Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/14/2016

Thisted, a small town in Denmark, has become the latest victim of the European Groping Jihad. Women in Thisted are now reluctant to go out without an escort, because Syrian “refugees” from the local asylum center have taken to groping Danish women on the street.

In other news, hundreds of “refugees” turned back by Germany at its border with Austria now have to be housed and fed in Austria, at the expense of the Austrian government.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, Nick, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» EU Warns Greece Not to ‘Play Games’ With IMF
» European Retirement Crisis: Chart Looks at Senior Dependency Ratios
» Italy Gave EU ‘Informal Plan’ For Bad Bank, Vestager Says
 
USA
» Alabama Officer Acquitted After Injuring Indian Grandfather
» Before Passing Vaccine Mandate, Pro-Eugenics California Forcibly Sterilized 20,000 Latina Women … is That a Microaggression?
» Civil-Rights Leader: Trump Not Racist, Loves America
» Donald Trump Will Become US President Candidate, Polls Say Ahead of Tonight’s TV Debate
» NC AG-Gag Law Criminalizes Whistleblowing ‘Across All Sectors, ‘ Charges Suit
» Powerball’s Biggest Winner: Government
» Reds Exploiting Blacks: The Roots of Black Lives Matter
» Texas Imam Forced to Resign Over Trump Support
» The CIA-Backed Start-Up That’s Taking Over Palo Alto
» The Haley Shuffle!
 
Canada
» Report Negatively About the Legislature; Lose Your Seat in the Press Box
 
Europe and the EU
» British Woman Has Stomach Removed After Being Served Two Shots of Liquid Nitrogen at Wine Bar
» EU Failures Fuel Rise of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Europe
» EU Plays Down Spat With Poland Over Fears of Inflaming Euroskeptics
» EU Will Fall Amid Terror and Migrant Strain — and it’s Starting in Germany, Admits EU Head
» France Bans Three Radical Islamic Groups Which Ran a Mosque Shut Down Over Links to the Paris Terror Attacks
» France Outlaws Three Religious Organizations Over Ties With Jihadists
» Homegrown ISIS Jihadis Plotting European 9/11 and Terror Chiefs Say ‘2015 Was Nothing’
» How Do You Say “Unbelievable” In German?
» Italy: Macedonian Expelled for ‘Terror Prevention’ Says Alfano
» Italy Welcomes 11 Kenyan Student Survivors of Garissa Attack
» Italy: Senegalese Man ‘Confesses to Killing American Woman’ In Florence
» Jews Told Not to Wear the Kippa After Machete Attack at Marseille Synagogue
» Monsignor Becciu Says Vatican ‘Not a Den of Thieves’
» More Shocking NYE Sex Attacks: Gang of Men Grope and Rip Clothes Off British Teen in Paris
» Now Tony Blair Calls for EU Army as Ex-PM Blasts ‘Backward-Looking’ Eurosceptics
» PC Police: Swedish Cops Told Not to Describe Suspects to Avoid Racism
» Renzi Says Italy Has European Champions in Banking
» Rome Says Marine Staying in Italy Pending Arbitration
» Shops Disappearing From Italian Centres, Confcommercio Says
» Spain’s Podemos Urged to Explain Alleged Iranian Funding Link
» Trump: Germans Will Riot, Overthrow Merkel
» UK: Churches Vandalised and Statue of the Virgin Mary Beheaded in ‘Extremist’ Attacks
» UK: Muslim Group’s Meal Offer to Far Right Protesters
» UK: Police Arrest Two More Men in Syrian-Related Terror Investigation
» UK: Statue of Virgin Mary Beheaded at Church
 
North Africa
» Al-Qaeda Group Threatens Italy for ‘Occupying Libya’
» Clinton Emails: Adviser Accused France of Bombing Gaddafi for Libyan Oil
» ISIS Takes 150 Prisoners in Libya
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Journalist Jailed by Hamas Says He Was Abused
 
Middle East
» Boys Snatched From Their Families by ISIS Reveal How They Were Ordered to Kill Their Parents After Being Trained as Child Soldiers… and Would Have Their Legs Broken if They Refused
» Christian Persecution Reaches Global Historic High, Thanks to Rise of Radical Islam
» Harold Rhode on IRGC US Navy Hostage Taking: ‘Iran Humiliating US With No Consequences’
» Iran: Serracchiani: Let’s Strengthen Our Relationship
 
Russia
» Italian Saipem Among Candidates for Nord Stream-2 Pipe-Laying — Gazprom CEO
 
South Asia
» The Terrorist Toolkit: ISIS Fanatic’s Chilling Arsenal of Bombs, Guns, Ammunition and a Knife is Revealed After Wave of Suicide Attacks on Jakarta Leaves Seven Dead
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Escape From Boko Haram
 
Immigration
» Austria Hit With Financial Burden of Hosting Refugees Turned Back by Berlin
» Bavarian Governor Packs 31 Migrants Onto a Coach and Sends Them on Seven-Hour Journey to Angela Merkel’s Office in Berlin After Warning the German Leader: ‘We Can’t Manage’
» Better Late: Canada Welcomes 10,000th Syrian Refugee
» Close the Borders: Angela Merkel’s Own Party Turn on Leader’s ‘Open Door’ Refugee Policy
» Denmark Becomes the Latest Country to Report Surge in Women Being Groped by Groups of Migrants as Locals Say Syrians ‘Go Nuts if They See a Girl’
» EU Migration Chief Says Refugee Response is Failing
» Firearm Sales in Austria Are Up 350% Due to ‘Unease’ Over Increasing Number of Migrants… Months After Dealers Warned They Had Virtually Sold Out of Shotguns
» Forty Per Cent of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian Migrants Registered in Cologne Have Been Arrested for Crimes, Police Figures Reveal
» Free Speech or Hate Speech? German Paper Shuts Down Anti-Migrant Comments
» Migrants Pay for Uniforms to Board Cross-Channel Boats From Belgium
» Report: White House is Blocking Investigation Into Over 100 Terrorists Inside U.S.
» Shocking Report Reveals Migrants Committed Over 185,000 Crimes in Germany
» Syrian “Refugees” Rape Three-Year-Old Boy in Norway
» Three-Year-Old Boy is Raped ‘By Multiple People’ At Asylum Centre in Norway
» UK: 10 Years for Migrant Who Dragged Devout Christian Off Street and Raped Her by a Church
» Under Siege: Women Afraid to Go Out in Danish Town Due to Migrant Assaults
 
Culture Wars
» There is a Gay Lobby in Vatican Says Maradiaga
 

EU Warns Greece Not to ‘Play Games’ With IMF

The EU’s economic affairs commissioner called on Athens “not to play games” with the International Monetary Fund as the body decides whether to participate in Greece’s latest bailout.

Pierre Moscovici insisted the IMF must play a role in the three-year, 86-billion-euro ($93-billion) rescue package agreed in July, but Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said funds from the institution are not necessary.

“We don’t play games with the IMF,” Moscovici said in an interview with the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

European Retirement Crisis: Chart Looks at Senior Dependency Ratios

If you thought Social Security in the United States was in crisis mode then you should take a look over in Europe.

According to a chart posted by Economic Policy Journal, the projected old-age dependency ratio (number of citizens over 65 as a percentage of citizens between 16 and 64) is becoming a major problem in many European countries. It’s a problem, because much like the U.S., these states run a Ponzi scheme style of their respective retirement benefits.

Here is the chart:

[Comment: There you are. The new tenants of EU will be the islamic hordes. Don’t worry all you white seniors — I’m sure the next generation of muslim ‘youts’ will make sure you are looked after. They will certainly look after your daughters. /sarc. This whole thing is sickening. Europeans have been betrayed by their political class who are following a different agenda — replacing the native population. Some of those politicians stupidly believe the new influx will overall become a net contributor to the social system. What’s the penalty for treason? This explains the ramp-up of the police state — self preservation of the elites status quo once the serfs realize they have been betrayed.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Gave EU ‘Informal Plan’ For Bad Bank, Vestager Says

EC Competition Commissioner says ‘ready to work together’

(ANSA) — Brussels, January 14 — Italy has presented an “informal plan” to deal with non-performing loans and set up a bad bank, said the spokesman for European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Thursday, adding that Brussels is “willing to work together”.

Italy’s Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said the proposal will be “light but efficient”. “It’s a proposal we’ve been working on for some time, which completes tools that we already have on the ground, such as the new bankruptcy proceedings,” Padoan said, adding that a public guarantee could be part of the proposal.

He said he is in constant contact with Vestager and hopes that things will proceed rapidly, but said an exchange must be set up before determining at what price the bad loans might be sold.

“I believe there’s a market, and just like every market for something new, it needs a start, one needs to launch a ship that then proceeds on its own, and with the improving economy it will be easier,” Padoan said.

Dario Scannapieco, European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice President for SMEs, said it was “premature” to talk about possible EIB involvement.

“The sector of non-performing loans is a relevant one in Italy, and reviving the securitisation market is essential for economic recovery and also for improving debt collection systems,” Scannapieco said.

