Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/23/2016

The port at Calais was shut down after some fifty migrants managed to board a ferry that was bound for Britain. 500 migrants forced their way past police lines and headed for the port, and 150 managed to breach the barrier fence. Of those, fifty made it onto the ferry.

In other news, the Bishop of London recommends that vicars grow beards in order to demonstrate their holiness to Muslims, who are now the dominant religious group in London.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Nick, Seneca III, 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
» Italy: Milan Stock Exchange Closes +1.63%
 
USA
» Bloomberg, Sensing an Opening, Revisits a Potential White House Run
» Fast and Furious Scandal Resurfaces — Media Ignore it
» Good Samaritan Shot and Killed After Trying to Help Motorist Stuck in Snow
» Michigan Gov. Knew About Flint’s Toxic Water for Over a Year
» NY Gov Imposes Travel Ban, Mass Transit Shutdowns Due to Blizzard
» One Doctor Has Been Battling Government to Expose Flint Water Crisis for Months
» Student Suspended After Saving Girl Suffering Asthma Attack
» Why Donald Trump Will Become President of the United States
 
Canada
» End Game: Justin Trudeau and the Cultural Transformation of Canada
» Finmeccanica to Modernise ATC Radar at Canada Airports
» Gunman Shot Brothers, Opened Fire at School
» Police Charge 17-Year Old in Canada After 4 Shot Dead
 
Europe and the EU
» Faceless Culprit: How Swedish Media Prevented Police From Catching Thief
» Irish MP Nails Obama as “War Criminal and “Hypocrite of the Century”
» ISIS Terror Warning: Jihadists Threaten to Attack Spain in Chilling New Propaganda Clip
» ISIS: ‘We Will Recover Our Land From the Invaders’
» Italy: Tramezzino Sandwich Celebrates 90th Birthday
» Italy Has World’s Best B&B’s Say Tripadvisor, Booking.com
» Italy: Lower House Approves Bill to Protect Whistleblowers
» Lazio Tar Sends Xylella Case to EU Court of Justice
» New Year Assaults ‘In 12 German States’: Report
» Poland Surveillance Law Plan Angers Protesters
» ‘Political Survival’: Merkel Needs Erdogan to Stay in Power
» Revealed: The 20 Postcodes in Britain Where You’re Most Likely to Get Burgled — And They’re Almost All in London
» Romania: In Bucharest the Largest Spa in Europe
» Sweden: Shocking Moment Thief Punches Mother in the Face and Spits on Her in Front of Her Young Children After She Stops Him Stealing From an Elderly Woman
» Swiss Police Withdrew Permission for PEGIDA to Hold Rally in Basel
» UK: Birmingham Central Mosque Chairman and Future Mayor Tells Muslims to Resist ‘Racist’ Anti Terror Laws
» UK: Euro Garages Owned by Muslim Family Bans Alcohol From Shop Shelves
» UK: More Than 400 Children Under 10 Referred for ‘Deradicalisation’
» UK: Vicars Should Grow Beards to Reach Out to Muslims in Their Areas, Says Bishop of London
» UniCredit Focuses on Eastern Europe, 20 Bn of New Credit
 
North Africa
» France Pledges 1.0 Bn Euros in Aid to Tunisia: Presidency
» Tutankhamun: Egypt Museum Staff Face Trial Over Botched Beard Job
» US Considering ‘Military Action’ In Libya to ‘Save’ Africa From Daesh
 
Middle East
» Firms: SACE: Credit Line Worth 40 Mln for Turkish Companies
» Jordan Says Troops Kill 12 Suspected Infiltrators From Syria
» Saudi Fatwa Banning Chess Stirs Online Outcry
» Saudi Arabia Buys ‘International Silence’ About Its Atrocities in Yemen
» UK Soldiers’ Actions in Iraq Not Above the Law — Human Rights Lawyers
» US Forces Setting Up Airbase in Northeast Syria: Sources
» US-Backed ISIS Islamists Mass Murder 1,700 Iraq Army Soldiers
 
Russia
» Lithuanian President: Russia Uses Nord Stream-2 Gas Pipeline to Divide EU
» Paranoid US Suspects Russia Behind ‘NATO-Sceptic Parties in Europe’
» Russia’s Top Search Engine Yandex Launches Elvish Translation Service
» Soros No Longer Views Russia as Enemy in Attempt to ‘Save EU From Collapse’
 
South Asia
» Indonesia: Kalimantan: Muslim Village Burnt, 1,200 Forced to Flee
» Pakistani Military Arrests 5 in University Attack
 
Immigration
» Berlin Residents Protest Near Merkel’s Office Against Migrant Violence
» Bulgarian Red Cross: 3-4 Million Refugees Expected to Reach Europe in Spring
» Calais Port Delays as Migrants Target P&O Ferry
» Dramatic Moment Migrant Fights Off Knife-Wielding Robber in Italian Lidl — And is Rewarded With Residency
» Dutch MP Stirs Anger in Anti-Islam ‘Pepper Spray’ Rally
» Family of Rape Victim in Berlin Has No Complaints Against City’s Police
» France’s Calais Port Shuts After Migrants Jump on Ferry
» Germany: One Invader Rape Every Three Days
» German Sex Attacks: Police Chief Hid News
» German Authorities and Police Crumbling Under Refugee Pressure
» Greece ‘Facing Exclusion’ From Schengen Passport-Free Zone
» Hungary Shuts Doors to Balkan Route Migrants — Prime Minister
» Kerry Calls for 30 Percent Hike in International Aid for Refugees
» No Free Ride: ‘EU States Compete in Worsening Conditions for Refugees’
» North Idahoans Defeat Progressive Mayor’s ‘Refugee’ Resolution
» ‘Panic’ As Europe Faces Demise Over Refugees, Top Officials Say
» Refugee Crisis Endangers ‘Very Idea of Europe’ — French Prime Minister
» Soros Funding Nonwhite Invasion — Hungarian Mayor
» Syrian Child Refugees Allowed Into the UK From Calais Arrive in London
» True Horror of Cologne Attacks Finally Revealed: Gang Rape Among Hundreds of Assaults
» UK: How Labour Turned London Into a Foreign City: Fewer Than Half the Capital’s Population Are White British, Gangsters From Somalia Terrorise the Suburbs and Even the Tramps Are Immigrants, Reveals Astonishing New Book
 

Italy: Milan Stock Exchange Closes +1.63%

Saipem plunges 20%

(ANSA) — Milan, January 22 — The Milan stock exchange rose on Friday following the announcement of new stimulus measures by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and a rise in oil prices.

The news that oil prices has risen to $31 a barrel in fact boosted stock markets across Europe. The Milan stock exchange’s benchmark FTSE Mib index was 1.63% up, closing at 19,028 points.

Oil and gas industry contractor Saipem, a subsidiary of Italian energy company ENI, crashed 20% to close at 4.20 euros a share — its lowest since September 2001. The company announced overnight that the deadline fixed for a 3.5-billion-euros capital increase would be Monday, with a 37% discount expected for terp, the theoretical ex-rights price.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Bloomberg, Sensing an Opening, Revisits a Potential White House Run

Michael R. Bloomberg has instructed advisers to draw up plans for a potential independent campaign in this year’s presidential race. His advisers and associates said he was galled by Donald J. Trump’s dominance of the Republican field, and troubled by Hillary Clinton’s stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the Democratic side.

Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has in the past contemplated running for the White House on a third-party ticket, but always concluded he could not win. A confluence of unlikely events in the 2016 election, however, has given new impetus to his presidential aspirations.

Mr. Bloomberg, 73, has already taken concrete steps toward a possible campaign, and has indicated to friends and allies that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune on it, according to people briefed on his deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his plans. He has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March, the latest point at which advisers believe Mr. Bloomberg could enter the race and still qualify to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Fast and Furious Scandal Resurfaces — Media Ignore it

The liberal media avoid reporting on President Obama’s many scandals at any cost, and Fast and Furious is no exception. Despite the media’s studied avoidance of these scandals, their impact continues. When Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents discovered that a weapon from Fast and Furious was found in Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Mexican hideout, there was virtual silence from the mainstream media.

But U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s ruling that President Obama cannot use executive privilege to prevent the release of records to Congress has the potential to breathe new life into this ongoing scandal. “Berman Jackson limited her order to information not covered by other protections and told the Justice Department to produce it by Feb. 2,” reports Bloomberg. The judge is an Obama appointee, and yet none of the network evening news shows found this story to be newsworthy. The only mention of it in The Washington Post was in an online blog, PowerPost, under the heading “Hot on the Right,” that linked to a Politico story. You see, it’s a story that only appeals to conservatives, so why bother to put a reporter on it?

Don’t expect reporters to suddenly start reporting on Fast and Furious’ ongoing death toll.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Good Samaritan Shot and Killed After Trying to Help Motorist Stuck in Snow

A Good Samaritan was shot and killed Friday in North Carolina by the very man he was trying to help.

The suspect, Marvin Jacob Lee’s car spun out an the icy road in Bandys around 5:20 p.m. when some people who were passing by stopped to help him, Catawba County Sheriff Roy Reidtold the Charlotte Observer.

The situation took a turn for the worst when Mr. Lee, 27, allegedly became belligerent toward the victim, Jefferson Heavner, 26 and several neighbors who came out of nearby homes.

“They thought he was drunk and said, ‘let’s just call the law and let them deal with it,’“ Mr. Reid said.

Then, Mr. Lee allegedly took out a gun and opened fire. The Samaritans ran, but a bullet struck Heavner and he fell to the ground.

Mr. Reid said Mr. Lee walked to the man, stood over him and shot him “numerous times,” according to the Observer.

Mr. Lee then returned to his car and refused to surrender when deputies arrived. Police called in a SWAT team with an armored vehicle.

“They saw that he was passed out,” Mr. Reid said…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Michigan Gov. Knew About Flint’s Toxic Water for Over a Year

As far back as February 2015, the governor’s administration was informed of issues with Flint’s water

Redacted emails released Wednesday by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder show that his administration was informed of problems with Flint’s water almost a year ago, many months before the embattled governor or his staff begrudgingly admitted to bearing any responsibility for poisoning a city—or for fixing the problem.

A background memo sent to the governor on February 1, 2015, “dismissed the pleas of Flint’s then-mayor Dayne Walling for state assistance, saying that the mayor had ‘seized on public panic … to ask the state for loan forgiveness and more money for infrastructure improvement’,” the Guardian reports from Detroit.

