Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/9/2016

A “water man” at a Pakistani high school has been fired after it was discovered that he was a Christian. His job was to bring water to students, who are Muslims, and his religious affiliation was seen as making the water unclean.

In other news, bomb threats have been made against eight Jewish schools in various parts of the UK.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Nick, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

Financial Crisis
» $365,694,500,000: U.S. Merchandise Trade Deficit With China Hit Record in 2015
» Economic Collapse? ‘US Debt Will Reach $30 Trillion in a Decade’
» Goldman Eyes Cost Cuts: CEO
» Negative Interest Rates Destroying World Economy: “Doom-and-Gloom Outlook for Banks in Europe”
» Padoan Says Italy Turning Corner on Debt
 
USA
» As Obama Plots Ban, Court Upholds “Fundamental Right to Assault Weapons”
» NASA Releases Stunning 360-Degree Mars Video
» Obama Sends Congress Record $4.1 Trillion 2017 Spending Plan
» Sanders Closing Clinton’s National Polling Lead, As NH Votes
» Studying the Solar System With NASA’s Webb Telescope
» The Manic Drive to Return Land to Nature While Destroying Agriculture
» Why Expat Americans Are Giving up Their Passports
» Why the War on Cars is a War on You
» Widow of High-Ranking ‘Islamic State’ Minister Charged in Death of Aid Worker
 
Canada
» Liberals Plan to Build Refugee Camps on Seven Canadian Military Bases Taxpayers Will Fund Mosques, Korans
 
Europe and the EU
» Austria: Vienna Man on Trial for Jihadist Activities
» Bomb Threats Made Against Eight Jewish Schools Across UK
» Carnival Float Makers Under Investigation in Germany for Racist Symbols
» Copenhagen Sees Big Rise in Radicalized Residents
» Ex-French Army Commander Faces Jail Over Anti-Islam Rally
» Finnish Terrorism Suspect Aimed to Join Islamic State in Syria
» France: ISIS Makes Far-Right National Front Demos Its ‘Prime Target’
» Francis Broke My Heart, Says Abuse Victim Sidelined by Vatican
» German Police Investigate ‘Shariah Police’ Carnival Float
» Italy: Tronca to Provide New Documentation on Rock-Bottom Rentals
» Italy: Rome Mayor ‘First Step’ Towards Felling Govt — Grillo
» Italy: Banco Popolare Reports Net Profit of 430mn
» Italy: 7 Yr 3 Mths Asked for Ligresti in Fonsai Case
» Mosques Tackle Home-Grown Terror With Italian Sermons
» Netherlands: Family of Pim Fortuyn Want Independent Review of Killer’s Release
» Netherlands: Geert Wilders is a Threat to Democracy, Says Labour Chairman
» Poland: In 2016: Industrial Production Up 5.4%
» Pope Says He Angered Merkel With Comments on Europe
» Terror Fears Secure Profit for Sweden’s Securitas
» UK: George Osborne’s Psychiatrist Brother ‘Begged Mistress Not to Report Him’ For the Sake of His Family
» UK: Jeremy Corbyn Fails to Apologise for Links to Hamas and Hezbollah in First Meeting With Jewish Leaders
» UK: Psychiatrist Adam Osborne ‘Begged Lover’s Silence’
 
North Africa
» ‘Mickey Mouse and Coca-Cola Revolution’: The Roots of Libya’s Chaos
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Agreement Fatah-Hamas for New Unity Cabinet
» Elbit Systems Introduces Seagull
» Israeli Defense Company Unveils Robot Warship
» Israel Unveils Unmanned Naval Vessel “Seagull”
 
Middle East
» EU Funded Programme to Teach Syrian, Jordanians Labour Skills
» Iraq: Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad: Christian Properties Targeted by Criminals, Government and Police Weak
» Italy: FS: Iran’s RAI in High-Speed Rail Deal
» Russian Air Strikes in Syria ‘Good Thing’: Del Ponte
» Syrian Army Scores Strategic Victories on All Fronts
» Turkish President Scoffs at the Idea of a ‘Right to Smoke’
» World War III Starts in the Middle East? Saudi Arabia and Turkey Consider a Ground Invasion of Syria
 
South Asia
» Indian Scientists to Verify Tamil Nadu Meteorite Death Claim
» Pakistan: A ‘Water Man’ Discriminated in High School Because He is Christian and Should Not Give Water to Students
» Viewpoint: Will 2016 be a Turning Point for Free Speech in India?
 
Far East
» Bangladesh Show Covers Up Tibetan Art After China Complains
» China Needs More Teachers — But They Have to be Men
» Japan and the Whale
» North Korea Nuclear: Plutonium Reactor ‘Restarted’
» North Korean Satellite Reportedly ‘Tumbling in Orbit, ‘ Making it Useless
» United Nations Hold Emergency Security Meeting: Is North Korean Satellite Orbiting Over USA Equipped With Emp Weapons System?
 