“The securitisation sector held up well during the crisis because they was better structured in Europe compared to the US and are penalised by errors committed elsewhere”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Alabama Officer Acquitted After Injuring Indian Grandfather

Accused of using unreasonable force while working as a police officer in Madison, Alabama…

A federal judge has acquitted an Alabama police officer charged with violating an Indian grandfather’s civil rights by throwing him to the ground and causing him serious injuries after the case previously went to two mistrials.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Before Passing Vaccine Mandate, Pro-Eugenics California Forcibly Sterilized 20,000 Latina Women … is That a Microaggression?

As reported by Counter Current News, a documentary entitled, No Mas Bebes, highlights a plethora of evidence that reveals one of California’s most heinous secrets, and one that is “reminiscent of Nazi eugenics programs: the [state sanctioned] forced sterilization of Latina women.”

For some decades the Golden State was one of a number of states that imposed forced sterilization on some women. Primarily, that involved forcing a woman to have her “tubes tied” after giving birth, and usually without her consent. In addition, men were given vasectomies without their knowledge or consent. The hardest-hit community were Spanish-speaking immigrants, as further noted by the Los Angeles Times.

The program ran from about 1909 to 1963, the documentary notes, during which time more than 20,000 Latina women were subjected to forced sterilization to “control” the Hispanic population in the state. [By comparison today, for political reasons, Democrats who control California are allowing them in by the thousands so they can exploit them.]

By 1970, the same program endured, but had been scaled back slightly. As further noted by Counter Culture News:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Civil-Rights Leader: Trump Not Racist, Loves America

(Breitbart) Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, author of “The Antidote: Healing America From the Poison of Hate, Blame and Victimhood,” calls Barack Obama “A great seducer and the greatest liar” that he’s seen in his lifetime in his response to Obama’s SOTU address today on Breitbart News Daily with host Stephen K. Bannon.

Petersen said he saw it as the opening of the Democrat campaign against Republican Donald Trump and that he doesn’t believe Obama has much confidence in Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders as candidates.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Donald Trump Will Become US President Candidate, Polls Say Ahead of Tonight’s TV Debate

DONALD Trump has declared the United States is WEAK without him, as American polls show he WILL smash his bid for the Republican nomination in the US Presidential race.

The White House hopeful has captured 45 per cent of the vote in a three way race with Senator Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio according to polls — in the latest sign party voters are ready to accept the outspoken businessman as their 2016 nominee.

In a new YouGov poll, Republicans appear to want a “strong” and “bold” leader than a “true Conservative”.

Mr Trump wins strong and bold, while Mr Cruz is seen as the true Conservative and Mr Rubio wins the title of “typical politician”.

The results have emerged ahead of tonight when Trump takes to the stage for a the last televised debate with his Republican candidate competition before voters can decide who they want to run for President.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

NC AG-Gag Law Criminalizes Whistleblowing ‘Across All Sectors, ‘ Charges Suit

North Carolina’s controversial ag-gag law is facing a court challenge by a coalition of watchdog groups who charge that it violates a citizen’s First Amendment rights and places the safety of animals, families, and food supply at great risk.

Anna Myers, executive director and CEO of whistleblower protection and advocacy organization Government Accountability Project (GAP), who announced the legal action on Wednesday, said the law “is one of the most appalling overt attempts to silence whistleblowers” in the organization’s 38-year history.

The law, which took effect on January 1, “aim[s] to criminalize food industry whistleblowing” by “punish[ing] those who conduct undercover investigations of any private entity in North Carolina,” Myers continued.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Powerball’s Biggest Winner: Government

Ka-ching! Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot soared to $1.5 billion as get-rich-quick mania seized America this week. But you don’t need to wait for the drawing to know who’ll score the royal payoff.

The biggest winner of the multistate numbers game is — drumroll, please — Uncle Sam.

Powerball is a government-sponsored gambling racket in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The feds automatically skim 25 percent off the top of a lump-sum cash award. Additional state withholding taxes vary depending on residency status. Mega-winners are taxed at the highest federal income tax bracket (nearly 40 percent); those who live in states with personal income taxes could pay up to an additional 9 percent. Local municipal taxes can add another 3-5 percent to the tax burden.

Government lotteries of all kinds raked in a whopping $70 billon in revenue last year, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. Cash-strapped states pitch the rackets as civic enterprises by purporting to earmark a portion of proceeds for public education, economic development and mass transit, senior citizens’ programs, professional sports stadiums and environmental protection.

As I’ve noted during previous, high-stakes lotto crazes, the state bureaucrats who run these schemes for numeracy-challenged consumers are free to ban outside competition — including private slot machines, phone betting, instant pull tabs and card rooms. The feds help out by limiting sweepstakes and Internet gambling, as well as exempting state lottery marketing materials from Federal Trade Commission regulations that guarantee truth in advertising.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Reds Exploiting Blacks: The Roots of Black Lives Matter

This is a report from the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism: The Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) casts itself as a spontaneous uprising born of inner city frustration, but is, in fact, the latest and most dangerous face of a web of well-funded communist/socialist organizations that have been agitating against America for decades. Its agitation has provoked police killings and other violence, lawlessness and unrest in minority communities throughout the U.S. If allowed to continue, that agitation could devolve into anarchy and civil war. The BLM crowd appears to be spoiling for just such an outcome.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Texas Imam Forced to Resign Over Trump Support

A Texas imam is unemployed because of his support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Nidal Alsayyed of the Islamic Society of the Triplex in Beaumont, Texas, told KFDM Fox 4 on Friday that backing Trump’s plan to temporarily stop Muslim immigration has cost him his job.

“I certainly see it to be wise,” Alsayyed said of Trump’s plan, the network reported. “I believe the situation nationally is getting mixed up and certainly agree with Mr. Trump on closing the door until further understanding is achieved. This should not prevent the United States to fulfill its duties toward the international partners and humanity calls outside the United States.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The CIA-Backed Start-Up That’s Taking Over Palo Alto

Downtown Palo Alto, the heart and soul of Silicon Valley and former home to Google, Facebook and PayPal, is slowly turning into a scene out of “Lord of the Rings.”

Palantir Technologies, a highly secretive software developer whose name is derived from a magical crystal ball in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel, has been gobbling up real estate in the upscale home of Stanford University, and — according to critics — uprooting a vibrant start-up ecosystem in the process.

Unlike its start-up predecessors, which outgrew the cramped streets of Palo Alto and moved to more traditional corporate campuses in nearby Menlo Park and Mountain View, Palantir is intent on staying put and expanding. The company controls about 250,000 square feet of office space, or 10 to 15 percent of the commercial inventory, spread over 23 or so buildings. Some of its leases are for a decade or longer.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Haley Shuffle!

I was never a fan of the ‘Ickey Shuffle’, but it was more entertaining and substantive than the ‘Haley Shuffle’. Another supposed conservative has sold out genuine conservatives and the U. S. citizenry to join the Ryan-McConnell led GOP backstablishment. Personally, I’ve never considered her the real deal, so I’m not shocked. Anyone who ascends the ‘Greed Over Principles’ (GOP) backstablishment is an enemy of the U. S. citizenry, just as much as any Democrat.

I don’t watch the State of the Union litany of lies and the pathetic responses by the ‘opposition’ party anymore because that would be a total waste of time. The lies just get larger in substance and quantity, and there is no opposition party. My hat is off to those who sit through the elocution excrement; you have stronger stomachs for evil than I do.

The backstablishment boldly and purposely squandered an opportunity to expose the lies embedded in the current puppet president’s SOTU farce to advance their assaults against anyone who dares to stand independent of the strings of the master manipulator puppeteers, all at the expense of the U. S. citizenry.

To anyone still clinging to the GOP as an alternative to the evil within the Communist/Democrat Party, what will it take for you to wake up to the fact that the party is dead, as in D-E-A-D? It is just writhing in spasms of a dying body. Regardless of ideology, the two parties have merged into one, an enemy to anyone who is pro-God, pro-traditional family, pro-Constitution and pro-freedom. When the propaganda machine is extolling a politician’s virtues, the politician has no virtues, or has abandoned them. With Ms. Haley being the toast of the propaganda circuit, it is a certainty that the Ryan-McConnell tag team has convinced her that wealth and power are more important than honesty, morals, ethics and principles.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report Negatively About the Legislature; Lose Your Seat in the Press Box

I’ve written several times since 2009 about the ridiculous hassles I’ve had with the many press credential hold-ups at the hands of the Capitol Correspondents Association and Assembly Speaker’s press office

“Statehouse leaders affirmed a committee of journalists’ recommendation to reject press credentials for Watchdog.org, raising questions about both journalistic ethics and the First Amendment in the state’s vetting process, ethics experts say,” a recent Watchdog.org story reported. It could be my story.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

British Woman Has Stomach Removed After Being Served Two Shots of Liquid Nitrogen at Wine Bar

The woman, Gaby Scanlon, was celebrating at Oscar’s Wine Bar in Lancaster when she suddenly felt her stomach expanding in pain. She was immediately rushed to Lancaster Royal Infirmary, where surgeons revealed a large perforation in Gaby’s stomach. Something she drank had torn a hole in her insides. That something was liquid nitrogen, which was floating unseen on the top of her Nitro Jagermeister drink.