According to FOX2 Detroit, the email says the governor and Walling “had a telephone conversation and the mayor has pledged to work together on solutions.” Furthermore, it adds that Flint Representative Sheldon Neeley had “sent the governor a letter, saying that his constituents are on the verge of civil unrest” due to the water issue.

Also included in the backgrounder were statements from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, listing three factors affecting the appearance of water in Flint. CNN reports:

“It’s the Flint River,” it said first. “With hard water, you get a different flavor and feel. It’s why General Motors suspended use of Flint Water—it was rusting their parts.”

Second, “the system is old. Flint has more than 500 miles of water pipes. More than half of those pipe miles are more than 75 years old. Much of it is cast iron. Hard water can react with cast iron and exacerbates the rusty factor, which creates that brown water that angry residents were holding up in jugs for the media cameras last week.”

And third, “Flint is old. Many of the homes served by the system are old. Brown water complaints may also be attributable to cast iron pipes in customers’ service connection to the city lines,” the backgrounder read.

“This should have been a red flag,” FOX2 points out. “The water was rusting GM’s parts—but safe to drink?”

In fact, the cost-saving measure of switching the city’s drinking water source from Detroit to the polluted Flint River had for months corroded the inside of pipes in thousands of households across the city, leaching chemicals including lead into the water supply.

As the Guardian notes: “Soon after the memo was sent to Snyder, researchers and journalists uncovered a fact that is now well-established: as a result of the state’s failure to properly apply federal standards in treating the Flint river, thousands of residents have been exposed to lead, a neurotoxin that can produce long-term health effects, particularly in young children.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NY Gov Imposes Travel Ban, Mass Transit Shutdowns Due to Blizzard

The giant snowstorm pummeling the East Coast forced New York’s governor Saturday to issue a road travel ban and to halt suburban trains and some New York City subway lines.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the travel ban would take effect at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on New York City and Long Island highways and roads. He said at 4 p.m. Saturday Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road would stop running, as well as city subways that run on elevated tracks.

Forecasters were predicting that the storm could be one of the worst in New York City history.

The travel ban and mass transit shutdown prompted Broadway to cancel all Saturday shows, both matinees and evening performances.

Before Cuomo’s announcement, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday that new snowfall predictions of 20 to 25 inches would make the storm one of the five worst in the Big Apple’s history.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

One Doctor Has Been Battling Government to Expose Flint Water Crisis for Months

Flint, MI — Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a hero. Though it’s possible you haven’t heard her name yet, you probably will soon — she’s responsible for ringing the original alarm bell about the lead contamination of Flint’s public water supply.

And the ordeal Hanna-Attisha endured in order to do so — including the nearly slanderous attempt by public officials to discredit her research — makes her an irreproachable champion of integrity.

“She was a doc on the front lines who knows to pick up the phone … rattle some cages and say, ‘Hey, come here, we’ve got a problem,’“ Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical examiner for the State of Michigan, said of Hanna-Attisha, reported the Detroit Free Press.

Her discovery had its roots in a conversation over dinner with old friends in August of last year, when one — a former water quality expert with the EPA who had knowledge of corrosion issues with the city’s water — said,”I’m sure there’s lead issues. Have you guys looked at lead levels in children?” In an interview with the Oakland Press, Hanna-Attisha explained her reaction to the query:

“When I heard that, as a pediatrician, whenever you hear about lead, you absolutely freak out.

“Children are always affected more by lead than adults. Lead is a neurotoxin. It affects your brain and your development. It affects children who are developing their neurological systems the most. That’s why we worry about children. Lead should never hit the body of a child. There is no safe level of lead in a child.”

Hanna-Attisha and her colleagues examined around 3,000 blood samples taken from students in and around the Flint area, both before and after the city switched from Detroit’s water supply. “What we found was alarming, but not surprising, based on what we knew about the water,” Hanna-Attisha said in an interview with Democracy Now. “The percentage of children with elevated lead levels doubled in the whole city, and in some neighborhoods, it tripled. And it directly correlated with where the water lead levels were the highest.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Student Suspended After Saving Girl Suffering Asthma Attack

Teacher waited for email as girl struggled to breathe on floor

The teacher emailed the school nurse and urged the other students to remain calm, but by that time the student was on the floor coughing and struggling to breathe due to an asthma attack.

At that point, Anthony Ruelas, 15, took it upon himself to aid the ailing student. He lifted her up, took her out of class and to the nurse’s office, saying they didn’t have time to wait for an email.

Later, Ruelas learned he would be suspended for two days, despite his brave, selfless act…

Incredibly, school staff called Cortes the next day to ask why her son was absent. “She had to remind them they suspended him,” reports KCEN-TV.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why Donald Trump Will Become President of the United States

Along with the past four decades, members of Congress passed laws to offshore, out-source and in-source jobs out of American workers’ hands. Congress’ activities drowned us in debt with 48 million people subsisting on food stamps and welfare housing.

Along the way, members of Congress and presidents created a $19 trillion debt that could very well collapse our entire economy. Our second president John Adams said, “There are two ways to conquer a nation: by the sword or by debt.” We face massive consequences that none of the members of Congress address, let alone solve.

Seven years ago, a totally unqualified man arrived on the scene with “Hope and Change” has his mantra. In the past seven years of Barack Obama, everything worsened as to trade agreements, racial violence, ongoing war in Afghanistan, refugees flooding into America, terrorism manifesting from Boston to San Bernardino, joblessness and educational breakdown on a level unseen in the past 50 years. Over 10 million Americans cannot secure a job. Their kids can’t find a summer job because over 100,000 legal and illegal immigrants flood into our country every 30 days.

Worse, for the African-American community, 73 percent of African-American children arrive out of wedlock and into immediate welfare and poverty. Our African-American president did nothing to change their fate as to job training, jobs or solutions. Instead, he spent a lot of time on the golf course.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

End Game: Justin Trudeau and the Cultural Transformation of Canada

“There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada. Those qualities are what make us the first post-nation state.”

So says Justin Trudeau, freshly-minted Prime Minister of Canada. What are Canadians to make of this curious proclamation? Does his post-modern vision happen to include an endorsement or approval from the Canadian people? If the name is Trudeau, and the nation is Canada, nobody should be surprised that it does not.

This method of political decision-making is far from an isolated incident. Justin’s father—former three-term Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau— also enjoyed toying with the fate of our nation based upon personal opinion. In fact, it was Trudeau Sr.’s socialist-infused political agenda which placed our nation in the precarious position we currently find ourselves in…

Recently, ex-Premier of BC Ujjal Dosanjh published an article in several mainstream media publications, where he speaks of a “fierce brand of exclusivist multiculturalism” that shames into silence all who oppose our diversity dilemma. Mr. Dosanjh, a lawyer by trade, labels this “multicultism”— a most fitting term if there ever was one.

Dosanjh goes on to speak of the inevitable fragmentation of society that results from institutionalized multiculturalism. Interestingly, multicultural policy is yet another government-enforced program devoid of public approval— this time at the hands of father Pierre.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Finmeccanica to Modernise ATC Radar at Canada Airports

Deal with Nav Canada second only to domestic 4-Flight program

(ANSA) — Rome, January 18 — Italian defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica said Monday it has signed a deal with Canada’s civil aviation services provider Nav Canada to modernise the radar used in air traffic control systems at the country’s 12 biggest airports. The work is scheduled for completion by 2027, a statement said. The project involving Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Calgary airports among others is “second only to the 4-Flight programme for the new domestic air traffic control system, currently under development,” Finmeccanica added. The group has supplied air traffic control radar systems to over 150 countries worldwide, the statement concluded.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Gunman Shot Brothers, Opened Fire at School

The gunman suspected of killing four people and injuring several others in Canada’s worst school violence in a decade first shot his two brothers at home before opening fire at the remote community high school, a family friend and the town’s acting mayor says.

Police said a suspect was arrested after the shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan, an impoverished community about 600 km north of the city of Saskatoon.

The town’s acting mayor Kevin Janvier told the Associated Press that his 23-year-old daughter Marie, a teacher, was shot to death.

Police told him that the gunman first shot two of his siblings at home and then made his way to the school, he said.

Officials have not given a motivation for the shooting or named the suspect or victims.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Police Charge 17-Year Old in Canada After 4 Shot Dead

Police on Saturday charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in an aboriginal community in western Canada, officials said.

Police Saturday the male suspect can’t be named under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Grant St. Germaine said nine people were shot in the school, two fatally — a teacher and a teacher’s aide. He said seven people wounded in Friday’s shooting at the school are hospitalized.

Police said two brothers, 17-year-old Dayne Fountaine and 13-year-old Drayden, were shot dead in a home before the gunman headed to the grade 7-12 La Loche Community School.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Faceless Culprit: How Swedish Media Prevented Police From Catching Thief

Swedish media have published screenshots of a video in which a man hit a woman with a child on the subway. The woman prevented the culprit from committing a theft and for that he attacked her.

Some Swedish media, such as the SVT channel hid the face of a criminal by pixelating it. This is despite the fact that the police appealed to the public to help find the attacker.

The question of how citizens should seek a ‘man without a face’ was a concern that was raised by the television journalists.

Stockholm police asked for help in finding the perpetrator who hit a woman, after she prevented the robbery on 5 January. Until now, the search has been unsuccessful, Swedish Fria Tider wrote.

The young woman with two small children noticed that the man attempted to rob an elderly woman and yelled at him. The man punched her in the face and spat on her, and then he quickly disappeared.

The tolerant Swedish television, however, did little to help the police as in the story of the crime the wanted man is beyond recognition due to the pixeled image of his face.

The decision caused a wave of sarcasm and indignation on social networks.

“Good idea to hide the face, SVT. Otherwise someone will suddenly recognize him and he will be caught,” one Twitter user wrote sarcastically.

“Why did you hide the face, when the police have clearly asked for help in his capture?” another person wrote.

SVT journalists, however, expressed confidence in their actions. “The main principle of SVT: we never show people the suspects, who are not yet convicted. We are not a court and can never know the whole picture,” according to their comment on Facebook.

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

Irish MP Nails Obama as “War Criminal and “Hypocrite of the Century”

A remarkable—and highly accurate—question during the Irish Parliament “Leader’s Question” time by Clare Daly, has thoroughly exposed the warlike and callous nature of the Obama regime.

