarity by many EU members in hosting the refugees, and about moves by several eastern European countries to build new barriers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Must Change to Stem Rightwing Sentiment Says Renzi
After Front National victory in France
(ANSA) — Rome, December 7 — Europe must change to stem the rising tide of rightwing anti-immigrant sentiment, Premier Matteo Renzi wrote on Facebook Monday. “If it doesn’t change course, European institutions risk becoming the best allies of (far-right French politician) Marine Le Pen and those who would imitate her”. “I believe the time has come for European institutions to look squarely at reality,” the center-left premier continued.
“If you just play tactics you die. Without a strategic design — especially on the economy and growth — the populists sooner or later will win national elections too”.
Renzi’s remarks came after the far-right National Front (FN) achieved what pundits have dubbed a historic result in the first round of French regional elections on Sunday, with Marine Le Pen’s party finishing in the lead, capturing nearly 28% of the nationwide vote. On Monday, the FN told ANSA it stands with Italy’s anti-immigrant, anti-euro Northern League (LN). “We share the great struggle for the return of national sovereignty, against immigration and against the European Union with (LN chief) Matteo Salvini,” Florian Philippot told ANSA in Paris.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
How Germany’s Right-Wing Tabloid Learned to Love Refugees
Shocking many, Bild Zeitung has discouraged hostility to the current wave of asylum seekers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary’s Prime Minister: ‘All the Terrorists Are Migrants’
(NaturalNews) It’s a choice of words that many are intentionally taking out of context because it fits their narrow-minded agenda. And yet no one has stepped up to refute it in any factually meaningful way.
In recent days Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister whose country is currently in the path of a flood of Middle Eastern migrants, made liberals’ heads explode when he uttered a truth that, again, no one has been able to refute:
“Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants. The question is when they migrated to the European Union.”
Now, you’ll notice he did not say, “All migrants are terrorists.” In fact, just the opposite — that the terrorists who have made their way into eastern and western Europe in recent years migrated there, some with premeditated jihadi intentions, as evidenced by the ISIS-connected attacks in Paris recently.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Left Historian: ‘Christian Germany… Everything Dear to us… Will Disappear Because of Mass Migration’
by Raheem Kassam
The stark warning is sure to echo around Europe, the United Kingdom, and indeed the United States as policy makers throw open Western countries’ borders to migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr. Baberowski is the Professor of Eastern European History at the Humboldt University of Berlin noted for his expertise on Stalinism. He is a former Communist League of West Germany member, and former chair in Eastern European History at the University of Leipzig in 2001.
But even his left-wing credentials don’t make him shy away from the hard truth: “Even 9/11 wasn’t immediately perceived as a turning point,” he begins, “But I do believe that something fundamentally new is happening that will change our country very much. Germany will no longer stay out of wars and conflicts. And the Germany that we know it will disappear by the mass immigration.”
When asked what he meant by “the Germany that we know”, he told the Huffington Post Germany: “It is Germany, which is based on a foundation of Christian values.
“Everything that was dear to us, what we have been given all our lives must change because people come from a different cultural background and have other ideas about how we should live.
“Germany now has to — like the US — find a common denominator to which can put the lives of the many. How this should be done, I do not know. I just know that it will not be easy.”…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Masked Men Intercept Boat Migrants in Aegean
Human Rights Watch says masked men are intercepting refugees in the Aegean, ramming their boats, and setting them adrift after disabling outboard motors. “Until there is meaningful accountability, these attacks look set to continue”, said the NGO’s Bill Frelick in a blog post.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Boat Sinks in Turkish Waters Leaving Six Children Dead
A dinghy carrying Afghan migrants has sunk off Turkey’s Aegean coast, killing six children. The UN refugee agency has also voiced concern for 12,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the border with Jordan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Missing Autistic Man May Have Joined Refugees
The mother of an autistic man who went missing in Vienna last month fears that he may have joined a group of asylum seekers in a quest “to explore the world”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nobel Laureate Sees ‘Much Worse’ EU Economy From Refugee Crisis
Europe’s economic prospects are worsening as the region struggles to absorb the wave of asylum seekers coming from the Middle East, according to Angus Deaton, the winner of this year’s Nobel economics prize.
With the refugee crisis following so soon after Europe’s debt crisis, the development “could certainly make the economic situation very much worse,” Deaton said in an interview on Monday in Stockholm, where he’s officially being awarded his Nobel this week. “There is obviously a very severe danger” that the European Union will buckle under the pressure, he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris, Berlin ‘Convinced’ of Need to Reduce Migrant Flow: Letter to EU
France and Germany are “firmly convinced” of the need to reduce the flow of migrants into Europe, they wrote in a joint letter to the EU Commission seen by AFP on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Knifed to Death at Calais Migrant Camp
A refugee has been stabbed to death in the New Jungle migrant camp in Calais, northern France officials have said.
A 25-year-old Sudanese man was stabbed in the very early hours of Tuesday morning.
The man was stabbed in the neck, the prosecutor said, and died from his injuries.
Police have launched an investigation into murder.