For three weeks, Gaby remained in intensive care after surgeons took out her perforated stomach. In a bizarre, four-hour operation, surgeons connected Gaby’s esophagus straight to her small intestine. Now, Gaby must go on without a stomach.

For some trendy bars, adding liquid nitrogen to cocktail glasses adds special effect, creating a smoky appearance. Apparently, Oscar’s Wine Bar went a little too far with the trick; the liquid nitrogen did not have time to evaporate. In this worst-case scenario, the liquid nitrogen floats to the top of the alcoholic drink, waiting to be swallowed first. It probably didn’t take long for the liquid to run through her system and freeze out holes in her stomach. It’s amazing this woman is still alive today.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

EU Failures Fuel Rise of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Europe

Support for right-wing populist parties is growing in Europe. Austria’s Freedom Party, Sweden Democrats, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Front National in France are among parties which have witnessed greater support at the polls.

The refugee crisis has been cited as a reason for the rise in the popularity of right-wing parties in Europe. Germany is one such example, where anti-immigrant fractions are taking to the streets as they march in protest of its open-door policy and in anger at claims that certain migrants of North African and Middle Eastern descent were behind a spate of sexual assaults.

If an election was held now in Germany, AfD would win 11.3 percent of the vote, according to a new poll for Bild magazine.

The party is in third place behind Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat Union and Christian Social Union parties.

“The issue is identity,” Daniele Albertazzi, senior lecturer in European politics at Birmingham University, UK told Sputnik.

“Many people around Europe feel they are being deprived of their identity. They no longer understand what their local community is becoming and they are surrounded by people who speak other languages. Nation states no longer have the power they used to and people feel the certainties they once had are disappearing”, Albertazzi said.

However, Albertazzi argues that the popularity of right-wing parties in Europe is nothing new.

“It is certainly true that right-wing parties have done very well in recent months but if we look at the data, the first government that formed with neo-fascists was in Italy in 1994 and the first time Front National got to the last stage of the presidential elections in France was in 2002. The first time Austria’s Freedom party entered government was 2000. The Swiss People’s party which led to the abolition of minarets started growing at the end of 1990,” Albertazzi told Sputnik.

According to Professor Albertazzi, the ineffectiveness of the European Union and individual nation states to manage the refugee crisis and share the burden of asylum seekers has contributed to the rise in popularity for an alternative rhetoric from right-wing parties.

“The EU has acquired a series of powers and the levels of accountability and transparency is not efficient. This is ammunition for those who want to destroy the project and I don’t see any evidence of this being addressed.

“We are witnessing a change in mood and a hardening of feelings. I predict that there will be more support for right-wing parties in the future and the continued threat of terrorism will fuel this kind of fire,” Albertazzi told Sputnik.

The AfD party in Germany campaigns for the withdrawal from the Eurozone, an end to an ever-closer union within the EU, as well as stricter immigration rules for refugees and migrants.

Angela Merkel is under pressure to change her position on migration and close the borders to more refugees flooding the country — Germany has so far received 1.1 million migrants in 2015.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

EU Plays Down Spat With Poland Over Fears of Inflaming Euroskeptics

European Commissioners are meeting in Brussels to thrash out a solution to the increasing tension between Warsaw and the EU over the Polish government’s changes to the constitutional court and its attempts to take control of state media.

There has been growing concern within the EU ever since the Law and Justice Party (PiS) was swept to power in the October 2015 general election. As the first party to win an absolute majority since 1989, the PiS — led by Prime Minister Beata Szydlo — has moved quickly to assert its political authority.

Its first move was to appoint five judges to the Constitutional Tribunal, which is supposed to make independent rulings, leading to protests accusing the Szydlo government of political interference in constitutional affairs. The move is widely seen as paving the way for the government to push through legislation with less opposition or oversight.

The European Commission is investigating whether Warsaw is in breach of the commission’s ‘rule of law mechanism’ which seeks to is rein in EU member governments whose policies and legislation are seen to pose a “systematic threat” to EU values. Although the mechanism was passed last year, it has never been invoked, so this could be the first time is tested on a member state which is seen to be behaving undemocratically.

Media Clampdown

The second major issue between Brussels and Warsaw is the new media law that was rushed through the Polish parliament before Christmas, which allows the government to appoint the heads of the Polish state media, leading to protests that the move was effectively removing the independence of the broadcasters.

In a 45-minute call to Szydlo, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sought to play down the affair. Sources within the EU say that — in spite of being in breach of EU principles — Poland is unlikely to be subjected to major sanctions for fear of fueling nationalist and anti-EU sentiment within Poland.

A group of international journalists last week launched a challenge at the Council of Europe over the new law — passed hurriedly before Christmas by the new Warsaw administration — that gives it the power to directly appoint the heads of public broadcasters.

In a letter — signed by the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and others — to the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, the journalists said: “The legislation gives a government minister exclusive powers to appoint and dismiss all members of the Supervisory and Management Boards of TVP and PR, making them wholly dependent on the goodwill and favor of the government.

“The Polish government’s plans directly contradict the commitments made by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its 2012 Declaration on Public Service Media (PSM) Governance; that Declaration stated that PSM must remain independent of political or economic interference, and should be accountable and transparent as they have the obligation to serve the public in all its diversity,” the letter said. The Council of Europe is investigating the media complaint.

The European Commission last week sent a letter to the Polish government warning that it may be in breach of EU principles and could be made subject to a special monitoring procedure or even lose voting powers. The European Parliament is due to debate the issue next week.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

EU Will Fall Amid Terror and Migrant Strain — and it’s Starting in Germany, Admits EU Head

THE European Union faces being destroyed under the growing threat of terrorism, which has sparked the influx of migrants into Europe, the European Parliament’s President has warned.

Martin Schulz, the German president of the European Parliament, fears the 28-member bloc will crumble under the to political unrest caused by the migrant crisis.

He said: “The worst nightmare for the European project is an outbreak of populism or political upheaval in Germany. Now it is looking like a real possibility.

“Nobody knows what we are facing this year. We are threatened as never before.”

This week’s deadly attacks in Istanbul have intensified the gravity of the growing problem.

Following the arrival of 1.1million migrants into Germany alone and in the wake of sickening sex attacks in Cologne, member states are telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘we told you so’.

[‘We’ are threatened, you’ll notice.]

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

France Bans Three Radical Islamic Groups Which Ran a Mosque Shut Down Over Links to the Paris Terror Attacks

Three radical Islamist groups which ran a now-closed mosque with links to the November terrorist attacks in Paris have been banned by the French government.

The groups had been dissolved because ‘their leaders over the last few years had incited hatred and called for jihad’, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Wednesday

Their mosque at Lagny-sur-Marne was closed in December after guns, munitions and jihadist documents were found in the building.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

France Outlaws Three Religious Organizations Over Ties With Jihadists

The French authorities have decided to outlaw three religious organizations that have ties to jihadist groups and recruiters, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Wednesday.

PARIS (Sputnik) — Cazeneuve said that the organizations had been outlawed because their activities were linked to inciting terrorism and hatred.

“Searches in these three associations were made at the beginning of December and they allowed us to establish the facts, confirming information we already possessed about the activities of these associations,” Cazeneuve was quoted as saying by the BFMTV television channel.

The outlawed organizations were reportedly linked to a mosque in the French department of Seine-et-Marne, which was closed in December after police found weapons and documents confirming the jihadist nature of some of the activities conducted at the mosque.

The move comes amid heightened security measures in France, which have been in place since the November 13 deadly terrorist attacks in Paris that left at least 130 people dead and over 360 injured.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Homegrown ISIS Jihadis Plotting European 9/11 and Terror Chiefs Say ‘2015 Was Nothing’

FRENCH intelligence experts have warned the Paris attacks were a “dress rehearsal” for “a European 9/11” as the German government prepares for a strike from “brutalised” homegrown ISIS jihadis.

A report from Germany’s interior ministry says the country can expect a Paris-style attack by “completely brutalised” returnees from war-torn Syria.

In a confidential internal report leaked to the German media officials said the country is a “declared target” for fanatics who want to mimic the gun and bomb attacks that killed 130 people in the French capital on November 13.

The report said: “Germany is declared an actual target of jihadist motivated violence which can come at any time in the form of acts of violence against state and civil institutions as well as civil servants and civilians”.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

How Do You Say “Unbelievable” In German?

by Diana West

[See source link for graphic]

He says: “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”

She says: “Ja!”

This, as far as I can tell, is NOT a tasteless spoof of the rape jihad (I discuss it here with Frank Gaffney) sweeping Europe and the wider West. It is the cover of a German primer for sale for 14.90 Euros by a company called smarterGerman.

Crystal clear is right.

           — Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Macedonian Expelled for ‘Terror Prevention’ Says Alfano

Ljimani Redjep ‘A radicalized anti-Western Salafist’

(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Interior Minister Angelino Alfano on Wednesday ordered a Macedonian national who had been living in Italy since 1998 expelled for reasons of “terrorism prevention”.

Police removed 39-year-old Ljimani Redjep from his home near the northern city of Treviso on Wednesday morning.

Alfano said Redjep had been in contact with radical Wahabi Islamists in the Balkans who are “strongly hostile to Western customs and traditions”.

“(Redjep) has a deep knowledge of jihadism and is a strict observer of the rigid dictates of Salafist doctrine,” said Alfano.