Ms Daly, an independent Member of Parliament, pushed the Irish prime minister (the “Taoiseach”) to answer if weapons for Syria were going to pass through Shannon International Airport or not—a move which would be in violation of Ireland’s laws on international neutrality.

On the way, however, Ms Daly also dealt with the fact that the Obamas had had lunch with one of Ireland’s foremost tax evaders, then mocked the American presidential family for repeatedly referring to Ireland as “home” and finally ripped into the US president’s foreign policy.

“It’s hard to know which is worse,” she said, “the outpourings of the Obamas themselves, or the sycophantic fawning over them by sections of the media and political establishment.”

She called Obama the “hypocrite of the century” for telling Irish youths the United States supports those who choose peace, while providing arms to Syrian rebels and increasing drone strikes by 200 percent.

“The reality is, by any serious examination, this man is a war criminal,” Daly declared, adding that he was the “hypocrite of the century.”

“He has just announced his decision to supply arms to the Syrian opposition, including the jihadists, fueling the destabilization of that region, and continuing to undermine secularism and knock-back conditions for women.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Terror Warning: Jihadists Threaten to Attack Spain in Chilling New Propaganda Clip

The Islamic State has threatened to launch terror attacks in Spain — the world’s most popular destination for British tourists.

The jihadist group’s latest chilling propaganda video features an ancient map of the Iberian Peninsula which slowly turns to red.

Then a militant can be heard saying “We will recover our land from the invaders”, thought to be a reference to the collapse of Islamic rule in Spain.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS: ‘We Will Recover Our Land From the Invaders’

(London Daily Mail) Islamic State has reportedly issued a chilling threat to launch terror attacks in Spain, declaring: ‘ We will recover our land from the invaders.’

The jihadists have long made it their goal to expand their boundaries beyond Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East.

As well as plans to expand the caliphate in Iraq, Syria, North Africa and large parts of western Asia, they have previously released a map marking out plans to seize parts of Europe.

Spain, which was ruled by Muslims for 700 years until 1492, is marked out as a territory the caliphate plans to have under its control by 2020.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Tramezzino Sandwich Celebrates 90th Birthday

More popular lunchtime meal than pizza or pasta

(ANSA) — Rome, January 15 — The ‘tramezzino’ sandwich celebrated its 90th birthday in Italy Friday, as a survey revealed it is now a more popular lunchtime meal than pasta or pizza.

The origins of the tramezzino, which is usually made with two pieces of white bread with the crusts cut off, can be traced back to the caffè Mulassano in Turin.

It was there that the Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio, observing the shape of the sandwich that he was biting into, said it resembled the ‘tramezze’, meaning partition walls, of his home in the countryside.

The tramezzino has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to the growing number of Italians who have abandoned a traditional long lunch and now opt for on-the-go lunchtime meals. Some 34% of Italians eat a tramezzino or a panino for lunch, according to Fipe Confcommercio, which represents retail and catering businesses. It comes ahead of pizza (33,8%) and a simple plate of pasta (29,8%).

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Has World’s Best B&B’s Say Tripadvisor, Booking.com

Arezzo, Lecce, Milazzo, Pisa B&Bs dominate standings

(ANSA) — Rome, January 20 — Italy has some the world’s best bed and breakfasts (B&B), Tripadvisor and Booking.com travel sites said Wednesday.

Italy has four out of Booking’s top 10 establishments — the Re Umberto B&B in the Sicilian seaside town of Milazzo, Matera’s Ai Terrazzini, Lecce’s Aedes B&B and the B&B Relais Paradise in Pisa.

With 125 award-winning facilities and 150 commendations given, Italy is a major player also in Trip Advisor’s Travelers’ Choice Hotel Awards for 2016.

Among those singled out for praise are the B&B Casa Portagioia in Castiglion Fiorentino in Arezzo province, which was at the top of the Italian standings but also dominated regional standings for the best in Europe and the world.

Also highly commended was the B&B Mondello Resort in the Sicilian resort of Mondello, which placed 6th in the world classification.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Lower House Approves Bill to Protect Whistleblowers

Reports must be ‘reasonable conviction based on fact’

(ANSA) — Rome, January 21 — The Lower House on Thursday approved a bill introducing special protection for whistleblowers in the public and private sectors with 281 votes in favour, 71 against and 18 abstentions.

The bill will now pass to the Senate for its second reading.

The provisions, born of proposals presented by the Democratic Party (PD) of Premier Matteo Renzi and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), have are reportedly watered down with respect to the original draft. Whistleblowers who report alleged illegal conduct to the national anti-corruption authority or judicial authorities would be granted the right to anonymity and protection from sanctions, firing or discrimination, but would not receive a ‘reward’.

Reports would have to be made on the basis of “reasonable conviction founded on factual elements” — in other words, the report would need to be in good faith.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Lazio Tar Sends Xylella Case to EU Court of Justice

Ruling on adequacy, proportionality of plan requested

(ANSA) — Brindisi, January 22 — Lazio’s Regional Administrative Court (TAR) has decided to send the European Court of Justice the appeal regarding the operation designed to stop the spread of the Xylella fastidiosa disease, it said in a decision published Friday. The appeal was presented by environmental associations and Puglia farmers against the chopping down of olive trees in the region. In May, the TAR issued an order suspending the chopping down of the trees, which remains in place despite the court’s Friday decision to suspend proceedings in progress.

In its decision, the Court said it “shares the doubts” brought by the plaintiffs in their appeal, in which they called into question the eradication plan’s compliance under European Union law. The anti-Xylella operation is an EU-mandated measure that formed the basis for an Italian ministerial decree and subsequent interventions to chop the trees down, drawn up by former extraordinary commissioner in charge of containing Xylella, Giuseppe Silletti.

Silletti resigned his position in December after being placed under investigation along with nine others who may face charges of spreading a plant disease, malicious violation of environmental regulations, falsifying public documents, forgery, and destroying or damaging natural beauties. In November, the EC sent Italy a letter as the first step of an infringement procedure over the anti-Xylella measure, claiming that Italy is not fully respecting its obligations in the plan to eradicate Xylella.

The Lazio TAR is asking the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to evaluate whether the principles of “adequacy and proportionality preclude the application” of the decision to chop down the trees. The TAR also cited the lack of scientific analysis proving that Xylella is in fact the cause of the olive trees’ infection.

The Xylella fastidiosa bacteria, which infects trees and slowly kills them, was first detected in southern Italy in 2013, marking the first outbreak of its kind in the European Union. It reportedly caused about a million olive trees in Puglia to die as of last summer.

Italy started chopping down affected olive trees in Puglia last April, after the epidemic prompted France to declare an embargo on products from the southern Italian region at risk of infection from the deadly pathogen.

The drastic plan to destroy infected Puglia trees and others seen as being at risk of infection and to create buffer zones to stop the bacteria spreading was drafted after the European Commission demanded “strict precautionary measures”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

New Year Assaults ‘In 12 German States’: Report

German police have found that the wave of sexual assaults and robberies on New Year’s eve did not only happen in Cologne but that similar incidents also took place in 12 of Germany’s regional states, local media reported Saturday.

Hundreds of women have reported they were groped and robbed by mainly North African suspects outside Cologne’s main train station where crowds had gathered to ring in the New Year.

Similar assaults, however, also took place that night in 12 of Germany’s 16 regional states, according to the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the NDR and WDR television stations, citing a report by German judicial police (BKA).

Contacted by AFP the BKA had no immediate comment on the report…

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

Poland Surveillance Law Plan Angers Protesters

Thousands of Poles have taken part in marches in Warsaw and other cities to protest about plans of the conservative government, which they say will curtail privacy and freedom.

Protesters shouted “democracy” and waved banners criticising planned changes to laws on surveillance.

The measures would expand government access to digital data and allow for greater surveillance by police.

The EU is investigating whether the new legislation violates its standards.

The conservative Law and Justice Party was elected with a majority last October — the first time since democracy was restored in 1989 that a single party won a mandate to govern alone.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Political Survival’: Merkel Needs Erdogan to Stay in Power

Germany shuts its eyes to the mass killings of the Kurds in southeastern Turkey, the illegal oil trade and Turkey’s collaboration with Daesh terrorists, hoping that the Turkish President will help Europe to reduce the inflow of migrants, German newspaper Handelsblatt wrote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ignores the fact that Turkish President Erdogan is waging war against his own people and continues to take advantage of the questionable cooperation with him on the refugee issue, Handelsblatt wrote.

“Merkel needs Erdogan for her own political survival,” the article said.

Germany is silently watching the brutal war in Turkey, relying on the promise of Erdogan to provide assistance to refugees at the Turkish-Syrian border. However, the Turkish president uses the refugee issue in his own interests, being involved in the illegal oil trade with Daesh militants.

“Erdogan has created his own trump card to prevent Europe’s intervention — the refugees,” the article said. The Turkish President takes advantage of the trust of European countries, and is “smoothly waging the dirty war” in his own country, which again results in the new flows of migrants fleeing the south-eastern parts of the country amid increased violence.

In mid-December, Turkish authorities started a so-called antiterrorist operation in the southeast of the country. The brutal operations against Kurdish communities have left hundreds dead, including civilians, and resulted in the arrest of a number of Turkish academics who have vocally opposed the government’s treatment of Turkish Kurds.

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

Revealed: The 20 Postcodes in Britain Where You’re Most Likely to Get Burgled — And They’re Almost All in London

Figures reveal residents living in some of London’s most affluent areas are more likely to be burgled than homeowners anywhere else in the country.

And Britain’s burglary capital is Dulwich in south London — where homes are 87 times more likely to be broken into than the safest village, Harbury near Leamington Spa.

London is the UK’s burglary claims capital, home to 16 of the top 20 hotspots, according to MoneySuperMarket’s annual Burglary Claims Tracker.

In an analysis of two million home insurance quotes over the past two years, figures show Tulse Hill and Dulwich in the south London SE21 post code have the highest crime rate at 61.2 claims per 1,000 quotes…

           — Hat tip: Seneca III [Return to headlines]
 

Romania: In Bucharest the Largest Spa in Europe

Made by the Austrian group A- Heat Group in Balotesti

(ANSA) — BUCHAREST — “Therme Bucuresti”, the largest spa complex in Europe, opened its doors this week in Bucharest. The centre was built thanks to an investment of 50 million euro made by the Austrian group A- Heat Group in Balotesti, a small town on the outskirts of the Romanian capital Bucharest.