The reasons for the attack and the nationality of the attacker remain unknown, however fights are not uncommon in the campsite, which is is home to around 4,500 migrants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Schengen Area Should Drop Greece if Athens Fails to Tackle Migrant Influx
Bart De Wever, the president of Belgium’s New Flemish Alliance party and the mayor of Antwerp, said that today the ‘mini-Schengen’ is Schengen without Greece.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Greece should be excluded from the borderless Schengen Area because it is failing to deal with the influx of refugee, many of whom manage to travel on to other EU member states, the president of Belgium’s New Flemish Alliance party and the mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, said.
In November, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned that several EU countries, such as Sweden, Austria, and the Netherlands, could form a “mini-Schengen” area in an attempt to protect their borders if the bloc failed to resolve the migrant crisis.
“I think that today the ‘mini-Schengen’ is Schengen without Greece. If [the Greeks] do not fulfill the European requirements, then we should venture to take the decision,” De Wever told the Belgian television channel Canvas on Monday night.
Europe is currently struggling to cope with a huge influx of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety and refuge in Europe. Over 850,000 migrants have arrived in the bloc in 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Greece has become one of the major transit countries for refugees attempting to reach wealthier EU states, with over 700,000 arrivals registered in the country in 2015, according to the UN Refugee Agency. On December 3, Greece asked the EU border agency Frontex for guards and equipment to assist in tackling the flow of migrants into Greece.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Schulz: European Union ‘Could be Reversed’
EU Parliament president Schulz said in Die Welt Tuesday European integration “could of course be reversed” if the migrant crisis prompts resurgence of nationalism: “No one can say whether the EU will still exist in this form in 10 years’ time. If we want that then we need to fight.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Set to Ditch Öresund Bridge Closure
Plans for new laws that would allow the Öresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark to be closed in a crisis situation look set to be scrapped by the Swedish government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US to Have ‘Many More World Trade Centers’ Without Muslim Travel Ban — Trump
Donald Trump said that United States will see many terrorist attacks similar to September 11, 2001, if Washington does not introduce a ban on Muslim immigration.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will see many terrorist attacks similar to September 11, 2001, if Washington does not introduce a ban on Muslim immigration, US presidential hopeful Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
“You’re going to have many more World Trade Centers if you don’t solve it — many, many more and probably beyond the World Trade Center,” Trump said in CNN’s morning news program.
On Monday, Trump called on the United States to deny the entry to the country of all Muslims until a counterterrorism plan is established.
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said later on Monday that Trump’s suggestion is “totally contrary” to the US values.
Another Republican presidential contender, Senator Lindsey Graham, slammed Trump’s ideas on Tuesday.
“He doesn’t represent my party, he doesn’t represent the values that the men and women in uniform are fighting for,” Graham said on the same CNN news program. “He is the ISIL [Islamic State] man of the year, by the way.”
Trump has made numerous controversial statements about Muslims during his presidential campaign. In November, he said on two separate occasions that they were celebrating the September 11, 2001, extremist attacks in the United States and proposed a mandatory database of Muslims.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
A former U.S. Air Force officer has branded the ritual of military football players kneeling in prayer a ‘putrid’ example of ‘Christian supremacy’ and demanded it must stop.
Michael Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), insisted the public prayers so often seen on the football pitch before games are ‘a scandalous outrage’.
[Comment: freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. Putz.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For more than six years, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) has celebrated the start of the Christmas season with a festive event called “A Grand Ole Christmas.” This year, however, the event was renamed “Hotty Toddy Holiday” in an effort to be more inclusive.
[Comment: Actually, most foreigners see this and wonder “Aren’t you proud of your own culture?” Quite frankly most people are not so insecure as to to feel they are being “excluded” from such events. If an infidel went to Saudi Arabia during Ramadan, would you expect Saudi Arabia officials to wipe out any mention of the function everywhere? This “inclusive” excuse is just that — an excuse to eliminate Christianity being celebrated in the public sphere.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lesbians Kiss in Hillary Campaign Ad
(BREITBART) — The Hillary Clinton campaign is out with an ad highlighting her record as an advocate for LGBT rights. The spot includes images of gay couples kissing each other.
The liberal website Slate praises Clinton for including same-sex kissing in her campaign ad, saying, “Given the distressingly puritanical rules that govern gay PDAs, it’s both impressive and heartening that Clinton includes gay kisses in her official campaign spots.”
“The ad forces viewers to confront images that might make them feel slightly uneasy, then encourages them to view such affection as a normal, healthy manifestation of adult intimacy.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘The Economist’ Reports on Euthanasia in Belgium
A group of 65 Belgian psychiatrists, professors and psychologists have written an open letter published in the daily De Morgen in which they call for Belgium to end the practice of allowing euthanasia on grounds of unbearable psychological suffering.
The 65 claim that there is no objective way of judging unbearable psychological suffering.