The man was radicalized and was becoming “progressively anti-Western”, Alfano said, citing Redjep’s refusal to sign a letter of solidarity to France from Islamic associations in Italy condemning the November 2015 Islamist terror attacks in Paris.

Redjep’s son reportedly expressed support for the Paris attacks in the classroom, saying things like “now let’s go to Rome and kill the pope” and “long live ISIS (Islamic State terror group)”, the interior ministry said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Welcomes 11 Kenyan Student Survivors of Garissa Attack

Group will study in Perugia for 9 months thanks to grant

(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday welcomed at Rome’s Fiumicino a group of 11 Kenyan students who survived last April’s massacre at Garissa University.

The students will spend nine months at Perugia’s University for Foreigners thanks to an Italian foreign ministry grant. “The cultural response is fundamental when faced with terrorism,” Gentiloni said as he welcomes the students, six young women and five men. “We wanted to give this signal immediately after the Garissa attack in which terrorism killed 147 people to show how cooperation with students from that university could be a response to terrorism”.

The attackers were from the Al-Shabaab Somali Islamist militant group.

Kenya’s Ambassador to Italy, Josephine Wangari Gaita, was also present when the group arrived.

“I thank Italy for giving these young people the chance to continue their studies in a peaceful environment,” Wangari Gaita said. “I’m certain they will make us proud. God bless them and bless Italy and Kenya”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Senegalese Man ‘Confesses to Killing American Woman’ In Florence

Migrant says did not intend to kill, no ‘erotic game’

(ANSA) — Florence, January 14 — Police have detained a man suspected of murdering Ashley Olsen, a 35-year-old American woman, in Florence last week. The detained man is Cheik Diaw, a 27-year-old undocumented Senegalese migrant known to the police for drugs-related issues. He has admitted being responsible for her death, but said he did not intend to kill her, sources said.

Prosecutors said the man was held on the basis of DNA evidence taken at the crime scene.

“There is very serious evidence of his guilt,” Florence Prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo told a news conference Thursday. The man was detained overnight and interrogated until 04:00 Italian time.

Diaw said he had sexual relations with Olsen after meeting her in a club and going to her home, according to the sources. He said they subsequently argued and she banged her head after he pushed her, they said. He said that the bruising on her neck, which led coroners to conclude she had been strangled, resulted from his efforts to lift her up, according to the sources.

Olsen, originally from Florida, was living in Florence where her father, an architect, works at an art school.

She was found dead at her rented apartment on Saturday. An autopsy found that she had been strangled with a cord or rope.

The detained man was identified with the help of footage from surveillance cameras that showed him going from a club to Olsen’s home with her early last Friday.

Creazzo said Olsen had two fractures to her skull, which suggested the homicide was carried out in two stages, first with a blow to the head and then via strangulation.

Prosecutors said that there is no evidence to suggest that an erotic game gone wrong was a factor in the homicide. “There is no trace of an erotic game,” Creazzo said, adding that he believed the pair had “consensual sex”.

He stressed, however, that he believed both the suspect and the victim may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. “It’s possible that both parties may not have been lucid,” said Creazzo. “We are waiting for the results of the toxicological tests (but) we have reason to believe that they took substances that did not leave them lucid, certainly alcohol, maybe something else”. He added that there was nothing to suggest the pair knew each other previously.

Creazzo added that, after Olsen was killed, Diaw fled with her mobile phone and put his SIM card into it.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Jews Told Not to Wear the Kippa After Machete Attack at Marseille Synagogue

Last week, Cologne mayor Henriette Reker received a raucous tongue-lashing on social media after suggesting that it is German women’s collective responsibility to prevent sexual assaults by remaining an “arm’s length” away from would-be assailants.

Reker’s remarks came as the international media suddenly woke up to the string of sexual assaults that allegedly took place in Cologne’s city center during New Year’s Eve celebrations. The incidents purportedly involved gangs of “Arabs” harassing and groping German women during the festivities…

Reker’s comments — combined with her contention that Germany needs to “explain to people from other cultures that the jolly and frisky attitude during Carnival is not a sign of sexual openness” — seemed to suggest she was at least partially blaming the victims for the attacks. Even if she wasn’t, the idea that it’s incumbent upon women to change their behavior rather than incumbent upon men not to assault them is patently absurd.

Well, German women aren’t the only ones who are being encouraged by officials to alter their “behavior” in order to avoid becoming victims because as AFP reported earlier today, Jews in Marseille are now being told not to wear the kippa in the streets.

That piece of advice comes from Zvi Ammar, the head of the Marseille Jews in the wake of an attack on a worshipper at the Marseille synagogue on Monday.

[Comment: There you are…a simple solution for everything! Probably is next recomendation is for Jews to convert to Islam. /sarcasm.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Monsignor Becciu Says Vatican ‘Not a Den of Thieves’

Top official says Vatileaks 2 creates wrong picture

(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Monsignor Angelo Becciu, substitute for general affairs at the Vatican, said that portraying the Holy See Vatican as a “den of theives” in the wake of the Vatileaks 2 scandal is “an absolute falsehood”.

“I find it supremely unjust that our employees, proud of working in service to the pope and for the church, for a while now have come to the point of feeling ashamed to tell people they work here,” Becciu said in a excerpts released Wednesday of an interview in weekly newsmagazine Panorama set to hit newsstands Thursday.

Two recently-published books written by investigative journalists documenting alleged Vatican waste and mismanagement and lavish spending by clergymen are at the heart of the document-leaking scandal and current trial, and the authors are two of five defendants.

The other three defendants — Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, who is currently in a Vatican jail; PR expert Francesca Chaouqui, and Balda’s former assistant Nicola Maio — are charged with allegedly passing confidential Vatican financial documents to the journalists.

“The right of journalists to publish news in their possession is not under discussion,” Becciu said.

“The doubts regard the way in which they came to have this news.

“I ask myself: why are the sources of the two books that Mr. Nuzzi has written both in jail?” Becciu said, referring to Nuzzi’s previous book “His Holiness”, which brought the 2012 arrest of Paolo Gabriele, former personal butler to Pope Benedict XVI.

Regarding claims in the books that Peter’s Pence, the pope’s traditional donation fund financed by the faithful, is used mainly to repay Roman Curia debts and is only in small part destined to the poor — two euros out of every 10 donated — Becciu was defiant.

“Do we want to bring the amount destined to the poor from two euros to six euros? Out of four thousand employees, we’d have to fire 400. We prefer not to give the Italian government this additional weight and hold to Pope Francis’s recommendation — reform, but in a way in which no one loses their job”.

Becciu called the alleged actions of Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui, who were both members of the now-defunct COSEA commission set up to advise Pope Francis on the reform of the Holy See’s economic and administrative structure, “a slap in the face to the pope”.

“They swore on the Holy Gospel to never reveal what they saw, heard, and read during the course of their work”.

Regarding the most recent declarations by Chaouqui, who held a press conference last Thursday, Becciu was decisive.

“I don’t comment on nonsense,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

More Shocking NYE Sex Attacks: Gang of Men Grope and Rip Clothes Off British Teen in Paris

A British teenager has spoken of how her clothes were ripped off in a horrifying sexual assault in Paris on New Year’s Eve.

The shocking revelation comes as tensions in Europe continue to rise over a wave of attacks against women, including scores being groped, robbed and even raped across Germany.

Today, two teenagers from the UK have revealed they were harassed and attacked by groups of men during new year celebrations in the French capital.

Klaudia Fior and Kamali Brown, both 18, told how they were groped and sexually assaulted by men in a large crowd around the Eiffel Tower in centre of Paris.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Now Tony Blair Calls for EU Army as Ex-PM Blasts ‘Backward-Looking’ Eurosceptics

Tony Blair today made a fiery intervention into the debate over Britain’s membership of the European Union as he branded eurosceptics ‘backward-looking’ and called for a Brussels-controlled army.

The former Prime Minister railed against those who view the ongoing eurozone crisis and current refugee crisis across Europe as the beginning of the end for the continent’s political union.

Writing in Newsweek, the ex-Labour premier insisted “European unity has never been more important” with the EU “never more needed and never more in the interests of the countries that make up” the 28-member bloc.

Ahead of the upcoming in/out referendum on Britain’s EU membership, Mr Blair claimed now is a “moment for the countries of the EU to bind tighter together” as he hit out at those calling for Brexit and who are “forever-looking backward to break the union asunder”.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

PC Police: Swedish Cops Told Not to Describe Suspects to Avoid Racism

Police in Sweden have been accused of political correctness gone mad after reportedly instructing officers not to publicize the descriptions of criminals for fear of being branded racist.

According to an internal letter seen by Swedish media, police in Stockholm have been urged not to describe the race or nationality of suspected criminals.

The internal letter, written by Stockholm police press officers Wolf Gyllander and Carina Skagerlind, and seen by newspaper Svenska Dagbadet, stated that crimes reported by the police website should avoid using descriptions.

“We want to avoid pointing out ethnic groups as criminal,” Mr Gyllander wrote.

According to news website Spesia, the letter read:

“Criticism is sometimes made against police regarding information about people’s skin color. It is perceived as racist. As police are not racist, nor shall be constructed as so, this directive now applied.”