The new centre covers 250,000 sq metres, has a capacity of 4,000 people and uses the thermal waters found at a depth of 3,100 metres. It has eight pools (3,000 square metres), while the green outdoor areas represent “the largest botanical garden in Romania”, with more than 800,000 plants.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Shocking Moment Thief Punches Mother in the Face and Spits on Her in Front of Her Young Children After She Stops Him Stealing From an Elderly Woman

This is the moment a thief attacks a mother in front of her two children, kicking her in the stomach, hitting her in the face and spitting on her, after she stepped in when he tried to rob a pensioner.

The shocking incident took place in central Stockholm, Sweden, earlier this month and was caught on security cameras.

The attack has caused outrage in Sweden, with the head of the police investigation swearing to catch the perpetrator ‘if it’s the last thing I do’.

[Comment: Another “Swedish” criminal…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss Police Withdrew Permission for PEGIDA to Hold Rally in Basel

The police of the Swiss city of Basel banned Friday a rally by the German anti-Islamization movement Pegida, having previously approved the event scheduled for February 3.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The permission for Pegida to hold its rally, as well as for another group to hold a counter-demonstration, was withdrawn due to the “the latest findings and the current assessment of the situation,” the police said, as quoted by Der Bund newspaper.

The cantonal police of Basel-Stadt had received “information about expected participation of several violent groups from both sides, both from home and from abroad,” the statement read.

Pegida, an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, began organizing rallies in its home city of Dresden in October 2014, attracting hundreds and later thousands of supporters.

The far-right German movement gained support in many member states of the European Union amid rising anti-migrant sentiment as Europe faces its biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

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

UK: Birmingham Central Mosque Chairman and Future Mayor Tells Muslims to Resist ‘Racist’ Anti Terror Laws

The Chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, a Labour city Councillor who is set to become the UK’s second city’s Lord Mayor in May, has labeled the Prime Minister an ‘Islamophobe’ and called for a boycott of the government’s new anti extremism laws.

Muhammad Afzal argued that the “disgraceful” PREVENT strategy unfairly targets Muslims, who should “resist” the policy, and claimed that there was no evidence that British Muslims are traveling to Syria.

In July last year PREVENT, which is designed to help authorities identify people at risk of radicalisation, was given more legal force, meaning teachers and some medical staff are now legally compelled to report those at risk.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Euro Garages Owned by Muslim Family Bans Alcohol From Shop Shelves

Hundreds of petrol station shops are removing alcohol from sale after being taken over by a Muslim-owned company. The outlets are part of Euro Garages, which has 350 petrol stations across Britain.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: More Than 400 Children Under 10 Referred for ‘Deradicalisation’

A total of 415 children aged 10 and under have been referred to the government’s deradicalisation programme in England and Wales over the last four years, the BBC has learned.

Figures obtained by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) also show 1,424 children aged 11 to 15 were referred.

The “Channel” scheme, set up after the 7 July London bombings, aims to steer people away from extremism.

The government says the scheme has successfully deradicalised people.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Vicars Should Grow Beards to Reach Out to Muslims in Their Areas, Says Bishop of London

Clergymen should grow beards to emphasise their holiness to Muslims, the Bishop of London has suggested.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UniCredit Focuses on Eastern Europe, 20 Bn of New Credit

Vivaldi, area remains driver of growth. Ukraine, closing in Marc

(by Fabio Perego) (ANSA) — VIENNA — Central and Eastern Europe is the area on which UniCredit will focus, so the volumes of deposits and loans to individuals and businesses will continue to increase, with 20 billion of new credit in 2018.

The area “is still a driver of growth for our group. We are here to stay and produce results”, said the Head of UniCredit’s Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) Division, Carlo Vivaldi, outlining, on the sidelines of the Euromoney Conference, the objectives of the business plan. Unicredit’s strategy includes an increase in the capital allocated in the whole area from 27% in 2014 to 33% in 2018.

About 40% of the group’s revenue growth and 60% of its growth in net interest margins, from now on, and up to 2018, will derive from CEE. “This region — Vivaldi underlined — is an area of fundamental economic importance not only for the UniCredit group, which already generates here a quarter of its revenue, but also for Italian companies: 7,000 are operating in the region, two-thirds supported by our bank”.

The guidelines of UniCredit’s activities in Central and Eastern Europe will be the acquisition of new customers, digital innovation and volume growth.

As for sales, after the subsidiary in Ukraine (the closing of which is scheduled for March), there will be no more divestiture in the near future.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

France Pledges 1.0 Bn Euros in Aid to Tunisia: Presidency

France will provide one billion euros ($1.1 billion) to Tunisia over the next five years as part of an economic support package, the French presidency said Friday.

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

Tutankhamun: Egypt Museum Staff Face Trial Over Botched Beard Job

Egyptian media say prosecutors have referred eight museum employees for trial over the botched reattachment of the beard on the burial mask of the pharaoh, Tutankhamun.

It comes a year after officials opened an investigation into how the blue and gold braided beard came to be detached and then hastily glued back on.

The accused face charges of negligence and violating professional standards.

The 3,000-year-old artefact is one of Cairo’s biggest tourist attractions.

Conservators at the Egyptian Museum had given differing accounts of the circumstances of the beard becoming detached.

One suggestion was that it had been knocked off accidentally, another that it had been removed after becoming loose.

Prosecutors said workers then “recklessly” tried to cover up the mistake, using large amounts of inappropriate glue in an effort to fix it.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Considering ‘Military Action’ In Libya to ‘Save’ Africa From Daesh

Having messed up in Iraq and Syria, the United States is now eyeing Libya as the next potential place where Washington’s “decisive military action” is needed.

Citing a growing threat of Daesh’s (Islamic State) expansion in Libya, the US government is considering the idea of sending its military to wipe out the terrorists in the North African nation.

“It’s fair to say that we’re looking to take decisive military action against [Daesh] in conjunction with the political process in Libya. The president has made clear that we have the authority to use military force,” said US General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as cited by the New York Times.

Together with its allies — Britain, France and Italy — the United States is looking to militarily intervene in yet another country under the pretext of “stemming the growth” of Daesh across North Africa and the Sub-Saharan countries, Reuters said.

“So as I look at Libya, I look at Libya as an ISIL platform from which they can conduct malign activity across Africa,” Dunford said.

Right now it isn’t clear yet when exactly a US military operation would start, but US reconnaissance flights and intelligence gathering indicate that a military intervention is bound to happen within “weeks,” according to Dunford.

The problem with the upcoming military intervention is that the United States has yet to defeat Daesh and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. Without solving the problem in one region, Washington is jumping head-first into another region guns blazing.

One could only hope this time the United States would respect international law and get the official approval of the Libyan government before sending in its troops. Another way to militarily intervene without breaking international law would be to get the consent of all UN Security Council members.

In the past, history showed that the US government feels above the law and doesn’t need anyone’s approval to intervene into the affairs of other countries. Will things in Libya be different?

It’s also worth noting that in 2011, a NATO bombing campaign in Libya led to the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s government. Since then, the previously stable country descended into chaos and failed to form a stable government with various factions, including many Islamic extremist groups, fighting against each for power.

Gaddafi knew what dangers his country would face if he were to be overthrown. According to leaked phone conversations between Gaddafi and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the former Libyan leader tried telling Blair about the growing danger of extremism in his country before the NATO operation began. The Western military alliance refused to listen to Gaddafi and the rest we know is history.

Having already messed up Libya big time in the past, the US is looking to intervene in North Africa again. Would it be a wise political move for Washington? Only time will tell.

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

Firms: SACE: Credit Line Worth 40 Mln for Turkish Companies

In favor of Yapi Kredi to buy Italian goods and services

ROME — Italian financial insurance group SACE active in export credit guarantees a credit line worth 40 million euros to Turkish companies to import Italian goods and services. The credit line, SACE said, was provided by Ing Bank in favor of Yapi Kredi Leasing.

“Through this credit line guaranteed by SACE, Yapi Kredi Leasing can fund machinery bought from Italy, obtaining at the same time an alternative source of funding in the medium and long term”, said Cristina Morelli, head of Transportation & Special Industries at SACE. Turkey is a strategic market for SACE, as shown by constantly growing data and a portfolio of insured operations in the country exceeding two billion euros.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Jordan Says Troops Kill 12 Suspected Infiltrators From Syria

The military says Jordanian border guards opened fire on three dozen suspected infiltrators from Syria, killing 12 and wounding several others.

The border command has said it frequently intercepts smugglers trying to cross into Jordan. Saturday’s shooting was the deadliest such incident in the border area in recent memory.

The military’s website says border guards confiscated more than 2 million narcotics pills during the incident. It says some of the infiltrators were armed and that several returned to Syria.

Much of Jordan’s border with Syria runs through remote desert. The military did not say where along the border the shooting took place.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Fatwa Banning Chess Stirs Online Outcry

A fatwa issued by Saudi Arabia’s top cleric prohibiting chess in Islam and equating it with gambling has caused a stir on social media.

In a video of a television programme posted online, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh appears categorical when asked about the board game in Islam.

“Chess is prohibited. It is gambling,” said Sheikh, insisting that it was a “waste of time and money and a cause for animosity between players”.

The video was originally recorded about a month ago but has resurfaced online, generating strong reactions on social media in recent days…

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

Saudi Arabia Buys ‘International Silence’ About Its Atrocities in Yemen

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Yemen after Houthi rebels toppled its government. According to political analyst Catherine Shakdam, the international community turns a blind eye on Riyadh’s war crimes in Yemen.

At least 20 people, including rescue workers and an ambulance driver, were killed recently in a series of airstrikes Saudi Arabia carried out on one target in the Yemeni province of Saada.

The “Medecins Sans Frontieres” (Doctors Without Borders) humanitarian-aid organization said a driver of one of its hospitals was killed.

This is not the first time the Saudi-led coalition has carried out a series of airstrikes against one target. The sports events center in the capital Sanaa was destroyed in seven bombardments. The operation was carried out to support the Yemeni government-in-exile in its fight against Houthi rebels.

Coalition representative Ahmad Assiri said the kingdom is not responsible for victims of the war.

“We regret any civilians killed and wounded in Yemen. But we should not forget that Houthi rebels and the coup they staged plunged the country into chaos,” he was quoted as saying by RT.

Catherine Shakdam is a political analyst, writer and commentator for the Middle East, did not agree with this.