Annually only 3% of the 2000 people undergoing euthanasia in Belgium do so on grounds of unbearable psychological suffering. These people are not terminally ill.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Meet Tayna, The Faintest Ancient Galaxy Ever Found
A newly discovered early galaxy is the faintest ever found, and it’s giving researchers a rare look into how ancient galaxies evolved.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Climate Summit: If Liberal Journos Get Their Wish it May be Lights Out for Billions
This month, world leaders and activists are gathering in Paris, the City of Light, to try to reach a deal to turn out lights around the globe.
The UN climate change conference (COP 21) is bringing thousands of environmental activists to still-shaken Paris to discuss what liberals consider a bigger threat than terrorism — climate change.
Heads of state are attempting, yet again, to reach a legally binding agreement for carbon dioxide emissions, even though satellite temperature records still show a pause in the warming trend. That pause began more than 18 years ago in 1997.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Resistance to Last-Resort Antibiotic Has Now Spread Across Globe
The last drug has fallen. Bacteria carrying a gene that allows them to resist polymyxins, the antibiotics of last resort for some kinds of infection, have been found in Denmark and China, prompting a global search for the gene.
The discovery means that gram-negative bacteria, which cause common gut, urinary and blood infections in humans, can now become “pan-resistant”, with genes that defeat all antibiotics now available. That will make some infections incurable, unless new kinds of antibiotics are brought to market soon.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Super Spiral Galaxies Amaze Astronomers
A new breed of giants raises questions about how the biggest galaxies arise
They’re big, they’re bright, they’re beautiful—and they shouldn’t even exist, at least to our current astronomical knowledge: gargantuan spiral galaxies that make our giant Milky Way seem downright modest. Spirals are supposed to be small fry compared to the greatest giant ellipticals, which are football-shaped swarms of stars thought to be the universe’s biggest and brightest galaxies. But now a search across billions of light-years has snared a rare breed of “super spiral” galaxies that rival their giant elliptical peers in size and luminosity, raising questions over how such behemoths are born.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What is a Human? Long-Standing Debate Surrounds Our Family Tree
Several ancient human species and relatives have been unearthed in bits and pieces over the years, including one with an orange-size brain, another dubbed the “hobbit” for its miniature size and a flat-faced hominin with a huge brow ridge.
Although these finds have opened more windows into the evolutionary landscape in which today’s humans arose, some researchers are not convinced such discoveries belong alongside Homo sapiens.
The controversy — whether the human family tree had few or many branches — is part of a long-standing debate between the so-called lumpers and splitters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump is “worse than Voldemort”
For heaven’s sake what has happened to the “reason and enlightenment” in the west? Why is Trump vilified when he tell the obvious truth.
Why do we reverse everything and anything for the sake of islam to prevail over us?
Why so prevalent poisoned minds?
WHY? WHY? WHY?
Why to be your own enemy and befriend your killer is an excellent feat?
Why?
Well with the coming of the nu multicult confusion if we are all to be the same then literature in general is unfair. In the new Muslim sympathico rock bottom cultural ruins we are now accepting of radicalized WOGs (Warriors Of God) as part of the the Germsn nation. In Germany, crazy Merkel has many openings in state security that need filling ASAP.
They said similar things about Reagan, and later about Bush jr,
When a Democrat wins, the Reps call him a ‘socialist’ , when a Republican wins, the Dems call him ‘Satan’, both call presidents provided by the other ‘illegitimate’.
It’s the American way.
Just a reminder: Why do we help the evil history repeat itself:
Poetry of Oscar Wilde
ON THE MASSACRE OF THE CHRISTIANS IN BULGARIA
Christ, dost Thou live indeed? or are Thy bones
Still straitened in their rock-hewn sepulchre?
And was Thy Rising only dreamed by her
Whose love of Thee for all her sin atones?
For here the air is horrid with men’s groans,
The priests who call upon Thy name are slain,
Dost Thou not hear the bitter wail of pain
From those whose children lie upon the stones?
Come down, O Son of God! incestuous gloom
Curtains the land, and through the starless night
Over Thy Cross a Crescent moon I see!
If Thou in very truth didst burst the tomb
Come down, O Son of Man! and show Thy might
Lest Mahomet be crowned instead of Thee!
Poisoned minds: Does this poem mean anything to you?
Why do we read Shakespeare, and literature in general?
Is it to be servile to invaders? Or is it to learn lessons, morals, and be warned in advance, before losing one’s head. . . literally?
J.K. Rowling is now so rich she will never have to live among – let alone anywhere near – the young male alien “refugees” swarming into Europe. The children of the Anglosphere who made her fortune can go to hell as far as she’s concerned.
Am I allowed to call her a [female canine]?
Tom Riddle was just a victim of a bad childhood, if I remember my Harry Potter correctly.
Sadly, those books are pretty much the best out of the so-called ‘teen fiction’ section of your local book- or media store, you can forget the rest, including the hundreds of vampire romance novels.
And the books as well as the Rowling-approved movies do contain a fair amount of multicultural utopia, so her position isn’t entirely unexpected.
Mrs. Rowlings non-fantasy novel The Casual Vacancy is also pretty good, and partially multiculti, but not unrealistically so.
Why a British author would care about an American presidential candidate is a little bit of a mystery……