Claims of Sexual Assault Cover-Up

The revelations come amid accusations that Swedish law enforcement authorities are too political correct for their own good, and are playing down crimes committed by people of foreign descent, as part of an attempt to avoid stirring up ethnic tensions.

Swedish police were accused of covering-up a series of sexual assaults at a music festival in Stockholm last summer, allegedly committed by a number of men from the Middle East.

Despite the festival taking place in August, police officials didn’t comment on the “large number” of sexual assaults until it was reported in Swedish press earlier this month, sparking fears of a cover-up.

Officials said they couldn’t confirm reports that the sexual assaults were carried out by men from Afghanistan, despite noting that the matter “involves young men who are not from Sweden.”

While Sweden has been applauded by many humanitarian organizations for its generous acceptance of many refugees, others in the country have been hugely critical of the government for accepting a large number of African and Middle Eastern refugees, arguing that it is placing undue pressure on the country’s economy and social structure.

Political Correctness Gone Mad — Miss, Brainstorming and Santa’s Helpers

However the Swedish reports aren’t the first time authorities have been accused of taking political correctness a little too far.

In 2009 the European Parliament was heavily criticized for banning the use of ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ as they were considered to be political incorrect.

The rule called on women to be address by their names instead of a title, with MEPs also banned from using such words as ‘sportsmen’ and ‘statesmen’ while referring to something as being ‘man-made’ was also considered out of order.

Not to be outdone, Tunbridge Wells Council in the UK sparked a row in 2008 after deciding to ban the word ‘brainstorming’ — a term used to describe team idea building exercises — with the softer phrase ‘thought-showers’ as to avoid causing offense to people suffering from epilepsy.

And it seems even Father Christmas can’t escape the PC police, after an Australian company that hires Santa Clauses banned their staff from saying ‘ho ho ho’ amid fears it would be misinterpreted with the American slang word for prostitute.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Renzi Says Italy Has European Champions in Banking

Premier sees success story in every sector

(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — Premier Matteo Renzi on Wednesday hailed the strength of Italy’s banking sector after the government’s recent rescue of four small lenders which left some investors with worthless shares and bonds.

“In reality in Italy we have real European champions on the financial-banking market,” Renzi said. “We are in a position in Italy to create a success story in every sector, including the banking sector”. The Bank of Italy said Wednesday that the number of bank loans to the private sector in Italy rose by 0.6% in November compared to the same month in 2014, the first rise since the middle of 2012. The central bank said loans to households rose by 0.8% whole loans to firms were up 0.2%.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Rome Says Marine Staying in Italy Pending Arbitration

Latorre, Girone accused of killing two Indian fishermen

(ANSA) — Rome, January 13 — The foreign ministry in Rome said on Wednesday that Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre will stay in Italy for the duration of the international arbitration of his case and that of a fellow serviceman accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. The ministry cited the August decision by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which said that both countries must suspend any judicial proceedings against the pair pending an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the case. Also on Wednesday, an international tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said it will hold a preliminary hearing on the case on January 18, sources close to the case told ANSA. “It will be a procedural meeting…to define provisional rules in order to move forward on the jurisdiction issue,” the sources said.

India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday set an April 13 hearing date for the government to present a document detailing how it intends to proceed under the arbitration procedure Italy opened in The Hague and that India has adhered to. India’s Adjunct Attorney General Pinky Anand had requested “more time” on the case.

Meanwhile in India, that country’s Supreme Court decided to extend Latorre’s permit to stay in Italy until April 30. New Delhi had allowed Latorre to return to Italy for treatment after he had a stroke in 2014. His previous permit was set to expire on Friday. The other marine, Salvatore Girone, is not permitted to leave India.

As well, Oommen Chandy, the governor of the southern Indian state of Kerala off whose coast the 2012 incident occurred, demanded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensure that Latorre returns from Italy when his leave for medical treatment expires. “Today we will ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back the marine Massimiliano Latorre to India in the scheduled time frame of his permit,” Chandy said. “Modi must intervene in a decisive way”.

The chair of the Italian Senate defence committee, Nicola Latorre, said Tuesday that Latorre will not go back to India pending arbitration in The Hague.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Shops Disappearing From Italian Centres, Confcommercio Says

Number of downtown shops fell 16.7% between 2008-2015

(ANSA) — Rome, January 14 — Historic centres in Italy’s medium-sized cities are at risk of “desertification” based on a decreased presence of traditional shops, according to a study by consumer group Confcommerico released Thursday.

The study revealed a 16.7% drop in the number of shops in Italian historic centres between 2008-2015, representing a total of 3,240 fewer stores, primarily due to increasing rent prices.

Of the 39 cities in the study, Trieste was hit hardest with a drop of 25.2%, followed by Perugia at 22.9% and Potenza at 21.8%.

Despite the decrease in downtown stores, there was a 9.8% increase in tourist service businesses such as hotels, bars, and restaurants, the study said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Spain’s Podemos Urged to Explain Alleged Iranian Funding Link

Spain’s conservative Popular Party on Thursday demanded explanations from far-left party Podemos after the media reported that police had opened an investigation into alleged illegal party financing from Iran.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias “must explain… the role he played in the very serious affair of illegal financing by a regime like the Iranian regime”, the Popular Party’s spokesman in parliament, Rafael Hernando, said.

“If it is true, we are facing one of the biggest cases of corruption in recent years,” he told journalists in parliament.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Trump: Germans Will Riot, Overthrow Merkel

“We have a little situation that could be a trojan horse. You look at what is happening in Germany. Cologne never had a problem. Cologne, Germany. Okay? Everything’s fine. Everything’s nice. Clean. Beautiful. No problem. Now they are having riots, they’re having rapes,” Trump said during a campaign stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“Have you heard about the New Year’s Eve [attack]? It was like a disaster. And the German people are going to riot. The German people are going to end up overthrowing [Angela Merkel]. I don’t know what the hell she is thinking. But they have millions of people pouring into Germany, now they’re not stopping them. Now I guess they are going to have to stop them because the German people aren’t going to put up [with it].”

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Churches Vandalised and Statue of the Virgin Mary Beheaded in ‘Extremist’ Attacks

Detectives are hunting vandals who targeted two churches, beheading statues of Joseph and the Virgin Mary.

Twelve window panes at historic St Chad’s Church in the Lancashire town of Poulton-le-Fylde were smashed last week, just two months after they were repaired.

The vandals then turned on the church’s outdoor Nativity scene, decapitating a statue of the Virgin Mary and stealing the head.

Within 24 hours, churchgoers at Poulton Methodist Church were shocked to find their 3ft-tall outdoor Nativity statue of Joseph had also been beheaded.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Muslim Group’s Meal Offer to Far Right Protesters

A MUSLIM group has offered to cook for members of the English Defence League in a bid to break down barriers after the far right group announced plans to stage a demonstration in Preston.

Members of Preston’s Light Foundation, which aims to break down barriers between communities, has called on members of the EDL to sit down and discuss their issues over a meal.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Police Arrest Two More Men in Syrian-Related Terror Investigation

ANTI-TERROR police have made two more arrests on suspicion of Syria-related terror offences.

A total of four men are now being held by officers after a second ‘intelligence-led’ raid.

Two men aged 26, from the Walsall area were arrested on this morning, West Midlands Police said.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Statue of Virgin Mary Beheaded at Church

Vandals smashed windows in two Poulton churches before beheading statues of Joseph and the Virgin Mary.

Twelve window panes at St Chad’s Church on Ball Street were smashed by an unknown trouble-maker just two months after they were repaired.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Al-Qaeda Group Threatens Italy for ‘Occupying Libya’

‘You will regret it,’ says AQMI chief

(ANSA) — Rome, January 14 — Abu Yusuf al Anabi, one of the leaders of North African al-Qaeda group AQMI, threatened Italy for allegedly occupying Libya in the wake of the agreement for a Libyan government of national unity. “You will regret it,” he said in the video message, according to Mauritanian agency al-Akhbar, which says it has received copy. Italy has agreed to take a key role in helping to stabilise Libya, its former colony, following the UN-brokered deal signed in December by delegates from Libyan factions that had been in conflict.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Clinton Emails: Adviser Accused France of Bombing Gaddafi for Libyan Oil

The release of a fresh batch of emails from the private account of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has revealed that one of her senior advisers believed France’s true motivation for toppling Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 was not to push democracy, but related to the pursuit of Libyan oil.

Sidney Blumenthal, a long-time associate of Ms Clinton who was not formally employed by the US State Department but was on the payroll of the Clinton Foundation, sent the presidential hopeful a series of intelligence memos in 2011, suggesting that France had a hidden agenda behind its decision to lead the allied bombing of Libya.

According to the emails, which Blumenthal said contained information from “knowledgeable sources” French President Nicolas Sarkozy was primarily driven to intervention in Libya in the hope of being able to gain access to the country’s vast oil reserves, rather than his public assertion to free the people from Gaddafi’s dictatorship.

Concerns Over Pan-African Currency

On top of the pursuit for oil, another one of Blumenthal’s emails, sent on April 2, 2011 and titled “France’s client/Q’s gold” suggested the military intervention in Libya was also designed to stop Gaddafi’s plans to use US$7 billion worth of gold and silver assets to set up a new pan-African currency.