The Saudi campaign against Yemen, one of the world’s poorest nations, has been underway for over 10 months, and its results are unclear.

The Saudis have succeeded if their goal was to kill as many Yemeni people as possible or if they wanted genocide in the country. At the same time, the international community has not even lifted a finger over the situation, Shakdam said.

She explained why the international community has not commented on Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.

“This is all about money. Saudi Arabia is very rich and can control mass media. The kingdom also can bribe its political allies,” she said.

It is unbelievable that it has been 10 months since the airstrikes started and no efforts has been made to settle the conflict, Fadl al-Mutaa, a member of the Yemeni party Ansar Allah, told Sputnik Arabic.

“They have been attacking Yemen with their deadly weapons for over 10 months. They are bombing everything, from schools and hospitals to airports and water storages, and even mosques. They are killing women and children. And the international community is doing nothing,” he said.

“We can only rely on Russia and its president, China and Iran that proved the efficiency of their actions,” he added.

According to him, many foreign fighters, including from the US, Britain and France, have been captured in Yemen and then released in exchange for food and medicine supplies to the conflict zone.

He also said that the Yemeni government respect Russia’s stance toward the issue and wants to have good relations with Moscow.

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

UK Soldiers’ Actions in Iraq Not Above the Law — Human Rights Lawyers

Neither the British Army nor the British government are above the law when it comes to Britain’s legacy in Iraq, law firm Leigh Day has said.

The company was criticized by Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday for pursuing what some are calling spurious allegations of abuse by British forces on Iraqis.

[ comment by sycosimianyesterday at 09:35 — One of the high profile cases in this travesty is that of a sniper who is being investigated for not shouting a warning before taking out an insurgent aiming an RPG at his fellow soldiers. What next, snipers have to wear high visibility jackets and have a loudspeaker playing a constant sound to draw attention to where their nest is? ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

US Forces Setting Up Airbase in Northeast Syria: Sources

US special forces and experts are setting up an airbase in northeast Syria as part of the battle against the Islamic State group, Syrian military and security sources said Saturday.

They told AFP work was underway to expand an airfield in Rmeilan, in Hasakeh province, from where aircraft used to take off to spray pesticides on crops before Syria’s war started five years ago.

A Syrian military source said nearly 100 “American experts,” alongside forces from the anti-IS Kurdish People’s Protection Units had widened the landing strip and refurbished some infrastructure…

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

US-Backed ISIS Islamists Mass Murder 1,700 Iraq Army Soldiers

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has boasted on Twitter that they have executed more than 1,700 Iraqi government soldiers this past week, and posted numerous pictures to support their claim.

The mass murders—the worst atrocity in either Syria or Iraq in recent years—are the direct result of the legacy of arch war criminals Tony Blair and George Bush, who, under the control of the respective Jewish lobbies in Britain and the US, launched the war which destroyed the Saddam Hussein regime which had kept the lid on Islamism for decades.

The images posted by the ISIS on Twitter show Iraqi soldiers under arrest, being put onto trucks, then marched off and forced to lie face down in shallow graves where they are then executed by being shot in the head with automatic rifle fire.

To make the situation even worse, the ISIS first gained its operational strength in the Syrian Civil War—where the “rebels” are supplied with arms and logistics supplied by the Obama regime in America.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Lithuanian President: Russia Uses Nord Stream-2 Gas Pipeline to Divide EU

According to the Lithuanian president, Moscow uses the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project as an instrument to divide the EU.

VILNIUS (Sputnik) — The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project is a Russian political project, which aims to divide the unity of the European Union, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Friday.

“Planned Nord Stream-2 is a test of EU energy policy. This is a political declaration, one more Russia’s attempt to wield influence and to divide Europe,” Grybauskaite said, as quoted by the Baltic News Service agency.

The Nord Stream-2 project is a joint venture to build a gas pipeline that would run under the Baltic Sea to provide an additional route for Russian gas deliveries to Germany, bypassing the three Baltic countries and Poland.

The project plans to use the original Nord Stream pipeline for 86 percent of the route before branching off. It will have the capacity to carry up to 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, to be supplied to European customers.

A number of European countries, including the Baltic states and Poland oppose the project, saying that it could strengthen the European Union’s dependence on Russian gas, while Germany supports the construction of the pipeline.

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

Paranoid US Suspects Russia Behind ‘NATO-Sceptic Parties in Europe’

The US Congress has mandated US intelligence services to carry out far-reaching investigations into activities of a number of European parties critical of EU and NATO policies.

The US suspects that these parties are supported by Russia which allegedly seeks to undermine NATO, stop the deployment of US missiles and revoke punitive sanctions against Russia imposed after Crimea’s secession from Ukraine, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) wrote, referring to the British Telegraph.

“It really is a new Cold War out there. Right across the EU we are seeing alarming evidence of Russian efforts to unpick the fabric of European unity on a whole range of vital strategic issues,” an anonymous source told the Telegraph.

The subject of the investigation will be Euro-sceptic parties in France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. The inquiry is designed to find out whether Russia is trying to undermine the “political cohesion” in Europe.

The American initiative occurred after Marine Le Pen’s French party the National Front received a nine million-euro loan from a Russian bank in 2014.

If the US comes to the “conclusion” that NATO is in danger, US authorities will act “in the interests of national security” and impose sanctions against the parties involved.

The newspaper referred to Michael Maier who described the consequences of such sanctions in his new book:

“The sanctions are a part of a global war in which the United States takes advantage of the role of the dollar as a world currency. Banks might be prohibited to make transactions with such parties. They could be banned from entry in the United States, while the assets of the parties or individuals collaborating with them could be frozen,” Maier wrote.

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

Russia’s Top Search Engine Yandex Launches Elvish Translation Service

The largest Russian search engine Yandex can now translate to and from Sindarin, a fictional language spoken by Elves in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.

Those who watched the Lord of the Rings series remember hearing Elves talk to each other in their own language. Fortunately we had subtitles underneath to understand what the Elves were talking about.

Now with the help of Yandex one can learn to understand Elvish. The Russian internet company that operates the most popular search engine in the Russian-speaking world launched the translation function from Elvish to mark Tolkien’s birthday.

Sindarin is written in Tengwar, an ancient Elvish alphabet. Tolkien, apparently, based some of the grammar and phonetics of Sindarin on Welsh and other Celtic dialects. The fictional language was also influenced by Old English and Old Norse, spoken by inhabitants of present-day Scandinavia more than 1,000-years ago.

Yandex launched its translating service in full beta-version in June of 2012. At that time the service only had three available languages — English, Russian and Ukrainian. Since then, Yandex expanded its translating service to 66 different languages.

What’s next? Should we expect Yandex to include Troll and Orc grunts any time soon?

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

Soros No Longer Views Russia as Enemy in Attempt to ‘Save EU From Collapse’

American business magnate and investor George Soros no longer views Russia as an enemy of the EU and is now openly calling on Brussels to cooperate with Moscow, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) wrote.

According to him, the European Union may soon collapse due to the refugee crisis and the lack of leadership. In order to survive, European leaders need a “new Marshall Plan” in which Russia should play a key role, the investor stressed.

Soros has always been a supporter of the idea of the EU’s existence, but now he sees that the EU is “falling apart”.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the American financier said that there is “a panic in the European asylum policy” and that the EU needs strong leaders and external assistance — including from Russia — in order to survive.

DWN found it interesting that Soros, who “had always presented Russia as an enemy of the EU,” is now “calling on Brussels to increase cooperation with Moscow.

Soros is well-known American business magnate and philanthropist of Jewish-Hungarian descent. The financier who possesses a huge financial empire and wrote 12 books on subjects ranging from terrorism to global capitalism is one of the most influential and richest people in the world.

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

Indonesia: Kalimantan: Muslim Village Burnt, 1,200 Forced to Flee

Mathias Hariyadi

The members of Gerakan Fajar Nusantara, a sect considered heretical by mainstream Islam, have been expelled from their homes. In 2007, the group’s founder was convicted for declaring himself the last prophet. As a result, the authorities have organised the relocation of the refugees to Java. “We must punish the movement’s false doctrine, but when its members are in danger, the state must intervene,” a government minister said.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — At least 1,200 people, members of a Muslim sect called Gerakan Fajar Nusantara (Gafatar for short) were forced to flee their village after their neighbours set their homes on fire because of blasphemy charges. The incident occurred yesterday in Moton Panjang, Mempawah Regency, Kalimantan Province (Borneo).

A week ago, local mainstream Muslims protested against the presence in the area of “too many” members of the Gafatar sect, whom they consider heretics. When sect members refused to leave, scores of Muslims attacked the “blasphemers” and set their homes, forcing them to flee.

The Indonesian government immediately intervened to move the refugees to Java, their place of origin with several ships docked at the port of Pontianak, the capital of Kalimantan ready to take on refugees.

Last month, Gafatar made the front pages in the local press in connection with certain disappearances. A doctor from Yogyakarta (Java) had reported his wife and daughter missing. Both were found a few days later in a state of shock.

Gafatar came into existence in 2006 when a charismatic leader, Moshadeq Ahmad, proclaimed himself as the last prophet of Islam and founder of a new school of thought.

In October 2007, the Indonesian Ulema Council declared Moshadeq a “false prophet” and his teachings “illegal”, banishing the Gafatar from the Islamic community.

Although the movement’s leader was tried, convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for wrongful interpretation of Islam, many of his followers continue to operate as a distinct movement in various Indonesian locations, especially in Kalimantan, where they organise charitable activities and social events.

As soon as he was informed of the attack on the village, President Joko Widodo expressed his solidarity with the victims. He also ordered the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security of Indonesia, Retired General Luhut Panjaitan, to deal with the emergency.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung slammed local authorities in Menpawah for not acting in time to protect the population and made a distinction between Gafatar’s false teachings and its members.

Although the movement’s ideas may be anti-Islam, he said he would respond appropriately to protect its members. “Whenever people are in danger, the state must intervene to ensure their safety and protect life.”

* Gerakan Fajar Nusantara means Dawn Archipelago Movement.

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

Pakistani Military Arrests 5 in University Attack

A Pakistani army spokesman says the military has arrested five suspects on charges of facilitating a deadly militant attack on a university that killed 21, mostly students, in the country’s northwest.

Islamic militants stormed Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on Jan. 20, killing students and teachers, and triggering a gunbattle that lasted for hours. Lt. Gen Asim Salim Bajwa said Saturday that the suspects provided the attackers with shelter, transport and weapons.