According to the email, the establishment of such a currency would undermine French influence on the continent as it would impact the CFA Franc currency, which is guaranteed by the French treasury and used in many west African countries as a link between Paris and some of its former colonies.

In addressing Sarkozy’s concerns over the new currency, Blumenthal wrote: “This was one of the factors that influenced [his] decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.”

Despite proposals for the creation of an African currency being well known, many researchers have dismissed suggestions that France was motivated to intervene in Libya in order to prevent its establishment.

French investigative journalist Fabrice Arfi, who worked on uncovering alleged links between Sarkozy and Gaddafi, says he’s not convinced the Blumenthal memos were a true representation of France’s motivations in Libya.

“At first glance, this hypothesis [that France’s intervention was motivated by Gaddafi’s plans for a Pan-African currency] seems far-fetched. Personally, I don’t have any elements that accredit this theory, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is false,” he told Vice News.

Memos Spark Debate Over French Agenda in Libya

Additionally, Sarkozy has emphatically denied France was motivated by oil in Libya, while many experts have also raised their skepticism, saying there were many seemingly baseless rumors surrounding the motivations of western intervention in Libya at the time.

While there is debate over the validity of Blumenthal’s claims, the release of the emails shows that Clinton, along with other top US officials, were unsure of France’s agenda in Libya, as many of the emails were forwarded onto her staff for further investigation.

There have been many media reports in the past hinting at a connection between France’s intervention and pursuit of oil, with the French newspaper Liberation in 2011 publishing a letter from Libya’s rebel-backed National Transitional Council, which promised to reserve 35 percent of the country’s crude oil reserves for France in return for its “total and permanent support.”

This suggestion was backed by another previously released Blumenthal email, which claimed that French intelligence officers from the DGSE met with Libyan transitional council figures to discuss the oil industry in the post-Gaddafi-era.

The memo, which was dated March 22, 2011 — the same week as the military operation in Libya began — claimed that French intelligence held a series of “secret meetings” with Libyan officials in the hope of securing favoritism for the country’s oil resources.

“In return for their assistance… the DGSE officers indicated that they expected the new government of Libya to favor French firms and national interests, particularly regarding the oil industry in Libya,” the memo read.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Takes 150 Prisoners in Libya

Many will be executed Friday

(ANSA) — Rome, January 14 — Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday took 150 men prisoner in oil storage areas of eastern Libya, local media reported. It said many of the soldiers and guards will be executed Friday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Journalist Jailed by Hamas Says He Was Abused

A Palestinian journalist detained by Hamas for over a week described on Wednesday his “torture” at the hands of the Islamist group.

Ayman al-Alul, a 44-year-old journalist with the Arab Now news agency, was detained by security services in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on January 3 and released on Monday.

Alul, whose arrest had drawn protests from journalists and rights groups, said he was detained for comments made on his Facebook page where he has more than 30,000 followers.

“My journalism was annoying them so they charged me with incitement against the government of Gaza and therefore the Hamas movement and the Palestinian resistance,” he told AFP at his home in Gaza on Wednesday…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Boys Snatched From Their Families by ISIS Reveal How They Were Ordered to Kill Their Parents After Being Trained as Child Soldiers… and Would Have Their Legs Broken if They Refused

Former ISIS child soldiers have revealed how the jihadi group snatch young boys from their families and subject them to savage punishments if they refuse to become child soldiers.

One 11-year-old boy, known only as Nouri, had one of his legs broken after he refused to become a ‘cub of the caliphate.’

The children who managed to escape describe how they were indoctrinated into the jihadi group’s radical brand of Islam and taught that they should execute their ‘unbeliever’ parents.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Christian Persecution Reaches Global Historic High, Thanks to Rise of Radical Islam

The report tracks the persecution of Christians in five different areas.

Christian persecution is at an historic high thanks to global rise of religious fundamentalism, most notably by radical Islam, Christian charity Open Doors has found. Persecution has seen the biggest rise in countries such as Pakistan and Eritrea where radical Islam is on the rise, but North Korea still tops the list with its systematic oppression of Christians.

More than 100 million Christians are being persecuted globally, according to the 2016 Open Doors World Watch List, and more than 80 percent of that persecution is down to religious fundamentalism of some kind.

At least 7,000 Christians have been killed for their faith in the last year alone, up from 4,000 in 2014, the report notes. But it admits that the figure is likely to be a significant underestimate as it does not include murders in Iraq, Syria and North Korea, where violent persecution of Christians has become the norm, as accurate records do not exist in those countries.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Harold Rhode on IRGC US Navy Hostage Taking: ‘Iran Humiliating US With No Consequences’

15 hours after the 10 US navy sailors and their boats were returned, but not before they were put through a humiliating process of being forced to kneel at gun point and ultimately forced to apologize for how the boats found their way into Iranian waters. That awaits a US navy investigation into what occurred and possible Iranian violations of the Geneva Convention over treatment of the detained US Sailors and use for propaganda purposes. Both they and their boats returned to the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain. What the IRGC learned of any technology on board the riverine patrol boats is another matter. Nonetheless, this was the latest episode of US humiliation by the Ayatollah Khamenei and the IRGC of President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif and President Obama, bound and determined to close the nuclear deal with Iran by releasing $100 billion of sequestered funds early next week on compliance day to this state sponsor of terrorism.

WATCH this Wall Street Journal video of the detention and apology by a possible US Navy boat commander…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Iran: Serracchiani: Let’s Strengthen Our Relationship

Economy, innovation and culture. Mission starts today in Tehran

(ANSA) — TEHRAN — Not only a business trip, but also a mission involving the whole system of regional research, and aiming to confirm that Italy and Friuli Venezia Giulia are ready to strengthen their “relationship in many sectors, such as economy, science-technology and culture”, with Iran. This is what the President of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Debora Serracchiani told ANSA today while she was attending — along with the president of the Board of Directors of the International Iran Exhibition Corporation, Hossein Esfahbodi, the Italian Ambassador Mauro Conciatori and the Pordenone Fiere Ceo Pietro Piccinetti — the opening ceremony of the 2nd edition of “Contract Made in Italy”, showcase of Italian furniture. Along with 60 companies participating in the exhibition, coming from Lombardy and Triveneto, there are also technological centres and research institutions, in order to satisfy, Serracchiani underlined, a specific request from the Iranian government, which is looking for international partners — given that the withdrawal of sanctions is expected to happen very soon — in order to modernise its manufacturing system. “Our region is ranked first in Italy in terms of innovation rate — Serracchiani said — and 27th in Europe”. The FVG delegation included the Commissioner of Trieste Port Authority, Zeno D’Agostino, who is going to meet with the Iranian authorities to promote “direct relations” and new guidelines for Iranian businesses, especially in Trieste. As for “Contract Made in Italy”‘, this is an exhibition “we want to implement — Serracchiani said — by investing in new trade relations and also by reaching specific deals in the framework of the agreements that Italy has signed in recent months with Iran”. A market involving 80 million people, she added, with a capital city which has nearly 17 million inhabitants and which loves made in Italy. “Mechanics, furniture, shipbuilding, agrifood — Serracchiani remarked — are our core strengths”. On the other hand, Eshfabodi reported, when you invest in Iran, you can reach many other markets within the Persian Gulf. In addition, culture is not only the main focus of the conference “Art, architecture, design and city planning: sciences for a shared path”, but it the core of the mission led by the President of Aquileia Foundation, Antonio Zanardi Landi, who aims at exchanging artworks with the National Archaeological Museum of Tehran.

According to Debora Serracchiani, the first President of the FVG Region to visit Iran, this is the first visit even on a personal level. “We were greeted with great cordiality and received a warm welcome, therefore — she stated — I would say there is an affinity between Iranians and Italians that I did not expect”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Saipem Among Candidates for Nord Stream-2 Pipe-Laying — Gazprom CEO

Italian Saipem company is one of the candidates to obtain a contract for laying the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, Russian energy giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday, after a meeting with Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Austrian OMV oil and gas company Rainer Seele.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The project is a joint venture aimed at building a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea to provide an additional route for Russian gas supplies to Germany, bypassing the three Baltic states and Poland.

“The issues related to the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project were discussed at the meeting. It was noted that the Italian company Saipem is one of the contenders for the contract to lay the pipeline,” Miller told reporters.

Gazprom and Saipem have already collaborated in the construction of offshore pipelines. In particular, Saipem took part in the laying of branches of the Blue Stream and Nord Stream-1 pipelines. It was assumed that the company will take part in laying the South Stream pipeline. However, as the project was suspended, the contract with the Italian company was terminated.

The Nord Stream-2 project, which plans to use the original Nord Stream pipeline for 86-percent of the route before branching off, could provide up to 55 billion cubic meters of direct gas supplies from Russian shores through the Baltic Sea to the German coast.

In September 2015, Gazprom signed a shareholder agreement on the extension of the pipeline with the international energy companies BASF, E.ON, Engie, OMV and Shell.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

The Terrorist Toolkit: ISIS Fanatic’s Chilling Arsenal of Bombs, Guns, Ammunition and a Knife is Revealed After Wave of Suicide Attacks on Jakarta Leaves Seven Dead

This is the ‘terrorist toolkit’ carried by an ISIS death squad who launched a series of suicide bomb and gun attacks that left seven dead in Jakarta.

Police found the terrifying arsenal of bombs, guns, ammunition and knives in a jihadist’s rucksack after a three-hour gunbattle in the Indonesian capital.

One of the fanatics had earlier been seen training his handgun on potential victims while stalking the streets as terrified onlookers ran for their lives.

The last stand played out near a Starbucks in a bustling shopping area after the team of seven militants traded fire with police and blew themselves up.

Shocking footage shows one of the suicide bombers erupting into a ball of fire after detonating his explosives outside the American coffee chain.

Another bomber exploded inside the cafe, wounding several inside. As people poured out, waiting gunmen opened fire on them, killing a Canadian man.

At the same time, two militants attacked a police traffic post nearby, using what witnesses described as homemade hand grenades, killing themselves and an Indonesian man…

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Escape From Boko Haram

Maryam was strolling to her family’s farm in the rocky hills behind the northeastern Nigerian town of Gwoza when two Boko Haram fighters blocked her path. The insurgents had overrun the area several months before, ransacking food stores and conscripting young men at gunpoint into raiding homes to extend their control across the region. Women were dragged away to remote camps, where they were subjected to forced marriage and rape; some were even brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers. The 20-year-old mother of two had so far kept clear of the militants’ wrath, but on this day, the men each took turns raping her while the other held a machete blade against her neck. Maryam begged to be let go, but she knew resisting could mean death.

The gang rape was her initiation into a ruthless culture of sexual violence. After the attack, Maryam was marched to a forest camp, where she would spend the next two months with dozens of women rounded up in mass kidnappings. Though many of the fighters had forcibly taken multiple wives, she became the servant of a group of male teenagers, who were often riled up from days spent looting and killing. They taunted her with machine guns and violated her at will, anonymously, their faces cloaked in black scarves. “A man rapes you and goes away, and another one comes,” she says. On the worst days, up to four men took turns with her.

While Boko Haram’s origins and ideology are contested, everyone agrees its persecution of women has been total throughout its campaign to carve out a state ruled by strict Islamic law.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Austria Hit With Financial Burden of Hosting Refugees Turned Back by Berlin

Austria gets no financial help from Germany for hosting asylum seekers who have been turned back by Germany, the Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — Germany has been sending hundreds of refugees back to Austria, the last point of transit, following a scandal involving men with a migrant background sexually assaulting women in several German cities.

Asked if Austria received any financial help from Germany in order to host additional refugees or planned to send the rejected asylum seekers to other EU member states, Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said “no.”

He added that expulsions of failed refugees by Germany were a technical issue, not enshrined in any bilateral agreement with Austria.

“It’s not agreed, but [is] just a matter of fact that people who are not accepted to cross the border to Germany do stay in Austria,” Grundboeck explained.

Emergency refugee shelters are being organized in Austria to host migrants who have been turned back by Germany, Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told Sputnik.

“Places for emergency accommodation are organized by the Red Cross, in Styria, Upper Austria, Salzburg and Tyrol,” he continued.

On Tuesday, Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that German authorities would ease rules to make it easier to deport immigrants who commit crimes.

Germany has been sending hundreds of failed asylum seekers a day back to Austria since the start of the year.

The measure was deemed necessary after dozens of women in the German city of Cologne were robbed and sexually assaulted on New Year’s Eve by groups of aggressive men, mostly of Arab and North African origin. Several similar incidents were reported the same day in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Bavarian Governor Packs 31 Migrants Onto a Coach and Sends Them on Seven-Hour Journey to Angela Merkel’s Office in Berlin After Warning the German Leader: ‘We Can’t Manage’

An irate politician in Bavaria has sent a bus packed with 31 migrants on a seven-hour journey to Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin after warning the German leader: ‘We can’t manage’.

The refugees were put on a coach in Landshut, the southeastern town of Bavarian governor Peter Dreier, and transported 340 miles to the German capital.

Dreier appeared to be acting on a threat he made to Merkel last year. Critical of her stance that Germany can cope with the influx of migrants, he is said to have issued a warning to the chancellor in a phone call in October.

And in an apparent victory for the Bavarian governor, the refugee will be allowed to stay in Berlin and not in Bavaria — at least for tonight.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Better Late: Canada Welcomes 10,000th Syrian Refugee

(c) AFP/File | Young Syrian refugees play at the UN-run Zaatari camp, north east of the Jordanian capital Amman, on September 19, 2015

A planeload landed in Toronto late Tuesday, putting the number of arrivals of asylum seekers at 10,121 since November when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals took office.

In a statement, Immigration Minister John McCallum called it a “significant milestone” on the way to meeting the Liberal’s overall pledge to take in 25,000 Syrians.

“Many people have worked day and night to bring these refugees to Canada,” he said, “and Canadians have opened their communities and their hearts to welcome them.

“Canada continues to set an international example with its response to the worst refugee crisis of our time.”…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Close the Borders: Angela Merkel’s Own Party Turn on Leader’s ‘Open Door’ Refugee Policy

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing another mutiny in her own party after politicians demanded Germany closed its borders to asylum seekers.

More than 40 politicians in Merkel’s Christian Democrat Party signed a petition to close its doors to refugees following the sex attacks in Cologne.

The chancellor has come under intense pressure to change her “open-door” policy after it was revealed asylum seekers were among suspects in the vicious New Year’s Eve attacks.

More than 650 women have now come forward to file criminal complaints over the attacks, around 45 per cent of them for sexual assault.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark Becomes the Latest Country to Report Surge in Women Being Groped by Groups of Migrants as Locals Say Syrians ‘Go Nuts if They See a Girl’

Danish women have become the latest to report being groped by migrant men who ‘simply can’t handle’ the sight of a girl.

Officials in one town say they have experienced a harassment problem since a camp hosting 365 asylum seekers opened in November.

Victims have also been targeted in nightclubs in two other towns where one local says Syrian migrants ‘go nuts’ if they see a woman.

The reports come days after similar warnings were issued across Europe about the rising number of sex attacks by gangs of migrants.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

EU Migration Chief Says Refugee Response is Failing

‘The situation is getting worse’, Avramopoulos said

(ANSA-AP) — BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top migration official on Thursday said efforts to manage the refugee emergency are failing as more countries tighten border security, a trend he says could unravel unity in the bloc.

“The situation is getting worse,” Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told EU lawmakers in Brussels, noting that up to 4,000 people were arriving daily in Greece over Christmas and New Year fleeing conflict or poverty.

More than a million people landed on Europe’s shores last year, many from conflict zones including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most traveled through Turkey and disembarked on Greek islands just a short — but dangerous — hop across the Aegean Sea.

Overwhelmed authorities in Greece have been unable, and in some cases unwilling, to register or lodge the migrants and hundreds of thousands of people have headed north hoping to be accepted in countries like Germany or Sweden.

Avramopoulos said that “more and more member states are reintroducing border controls” in response, including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Austria.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Firearm Sales in Austria Are Up 350% Due to ‘Unease’ Over Increasing Number of Migrants… Months After Dealers Warned They Had Virtually Sold Out of Shotguns

Gun sales have jumped 350 per cent in Austria amid ‘unease’ over increasing numbers of migrants following the Paris terror attacks, firearm dealers have claimed.

The final months of 2015 showed increases in gun permit applications, while dealers reported huge demand for self defence weapons such as tasers, pepper spray and blank firing-guns.

It comes just months after shotguns were reported to have sold out across the country as residents became increasingly paranoid about refugee numbers.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Forty Per Cent of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian Migrants Registered in Cologne Have Been Arrested for Crimes, Police Figures Reveal

Forty per cent of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian migrants registered in Cologne have been arrested for crimes, new crime figures show.

Police figures published by Stern magazine comparing crime rates among refugees in the city — between October 2014 and November 2015 — showed that of 1,111 Syrians only five were arrested for a crime.

That is less than half of one per cent.

But of 521 Moroccans registered in Cologne the crime rate was measured at 40 per cent and for Algerians and Tunisians also 40 per cent.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Free Speech or Hate Speech? German Paper Shuts Down Anti-Migrant Comments

Spiegel Online has turned off readers’ comments on the current migrant crisis, amid an avalanche of hateful remarks about the situation on its forum page.

For one, the readers are no longer able to comment on an article about Czech Finance Minister Andrej BabiÅ¡, who spoke about refugees “flooding” into Europe from the Mediterranean Sea.

“Unlike with other stories, you won’t find a readers’ forum under this text. Unfortunately, we have been getting too many inadequate, hateful and outright illegal comments. That’s why, in keeping with our online ethics, we decided to turn off some of the comments coming in,” a note from the Editor said on Wednesday.

The article in question quoted the Czech Minister as saying that the refugees were like floodwater which first fills up the basement of the house you live in and then the ground floor and finally engulfs the entire building.

“I have seen many floods: this is a crisis that needs to be actively dealt with,” Babis said in an interview with the Czech daily newspaper MF Dnes.

He pointed to the recent events in Cologne and other German cities where hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and mugged by migrants, most of them from North Africa and warned that this could happen again.