Bajwa said another three suspects, including two women, are still at large.

A splinter faction of the Taliban claimed responsibility and has threatened similar attacks. However the main Taliban organization denied any involvement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Berlin Residents Protest Near Merkel’s Office Against Migrant Violence

About 700 people protested near the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin against acts of violence committed by migrants, a local police spokeswoman told RIA Novosti Saturday.

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

Similar attacks took place in other German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, as well as in other EU states, such as Austria, Finland and Switzerland.

“According to our estimates there are some… 700 people attending the rally,” the spokeswoman said.

She added that no serious incidents were reported during the protest.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa arrive in the EU member states. The EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.83 million illegal border crossings in 2015.

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

Bulgarian Red Cross: 3-4 Million Refugees Expected to Reach Europe in Spring

The refugee crisis has not ended and a wave of 3-4 million people is expected to reach Europe in the spring.

This was stated by the chairperson of the Bulgarian Red Cross Hristo Grigorov in an interview for Focus news agency on the occasion of a round table entitled “Integration of refugees in Bulgaria: reality and challenges”.

In his words, Bulgaria will be faced with an extraordinary refugee wave in the spring if the EU fails to adopt the rules regulating the access of migrants to the Union.

Grigorov noted that there were countries with large financial resources and adequate social security programmes capable of dealing with the refugees, but Bulgaria was not one of them.

He added that as a member of the common European family, Bulgaria has to swiftly devise an effective policy towards these people.

In his opinion, only people fleeing war, who have passed through checkpoints and registered and have fulfilled the EU requirements for being granted status should be allowed into Europe.

Grigorov noted that large number of the people passing through Bulgaria use it as a transit country as it is a poor state which they do not find attractive.

According to him, the mass refugee influx should be put under control as among the migrants are not only people fleeing war but also others who are making use of the situation to enter the EU.

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

Calais Port Delays as Migrants Target P&O Ferry

Services from the port of Calais have been disrupted after 50 migrants briefly boarded a ship, the city’s mayor Natacha Bouchart has said.

It is understood that about 50 migrants in Calais boarded a P&O ferry named the Spirit of Britain, while it was unloading.

Ferry company DFDS Seaways tweeted that the port had been closed due to a “migrant invasion”.

The incident followed a demonstration in the port in favour of migrants.

P&O Ferries described it as a “security incident” and said passengers could expect a delay of between 90 and 120 minutes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dramatic Moment Migrant Fights Off Knife-Wielding Robber in Italian Lidl — And is Rewarded With Residency

A heroic illegal immigrant has been awarded a residency permit in Italy, after he tackled an armed robber to the ground before pinning him down until he could be arrested.

The 29-year-old Egyptian was waiting to pay for his groceries in a Lidl supermarket in the industrial district of Mirafiori, Turin, when the man in front of him pulled out a knife.

The man, wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, threatened the cashier with the roughly 7in knife and told her to empty the cash register.

[Comment: Staged by the State apparatus? ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch MP Stirs Anger in Anti-Islam ‘Pepper Spray’ Rally

Tensions over Europe’s migrant crisis bubbled over in a Dutch town Saturday as far-right politician Geert Wilders handed out fake pepper spray, saying women must defend themselves against Muslim men.

Wilders, whose Freedom Party (PVV) only holds 12 seats currently in the 150-seat Dutch lower house, has seen his popularity soar on the back of the bitter refugee debate fuelling his desire of becoming the next prime minister.

On Saturday following in the wake of the sexual attacks on women on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Wilders used a rally in the western Dutch town of Spijkenisse to again push his blunt message against what he calls an “Islamic invasion.”

“We must close the borders,” Wilders said handing out fake pepper spray — which is illegal in the Netherlands — filled instead with red paint…

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

Family of Rape Victim in Berlin Has No Complaints Against City’s Police

The family of a 13-year-old Russian-speaking girl, who was reportedly raped in Berlin by several immigrants, has no complaints against the activities of the city’s police in the investigation into the case, a lawyer hired by the family said.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — On January 16, Russia’s Channel One aired an interview with a woman claiming to be the girl’s aunt, who said her niece had been abducted on her way to school in Berlin and raped by Arab migrants. Two days later, Berlin police released a statement, saying there was no evidence that the kidnapping and rape had taken place.

“No we are at the stage where the main part of the work is done by police. They should investigate the case and find the criminals… Three days ago we have were assured that police has been carrying out the investigation. And we do not have complaints against them at the moment,” Alexej Danckwardt told RIA Novosti on Friday.

He added that the situation was complicated by the fact that soon after the incident one of the police officers told parents that the investigation would be ceased, despite the fact that only prosecutor’s office could make such a decision.

According to Danckwardt, the recent police statements saying that there neither abduction nor rape occurred could be explained by “legal niceties,” while prosecutor’s office confirmed on Thursday that the crime took place.

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

France’s Calais Port Shuts After Migrants Jump on Ferry

Northern France’s port of Calais was shut down Saturday after dozens of migrants boarded a moored ferry in a desperate bid to reach Britain, officials said.

The boarding — a rare occurrence in the heavily guarded port — came after some 2,000 people protested nearby over living conditions in a notoriously squalid camp known as “the Jungle”.

“A group of 500 people forced their way through police lines and headed to the port, and 150 people were able to get into the fenced-off area. Of these, a group of some 50 managed to board a ferry,” the prefecture, representing the French state, official told AFP.

Operations at Calais, France’s main passenger port, were halted, it said…

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

Germany: One Invader Rape Every Three Days

Nonwhite invaders raped German women once every three days in the month of August 2015, a substantial increase on the previous months, a survey of the attacks reported in the controlled media has found.

The shocking statistic is only a reflection of the incidents which the media dared report—and does not include unreported cases, or the sexual assault cases reported from within the invader camps in Germany.

Those cases which were reported for August 2015 are listed below. In all of these cases, the perpetrators have not, as of writing, been arrested, but the police are specifically looking for nonwhites, who they always describe as being of “Südlich” (southern, i.e., Arabic) appearance.

On August 3, a “North African” raped a seven-year-old girl in a park in Chemnitz.

On August 1, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 27-year-old woman in downtown Stuttgart.

On August 8, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 20-year-old woman in Siegen.

On August 10, five men of “Turkish origin” attempted to rape a girl in Mönchengladbach.

On August 10, a male “southerner” raped a 15-year-old girl in Rinteln.

On August 12, a male “southerner” exposed himself to a 31-year-old woman in Kassel. Police say a similar incident occurred in the same area on August 11.

On August 12, a male “southerner” attempted to rape a 17-year-old woman in Hannover.

On August 13, police arrested two Iraqi “asylum seekers,” aged 23 and 19, for raping an 18-year-old German woman behind a schoolyard in Hamm, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

On August 16, a male “southerner” raped a woman in Hanau.

On August 17, three male “southerners” attempted to rape a 42-year-old woman in Ansbach.

On August 23, a “dark skinned” man attempted to rape a 35-year-old woman in Dortmund.

The number of reported sex attacks by nonwhite invaders is substantially higher than the preceding months:

On July 26, a 14-year-old boy was sexually assaulted inside the bathroom of a regional train in Heilbronn, a city in southwestern Germany. Police are looking for a “dark skinned” man between the ages of 30 and 40 who has an “Arab appearance.”…

It should be borne in mind that this list of attacks is not complete: they are only the ones that the media or police reported on, and, as some of the incidents listed above show, both media and police do their best to suppress and cover up the nonwhite rape plague.

An example of the type of logic used to explain away the nonwhite sex crime plague came with the news that a “welcome refugees” party organized by a pro-invasion group in Bonn, Germany, on November 7 ended in disaster when the “special guests”—a large group of nonwhite men—sexually molested nearly every single white female in attendance.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

German Sex Attacks: Police Chief Hid News

The chief of police in Cologne, Wolfgang Düren, deliberately withheld details of the racial nature of the New Year’s Eve mass sex-attacks in Cologne because he felt it would cause “racial incitement” if the truth became known.

This admission—made by Düren to a North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) parliament subcommittee today, followed an earlier statement made by the state’s Minister of the Interior for the state, Ralf Jäger, in which he released the final list of attacks, victims, and suspects for the nonwhite crime spree on the evening of December 31, 2015.

Jäger said that 1,049 individual cases had been reported over the course of the evening.

From this, a total of 982 criminal charges had been formulated, of which 821 were in Cologne. Of that number, 359 were sex offenses. Similarly, some 113 charges were laid in Dusseldorf, of which 69 were sex offenses; 28 charges were laid in Dortmund, of which 4 were sex offenses; and 20 charges were laid in Bielefeld, of which 5 were sex offenses.

However, only 30 suspects had been identified out of the 2,000 strong mob of nonwhites in Cologne. This number includes 25 Moroccans and Algerians, an Albanian, an Afghani, a Tunisian, a Libyan, and an Iranian. So far, at least 15 of these are registered “asylum seekers.”

Nine suspects have been arrested in Dusseldorf, of which four are from Morocco, with the others being from Bangladesh, Algeria, and Afghanistan. In the city of Bielefeld, the suspects are three Moroccans, and one Algerian, while in Dortmund the nine suspects include Iraqis, Algerians, Moroccans, and Syrians.

Jäger said that the police had done the best they could, but that “ultimately they were too few and could not do anything about an uncontrollable situation.”

[Comment: Notice though that there were thousands of police on hand for the German citizen’s protests against mass migration invasion.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

German Authorities and Police Crumbling Under Refugee Pressure

The German civil service and police are struggling to cope with the administration of more than a million refugees, with reports that around 600,000 have disappeared and warnings from the police union that they cannot control the borders indefinitely.

Administrators in Germany’s federal states are struggling to keep up with the registration and deportation process because of decades of cuts to its civil service, which has left the system unable to cope with the influx of over a million refugees.

The record number of arrivals — five times that of 2014 — included 428,468 Syrians, 154,046 Afghans, followed by 121,662 Iraqis. The number included just under 3,000 Moroccans and Algerians. The sheer volume had created a huge administrative backlog, the ministry admitted, which has reached over 470,000.

The ministry also admitted that the 1.1 million figure could include repeated registrations in different states, as well as those who have subsequently moved out of Germany and into other member states, chiefly Sweden. Germany will only accept genuine refugees fleeing war zones and will send back economic migrants who want to leave countries at peace to enjoy a better standard of living.

However, efforts to deport those who do not match refugee status have floundered because the administration is collapsing. According to Der Spiegel, embassies of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are showing little interest in processing deportations, leading to thousands of migrants remaining in Germany — not deported — with a system seemingly powerless to do anything about it.

Million Hours Police Overtime

In Bavaria — the southern state that has borne the brunt of the refugee crisis — District administrator Peter Dreier arranged for a group of refugees to be put on a bus and taken on a seven-hour journey from Bavaria to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin to highlight the issue.

He said that his district of Landshut had no more space for asylum seekers and that Merkel herself should take more control.

“I am always in favor of giving these people somewhere dignified to live, but not in temporary shelters or gymnasiums for months, or anything like that. We just can’t provide proper accommodation for so many people fast enough, which is why we have to make a statement.”

Meanwhile, the German police trade union has warned that federal officers will not be able to maintain its southern borders indefinitely. Deputy head of the GdP union Jörg Radek told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper:

“We can manage it for about three weeks, but we don’t have enough personnel strength to last longer […]. We’ve already piled up two million hours of overtime, that’s the equivalent of 1,100 officers.”

On Wednesday, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said that the government would continue to the extend border controls past a February deadline. “I foresee no time when we’ll be able to end [border controls],” de Maizière had told broadcaster MDR.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece ‘Facing Exclusion’ From Schengen Passport-Free Zone

Greece faced fresh pressure Saturday on its handling of the migrant crisis after Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned that Athens faced “temporary exclusion” from the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone.

In midweek, Greece’s top migration official slammed a report in the Financial Times alleging several European ministers and senior EU officials believe threatening suspension from Schengen could persuade Greece to protect its borders more effectively.

Junior interior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas said the report contained “falsehoods and distortions” but Mikl-Leitner said temporary exclusion was a real possibility…

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

Hungary Shuts Doors to Balkan Route Migrants — Prime Minister

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Friday that the country was now shut to transiting migrants.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Sections of the Hungarian-Romanian border may be fenced off to that end, the prime minister added, stressing that Europe cannot continue to accommodate large numbers of migrants.

“Let the [migrant] route turn where it wants, but it will not go through Hungary, that’s for certain,” Orban said in an interview with the Hungarian Kossuth Radio public broadcaster.

Hungary has been a part of the so-called Balkan route, used predominantly by Middle Eastern and North African migrants on their way to Northern Europe. The route passes from Turkey, across Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and via Hungary and Austria into Germany and France.

Earlier in January, Austria announced that migrants who do not intend to apply for asylum in Germany would not be able to enter the country. On Wednesday, the Austrian government imposed limits on asylum seeker admissions to the country. The plans stipulates that no more than 37,500 asylum requests would be accepted in 2016, with the total asylum requests for the period up to mid-2019 not to exceed 127,500. The quotas were devised so that asylum seekers in the country as a share of Austria’s total population remains below 1.5 percent.

In Friday’s interview, Orban voiced support for Austria’s move, hailing it as a victory of “common sense” over “dogmatic thinking.” The prime minister also criticized the European Union for obstructing decision-making at a national state level.

The previous year has seen an unprecedented wave of migration to Europe, with over one million migrants arriving to European shores, according to International Organization for Migration data. Over 1.5 million illegal border crossings have been detected by the EU border agency Frontex between the beginning of 2015 and mid-December.

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

Kerry Calls for 30 Percent Hike in International Aid for Refugees

US Secretary of State John Kerry called Friday for a 30-percent increase in humanitarian funding from the United Nations for refugees.

Kerry said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the US wanted to “increase by 30 percent the response to UN humanitarian funding appeals”.

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

No Free Ride: ‘EU States Compete in Worsening Conditions for Refugees’

Germany’s southern states have reportedly started confiscating refugees’ valuables in order to pay for their stay.

According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann the authorities would secure cash holdings and valuables, leaving every refugee with no more than 750 euros in his or her pocket, while Baden-Württemberg has implemented a stricter process — confiscating cash and valuables above 350 euros.

By confiscating refugees’ personal belongings, the states are implementing federal laws that require asylum seekers to use up their own resources before receiving state aid.

Jonas Christoffersen, expert on Danish and international human rights law and an Executive Director of Denmark’s National Human rights Institute, criticized Brussels’ way of handling the refugee crisis, noting that in order not to accept asylum seekers EU states try to make life harder for migrants.

“One of the government’s main objections to the international media coverage is that the government has been totally misunderstood. We had a government spokesman the other day on CNN saying that it would be outrageous to say that the Danish government authorities would ever take jewelry away from refugees but in fact the original proposal by the government was that all assets of value could be taken off of refugees if the amount was over 500 euros and that was the end of story.”

Christoffersen further said that some assets that were considered very personal such as wedding rings and watches would not be taken even if they have significant value.

“The government came under significant pressure and they had to change the bill. What they are saying now is that you cannot take any jewelry or any asset which has specific personal value to an individual even if it has a significant value, but any asset representing more than 1,500 euros in value can be taken.”

In reference to this law, the expert said that he finds it unnerving that the countries in Europe are in competition with each other to make the conditions for refugees worse and worse.

“If you see tightening of a rule in one country you see it happen in the other country as well. Now it seems that it has become a game of pushing the refugees from your country into another country. One way to do that is to make the conditions for refugees worse in your own country,” the expert told Sputnik.

Christoffersen further spoke about the legality of this move. He said that his organization is closely scrutinizing all the bills that are presented to parliament from strictly legal point of few.

“In reality the legal protection against such actions is rather weak in many cases. But of course it can also be seen as positive because it will grant a wide scope of maneuver. Depending on what you think of this politically, whether you would be happy that politicians have a wider scope for maneuverability or whether you feel sad that there is little legal protection of migrants,” the expert noted.

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

North Idahoans Defeat Progressive Mayor’s ‘Refugee’ Resolution

Last week, I published a piece detailing a conflict manifesting in my semi-rural community in North Idaho, with the understanding that our local issue is merely a microcosmic snapshot of analogous events taking place around much of the world, especially across the pond in Europe.

Ruthless globalists, war mongers, and political architects have systematically turned the Middle East and neighboring regions into the ultimate pit of despair, and like an ant colony smashed by a juvenile’s savage shoe, its inhabitants are pouring out in a historic mass exodus — all according to the overarching game plan. Indeed, the Western-backed Islamic State (ISIS) explicitlypromised to flood Europe with refugees and jihadists as part of their quest for worldwide domination. They weren’t just making empty threats.

Now, bleeding heart liberals and conniving progressives across the West have taken up the mantle to joyously welcome these ‘refugees’ to infiltrate our countries, cities, and villages, with little thought given to immediate safety and security issues, or the irreversible long-term cultural and financial ramifications of inviting colonization by non-assimilatory, Third World welfare dependents. They also don’t know (or care) that the majority of these ‘migrants’ are military-aged males, legions of whom are ready for war, rape, and pillaging.

In response to any and all who oppose this foolish moral preening, these same intellectual lightweights, in their collectivist frenzy to slough off any troublesome particles of rationality or self-preservation, are inclined to lean heavily on three all-purpose indictments from theirNewspeakian lexicon: Racism, Bigotry, and Intolerance. *YAWN*

At a recent city council meeting, on his first night in office, our duplicitous mayor, Shelby Rognstad, put forth a resolution welcoming ‘Syrian refugees’ to our small town — while simultaneously accusing many of his constituents of being Nazis, Ku Klux Klanners, or supporters of FDR’s Japanese internment during World War II.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Panic’ As Europe Faces Demise Over Refugees, Top Officials Say

Time is running out to solve Europe’s refugee crisis with the unity of the continent hanging in the balance, top officials at the elite World Economic Forum in Davos said Friday.

Discussions about the waves of refugees still making their way to Europe were on many people’s lips in the Swiss ski resort, with opinions ranging from calls for an ageing Europe to seize an opportunity to stark warnings of impending disaster.

“We have a few weeks to concretely deliver our options… otherwise you have country-by-country solutions (and that is) the beginning of the dismantling for sure,” Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, told an audience of billionaires and business leaders.

The incessant flow of now over one million refugees to Europe from war-torn Syria and Iraq has handed the EU yet another crisis, following last year’s debt battles with Greece and the face-off with Russia over Ukraine…

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

Refugee Crisis Endangers ‘Very Idea of Europe’ — French Prime Minister

The migrant crisis is putting the concept of the European Union, and specifically its core value of freedom of movement, at grave risk, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Valls, the refugee crisis “endangers even the European project,” while the Schengen area “may die.”

“We cannot…accept all the refugees…fleeing the terrible war in Iraq or Syria. Otherwise our societies will be totally destabilized,” Valls told the BBC broadcaster.

“If Europe is not capable of protecting its own borders, it’s the very idea of Europe that will be questioned…The concept of Europe that our founding fathers had, yes it is in very grave danger,” Valls said in the interview.

Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty.

EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.55 million illegal border crossings in 2015. The Schengen agreement on freedom of movement inside the block has been jeopardized, since a number of EU member states re-imposed border controls last year in a bid to stop the inflow of refugees.

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

Soros Funding Nonwhite Invasion — Hungarian Mayor

George Soros and his Open Society Foundations (OSF) are one of the groups actively funding illegal immigration into Europe, the famous Hungarian mayor of the town of Ásotthalom, László Toroczkai, has said.

Mayor Toroczkai made the claim during a press conference yesterday in Budapest in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Supreme Court of Hungary, where he had just handed in a series of criminal charges against several pro-invasion left-wing organizations in Hungary.

As reported by the Custodela news service—set up by the mayor and his supporters in a specially convened meeting in December 2015, the Hungarian Parliament’s National Security Committee has now been formally requested to look into how these pro-invasion organizations operate—and how they are funded.

“They also need to be banned from political activities in schools and public institutions,” Mayor Toroczkai said.

“The Hungarian public must get a clear picture of migration aid organizations operating illegally without the appropriate licenses,” he continued. “We have clear evidence now that illegal migration destabilizes the European Union, and that it is the result of an organized effort.”

The invasion, he said, is “supported, assisted, and organized by NGOs operating illegally in Hungary while receiving billions of HUF [Hungarian forints] from abroad.”