“Chancellor [Angela Merkel] has been changing her position [on the migrant issue], but very slowly because she wants to avoid making mistakes,” Babis said.

Spiegel Online mentioned the much-criticized remarks earlier made by Babis’ German colleague Wolfgang Schaeuble, who likened the incoming migrants to “an avalanche.”

Europe is struggling to cope with a massive migration crisis, as over a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, fleeing violence in their home countries in the Middle East and North Africa creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants Pay for Uniforms to Board Cross-Channel Boats From Belgium

Migrants are forking out £6,000 to people-smugglers for uniforms so they can pose as crew on cross-Channel ferries in a bid not to be rumbled while travelling from Belgium to the UK.

[Comment: Where are these poor “migrants/refugees” getting the money to pay smugglers?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report: White House is Blocking Investigation Into Over 100 Terrorists Inside U.S.

While President Obama claimed before his State of The Union Speech that there are no terror threats to the US, it has become apparent that his administration is actively stonewalling an investigation into hundreds of suspected terrorists ALREADY within the country.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

“Leading senators on Monday petitioned multiple Obama administration agencies to stop stonewalling a congressional investigation into the immigration histories of at least 113 foreign-born individuals implicated in terrorist operations after legally entering the United States, according to a copy of the letters.”

The Beacon also reported that 41 foreign-born individuals who legally entered the United States have been arrested for planning multiple terror attacks.

The report notes that Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) have been attempting for months to prize information out of the White House regarding the potential terrorists.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Shocking Report Reveals Migrants Committed Over 185,000 Crimes in Germany

The Federal Criminal Police Office published statistics regarding crimes committed by migrants in Germany last year.

The data shows that the number of crimes has increased, but not as much as the number of refugees as a whole, Focus reported citing an exclusive Bild article.

Migrants committed 186,235 crimes in the period from January to November 2015, 70,000 more compared to the previous year.

The figures come from a report by the Federal Criminal Police Office and were released by the German newspaper Bild.

According to the document, two thirds of the crimes committed by migrants were physical injuries (23,338 cases), robbery (75,600 cases) and falcification of travel documents (26,436 cases).

The share of sexual offenses was on the contrary very low and made up less than one percent of all crimes. The Office registered 1,462 offenses based on sexual identity which also includes child abuse, and 404 cases of rape or sexual assaults.

The number of sexual offenses increased in refugee facilities since September 2015. Most crimes were commited by Serbs, Albanians, Kosovars and Syrians.

The peak of the criminal activities occured on December 31, when numerous women in Cologne and other German cities were robbed, threatened and sexually assaulted by small groups of aggressive men, allegedly of Arab and North African origin.

The German police registered a total of 561 complaints so far. Following the attacks, German authorities announced plans to ease deportation procedures for migrants who have committed crimes.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian “Refugees” Rape Three-Year-Old Boy in Norway

Migrants raping women, children in Europe

Alleged assault happened on January 6, but remained unreported until Wednesday

[WARNING: * Disturbing Content *]

Middle Eastern “refugees” reportedly gang raped a three-year-old boy at an asylum center in Norway, police say.

Police were tipped off about the Jan. 6 assault on Wednesday by a person calling from a telephone outside the Forus Akuttinnkvartering center located in Stavanger, Norway’s third-largest city.

“We are investigating the case as if the worst thing has happened, we are talking about the rape of a child,” police superintendent Bjorn Kare Dahl told Stavanger Aftenblad. “We have no suspects yet.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Three-Year-Old Boy is Raped ‘By Multiple People’ At Asylum Centre in Norway

A three-year-old refugee has allegedly been raped at an asylum centre in Norway’s Stavanger, the country’s third largest city.

Local police is investigating reports that the boy, whose nationality has not been disclosed, was sexually abused in the common area of Forus Akuttinnkvartering centre.

Authorities from the southwestern city were called to probe the incident on January 6 at around 10pm.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: 10 Years for Migrant Who Dragged Devout Christian Off Street and Raped Her by a Church

A predatory asylum seeker who “chillingly” raped a 21-year-old devout Christian woman next to a church was starting a 10 year jail sentence today.

Eritrean-born Mebrehtom Abrha, 25, stalked his victim for 10 minutes as she walked through Liverpool city centre to her boyfriend’s house at 6am last July 19.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he dragged her off the pavement and into a grassy area before raping her twice in a harrowing four-minute ordeal.

The terrifying attack left the devout Christian “angry at God” and fearing she had contracted HIV, an appalled judge was told.

Abrha, who lived in Liverpool before fleeing to Birmingham, was arrested following a BBC Crimewatch appeal on October 12.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Under Siege: Women Afraid to Go Out in Danish Town Due to Migrant Assaults

After numerous cases of young girls having been sexually harassed or insulted by migrants, the residents of a small Danish town of Thisted realized that they needed to do something to stop this.

The town has suffered problems since an asylum camp hosting 365 migrants opened there in November, the local TV2 channel reported.

Lars Sloth, the director of the children and families unit in Thisted, recounted regular scuffles between the locals and the asylum seekers who sexually assault young women who are now afraid to go out after dark.

“We admit that we have problems with many of our young women being accosted and insulted by the refugees this town agreed to host,” he said.

Contacted by TV2, members of the local branch of the Night Ravens of volunteers that encourages adult, sober citizens to walk around in the city in groups at night during the weekends to prevent violence and anti-social behavior, said that the number of young women feeling unsafe when outdoors at night had recently gone through the roof.

According to Lars Sloth, the local community is considering a program to teach the asylum seekers national attitudes to sex and consent as part of compulsory language courses to bring the situation under control.

On New Year’s Eve, dozens of women in Cologne were robbed, threatened and sexually assaulted by small groups of aggressive men mostly of Arab and North African origin.

Several similar New Year’s Eve incidents mostly related to sexual harassment were reported in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

There is a Gay Lobby in Vatican Says Maradiaga

Pope is trying to ‘purify’ it says C9 coordinator

(ANSA) — Vatican City, January 14 — There is a gay lobby in the Vatican, just as Pope Francis has said, one of his closest aides in Curia reform said Thursday.

“Yes, a gay lobby exists,” Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga told Honduran daily El Heraldo.

Maradiaga, who coordinates the so-called C9 group of cardinals on helping Francis reform the Curia, was asked if there had been successful attempts by a gay lobby to infiltrate the Vatican.

“Not only that,” he replied. “Even the pope said it, there is an actual lobby.” According to Maradiaga, “the pope is gradually trying to purify this”.

He said that “one can understand homosexuals, and there is a pastoral legislation to deal with this, but what is wrong cannot become truth”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

7 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/14/2016

  1. There is a small country in Europe where the biggest employer in the nation is a giant American corporation that essentially abandoned it’s American facilities, apparently much to the detriment of areas of the U.S. Should this little country fall under sharia law, it could be rather disastrous for “The West.”

    Small snippets of events there are scattered throughout the counter-jihad movement, but it seems said movement really does not bother itself much about such factors as American overseas production apart from, maybe, oil. Granted, there’s not much shock value for the inattentive in business reviews.

    “Where we stand” is rather dependent on corporate geography in this day and age, more so than, say, on political viewpoints.

    It seems, first of all, it would be useful to know where major U.S. investments (and interests) sit. Has anyone unearthed any kind of a list? Might do well to know that of a few other nations as well, if they fall somewhere in the realm of basic needs.

    If a country has a very low unemployment rate in some area (for whatever reason), it is not unreasonable to look for workers that can somehow be brought to their needy workplaces from elsewhere. The United States has done this a couple of times and (to my mind) has benefited as a result. The basic principle is not invalid. Harping on keeping “them” out needs more of a basis than “they is different” or even “they is sneaking in.”

    Criminal activity (based on already enacted laws of the land) by “migrant workers,” be they considered “refugees,” “migrants,” “jihadis” or anything else certainly qualifies as a better basis, but underlying that matter is: was there any practical reason (as opposed to glorious ideal) that triggered the national conditions in which the criminal activity happened? If there be even one, going on and on about ideology is rather idiotic.

    So, “where we stand” is rather dependent on corporate geography. And, does anybody have a clear idea of that outside of some notions about oil? And, yes, no names have been mentioned. There might be a better over-view somewhere “out there” than this.

    • No giant American corporations are irreplaceable; their misfortune will be another’s fortune.

      • I don’t think I said “irreplaceable” nor did I mean to imply that.

        That particular company could probably even regenerate what it abandoned … eventually.

        In the meantime….

        History turns on a dime (or maybe make that $1.00 nowadays).

  2. What the first paragraph means is that the Danish media have actually started to report this not-so-new “news”.

    Perugia: you’d think they’d have had enough of imported colourful characters since the Kercher business.

    As for queer priests in the Vatican, who would have thought?

  3. >>According to Professor Albertazzi, the ineffectiveness of the European Union and individual nation states to manage the refugee crisis and share the burden of asylum seekers has contributed to the rise in popularity for an alternative rhetoric from right-wing parties. <<

    Yes. That's it. Nationalist (neo-fascists) want better refugee management and burden sharing.

  4. I have some rather fond memories of Scandinavia and Scandinavians.
    Thinking about what’s going on there now makes me feel like throwing up non-stop.

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