He also announced that he had pressed criminal charges in three particular cases against pro-invasion organizations, the details of which were uncovered by the local police of Ásotthalom.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Child Refugees Allowed Into the UK From Calais Arrive in London

Four Syrians have arrived in London after their lawyers used human rights legislation to argue they should be immediately taken out of the ‘intolerable’ conditions of ‘The Jungle’ in Calais.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

True Horror of Cologne Attacks Finally Revealed: Gang Rape Among Hundreds of Assaults

THE horrific extent of the wave of crimes commited by migrant sex attack gangs in Cologne has been laid bare in shocking new revelations.

The disgusting list of crimes reported in the German city run to a staggering 821 complaints, and range from sexual assaults to gang rape.

When including reported attacks from all of the major cities in the North Rhine-Westphalia state — including Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Bielefeld — the complaint figure is said to almost top 1,000.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: How Labour Turned London Into a Foreign City: Fewer Than Half the Capital’s Population Are White British, Gangsters From Somalia Terrorise the Suburbs and Even the Tramps Are Immigrants, Reveals Astonishing New Book

A young war correspondent, Judah examines his home city as the foreign metropolis it has now become

Since 2001, immigration has transformed the capital. More than half of Londoners are now not ethnically British.

As he says: ‘I was born in London, but I no longer recognise this city. I don’t know if I love the new London, or if it frightens me: a city where at least 55 per cent of people are not white British, nearly 40 per cent were born abroad and hundreds of thousands are living illegally, in the shadows.’

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

15 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/23/2016

  1. “George Soros no longer views Russia as an enemy of the EU”

    There’s the plan all along. EUSSR, much more literally than I would have expected. Obama’s role in this further supports the idea that he is a Manchurian candidate.

    Not sure if this means WWIII or just a communist revolution in the EU.

  2. “George Soros and his Open Society Foundations (OSF) are one of the groups actively funding illegal immigration into Europe, the famous Hungarian mayor of the town of Ásotthalom, László Toroczkai, has said”.

    George Soros has been in the news this week predicting the demise of the EU. The common thread of the diverse activist groups Soros financially supports is that they wish to bring chaos to Western nations. And as they happens old George will make a pretty penny.

  3. I have a beard. But I sure as heck did not grow it to appease a Muslim. Quite the opposite. The Vicar of London can pound salt. Whats his next visual appeasement? Burkas? Segregated worship? Take down the offending crosses? This man does not know what his own faith is worth.

      • I’m an Anglican priest (vicar, to use the English term) with a beard…which I’m now considering shaving off just to spite this nitwit. As Chirs has asked, what’s next? The vicar’s wife urged to don a burqa, for the greater comfort of the local imam’s wife? (Wives?) The vicar’s children told to forgo hot dogs to avoid insulting an imam’s children? Why not cut to the chase and ask vicars to convert and become imams? Heaven knows precious few of my colleagues actually believe the faith they vowed to teach and defend, so why not?

        This death of faith may be the death of Europe. As Hilaire Belloc wrote, “In Islam there has been no such dissolution of ancestral doctrine – or, at any rate, nothing corresponding to the universal break-up of religion in Europe. The whole spiritual strength of Islam is still present in the masses of Syria and Anatolia, of the East Asian mountains, of Arabia, Egypt and North Africa. The final fruit of this tenacity, the second period of Islamic power, may be delayed: but I doubt whether it can be permanently postponed.”

        Mention this among a gathering of Christian clergy, though, and you find yourself an outcast. The new orthodoxy overrides actual orthodoxy, and priests clamour to show who can be most inclusive of people who despise them. We once preached crusade, to take back the lands and holy sites that had been wrenched from Christendom. Now we shame one another into sponsoring “refugees” (looking down on anyone who suggests we give priority to the actually besieged Christians) and assiduously remove any talk of Jesus in our outreach lest we offend the Muslims coming to set up camp next door.

        I heard all of this somewhere before….oh, yes. “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

        Kyrie eleison
        Christe eleison
        Kyrie eleison

        Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

        • Vicar,

          Your best response to the blindness of some Bishops is to use your pulpit to preach there is absolute Truth. All faiths are not the same and Jesus himself warned the church of false prophets. If Islam opposes the key Christian doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God, then it is an enemy of Christ. Some Bishops need to decide just whose side the are on.

          • I hope I do just that. I suspect I’m mistrusted by my colleagues for banging on about Jesus so much, but my conscience cannot enter the thicket of relativism that seems rampant in our diocese. There are a few of us curmudgeons, but among them I suspect I’m the only one who sees the migration crisis as a threat. Even the staunchest of my circle look at the invading army and see only a drowned toddler. The innocence and harmlessness of the migrants are assumed, like gravity, death and taxes. No amount of contrary evidence seems to penetrate.

  4. Al-Sarqawi’s description of Al-Qaida strategy and

    timeline.

    • Phase one is the “awakening” in the

    consciousness of Muslims worldwide following

    the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks to the

    fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks

    was multifaceted. First and foremost the attacks

    were designed to provoke the US into declaring

    war on the Islamic world in order to “awaken”

    Muslims everywhere. The radical Salafist jihadi

    message would reverberate across the globe

    creating the conditions for mobilising a new

    generation of radicals.

    • Phase two is known as “Opening Eyes”, which

    began in the autumn 2003 and lasting until 2006.

    The underlying aim is for the terrorists to make

    the “Western conspiracy” aware of the “Islamic

    community” and where al-Qaeda transforms from

    an organisation to a movement. Iraq constitutes

    the epicentre for the jihad and for global

    operations while it continues to mould secret

    battalions ready for battle and bases across the

    Arab world.

    • Phase three, “Arising and Standing Up”, should

    last from 2007 to 2010, with a focus on attacks

    against Turkey and the arch-enemy Israel and

    neighbouring Jordan. The focus on attacking

    Israel is designed to increase the legitimacy of

    the movement. It is also believed there will be a

    focus on Syria.

    • Phase four, lasting between 2010 and 2013, will

    see the downfall and even collapse of hated,

    corrupt and ‘godless’ Arab regimes. The

    weakening of these Arab regimes will only

    strengthen the support for the movement. A

    primary focus will be on attacking oil suppliers

    and the US economy will be targeted using cyber

    terrorism.

    • Phase five will be the point at which an Islamic

    state, or caliphate, can be declared – between

    2013 and 2016. This will become possible as

    Western influence in the region is significantly

    reduced with Israel weakened. The Salafist jihadi

    resistance will not be feared anymore and the

    new situation is the beginning of a new world

    order.

    • Phase six, from 2016 on, will be a period of

    “total confrontation”. As soon as the caliphate

    has been declared, the “Islamic army” will

    instigate the “fight between the believers and the

    non-believers” which has been often prophesised

    by al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin-Laden.

    • Phase seven, the final stage, is described as

    “definitive victory” because the rest of the world

    is worn down by and cannot resist the will of

    one-and-a-half billion Muslims.

  5. KashmirObserver: Morocco conference to focus on non-Muslim rights
    Morocco is to host a first conference in Islamic history championing the rights of religious minorities living within Muslim-majority territories.

    The World Conference on Religious Minorities is scheduled to take place in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, from January 25 to 27, according to the Morocco World News website.

    The event is expected to attract around 300 Muslim personalities from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and the host country itself; religious authorities from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and other non-Muslim religious communities will also be present.

    Iranian Shia cleric and scholar Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad will be participating at the conference.

    The conference aims to release its first declaration, laying emphasis on the rights of non-Muslims inside Muslim lands since the Constitution of Medina.
    Also known as the Charter of Medina, the document was drafted by the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in 622 CE and is hailed as the world’s first written constitution as well as the first Muslim constitution.

    The charter stipulates that non-Muslim members of the community should be entitled to the same political and cultural rights as those of Muslims.

  6. Common scenario:
    Dieter (19)and Heike (19) from Dortmund are on the beach near Nice, let’s ay summer of 1985.
    Along comes the Tunisian ice cream and soda vendor, small cooler on his shoulder.
    (‘Glaces! Boissons fraîches!’)
    He squats down beside Heike (completely ignoring Dieter) and starts hitting on her in no uncertain terms.
    Heike feels flattered (Let’s You And Him Fight Over Me), how exotic & exciting!
    Dieter tries to intervene, Mr. Tunisia still ignores him, Heike is getting annoyed.
    Seeing no other alternative (despite lifelong conditioning having taught him that Violence Is Never The Answer), Dieter tries to shove Mr. Tunisia away.
    Heike now turns on Dieter, calling him a racist, sexist, lame pig, just as stuffy as their parents, wraps up her stuff and follows Mr. Tunisia down the beach.
    Attempts by Dieter to follow them are met with more screaming from Heike and smirks from Mr. Tunisia.
    When Heike returns to their bunks at the youth hostel a day later, Dieter asks what happened.
    She tells him it’s none of his business, because she’s a strong independent modern woman.

    Perhaps the German guys who are complicit in covering up the sheer number of ‘southern’ sex attacks had something like this happen to them a few times too often.

  7. ” … Muslims, who are now the dominant religious group in London.”

    And that’s the first problem. Islam is not a religion but a political ideology. A simple reinterpreting of definition will solve many of the world’s ills. Redefining Islam as a war-like agenda should be up to each nation and not Brussels.

    I saw a local elected elitist driving slowly down a main thoroughfare waving to her admiring fans. Egomania at its finest.

    • Islam is imperialism
      Islam is a conquering totalitarian political ideology

      The lefties used to be against imperialism, but when it is islam that is the imperialist, then, all of a sudden, it seems fine with the lefties.

  8. Well well, so the Bishop of London is the latest to grovel on his knees to the ‘super race’ moslems; surprise, surprise…….

    BTW, is it OK now to just refer to the country now as just ‘Britain?’ After all, it’s hardly ‘Great’ any more.

  9. Polygami is rewarded
    Courtesy the dhimmi taxpayers

    “Men with more than one wife will qualify for extra benefits under the new welfare system, according to official House of Commons research.

    Under the universal credit welfare system, which is not expected to be fully introduced until 2021, polygamous households will be rewarded with higher benefits, The Sunday Times reports.

    In the UK, it is illegal to marry more than one person.”

  10. “In other news, the Bishop of London recommends that vicars grow beards in order to demonstrate their holiness to Muslims, who are now the dominant religious group in London.”

    Perhaps the Bishop of London hasn’t noticed that the bearded priests of the Assyrian and Chaldean churches have not been extended any respect from Islamic State muslims, in fact a few have lost their heads.

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