Immigration
» 6,000 Invader “Incidents” Per Day
» Austria: Asylum Seekers Given Priority for Hospital Visits
» Austrian Minister: Spielfeld Model for Brenner Pass
» Erdogan Blackmailed EU for 30 Billion Eurosn Over Migrant Crisis Plan
» Geert Wilders: Stopping Islamic Immigration is a Matter of Survival
» Germans Rush for Weapons Licences Amid Public Anxiety
» Hungary vs.Greece, In the South We Are Defenseless
» IOM Says 409 Migrants Have Died in Mediterranean in 2016
» Italy: Sala Blasts ‘Racist’ Comments After PD Primary
» Migrants: Schengen: 28 OK on 3-Month Greece Ultimatum
» Norway ‘Lost’ 661 Asylum Seekers in January Alone
» Norwegian Police Chief Warns Mass Immigration Threatens Civil Unrest
» Orban-Szydlo: Schengen Southern Borders Should be Closed
» Out of Reach: 40% of Migrants Have No Chance of Obtaining Asylum in EU
» Smugglers in Izmir, Turkey, Stay Busy Through Winter
» Sweden: ‘Migrant Attack’ Plot Leads to 14 Arrests
» Tank Float: German Prosecutors Investigate
» The Macedonian Village That Has Become a People-Smuggling Hub
» The Netherlands Announces Tigher Border Controls to Stem Migrant Flow
» Turkey’s Erdogan Threatened to Flood Europe With Migrants: Greek Website
» Turkey and Germany Pledge to Unite in More ‘Joint Efforts’ In Refugee Crisis
» Turkish Official Lambastes EU on Migrant Demands
» Two Dutchmen on Trial for Trying to Smuggle 24 People to England in Tiny Boat
 
Culture Wars
» NASA Bans the Word ‘Jesus’
 

$365,694,500,000: U.S. Merchandise Trade Deficit With China Hit Record in 2015

(CNSNews.com) — The merchandise trade deficit that the United States ran with China in 2015 hit a record high of $365,694,000,000, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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

Economic Collapse? ‘US Debt Will Reach $30 Trillion in a Decade’

For the first time in history the US national debt has exceeded 19 trillion dollars. That’s more than 58 thousand dollars per person living in the US — including children.

According to the President of American Action Forum think-tank, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the US is likely to face an even more negative economic outlook in the future.

“The debts will rise from something that was manageable […] to well over 30 trillion dollars in the next ten years,” the analyst said in an exclusive interview with Radio Sputnik.

Thus, the US debt will almost double, surging from the current 19 trillion dollars to 30 trillion dollars. Such a tendency may have disastrous consequences for the US economy. Moreover, the current state of affairs causes frustration in the American public and requires urgent measures of the US government.

“We have a fundamental mismatch between the promises the federal government has made to especially elder Americans,” including health care and other social programs, Holtz-Eakin said. “We have a big explosion in spending. And revenues aren’t matching,” the analyst added.

The Republican Party earlier accused US President Barack Obama and the US Treasury of misleading the Congress about the national debt limit. According to a congressional probe, conducted by the Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee, the Obama administration considered prioritizing debt payments if the nation hit its borrowing cap.

According to the expert, the US government is lacking political will to fix its debt problem. Unless fundamental changes are made to the taxes spending programs, the financial situation in the country will only worsen in the next decade.

“I think it is a terrifying scenario for the United States. It is incredibly unwise to have a situation where you are essentially borrowing simply to pay interest on previous borrowing,” the analyst argued.

In Holtz-Eakin’s opinion, one of the fundamental problems is the low growth rate of the US economy which is 2% percent over the long term.

“It really is a situation when regardless of what you are — Republican or Democrat — something better has to be done,” the expert said. “Unless some changes are made, the US is not going to end well,” he concluded.

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

Goldman Eyes Cost Cuts: CEO

US banking giant Goldman Sachs is weighing cost cuts to deal with a slowing global economy, its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said Tuesday.

A person with knowledge of the situation said Goldman intends to slash at least five percent of its total workforce this year.

Speaking a day after Goldman shares plunged 4.6 percent amid rising market worries over credit quality in banks, Blankfein said that the bank can “absolutely do a lot more on the cost side if we have to.”

“We take a particular and energetic look at continued cost cuts when revenues are stalled…. Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said at a Credit Suisse financial services forum in Miami…

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

Negative Interest Rates Destroying World Economy: “Doom-and-Gloom Outlook for Banks in Europe”

Trying to simply hold onto the standard that you’ve got has become a new normal for financial challenges.

Equity erodes away when interest rates go negative then everything starts to sour.

China’s economy and stock market are effectively in the toilet, or poised to further collapse the next time anything big happens in Europe or the United States, and perhaps any part of the world.

The U.S. stock market has become jumpy and prone to collapse as well, and all major markets are now global, and trip up anytime the string tied around their ankle is yanked from across the ocean. And collapsing oil prices are adding huge pressures to everything.

Now Europe banks are at the brink. Will it be enough to set off the major crisis everyone has been warning about?…

Negative interest rates, a result of the overkill of quantitative easing at the Federal Reserve, is plenty enough rope for all involved to hang themselves. The desperate and poor will fall as a result of borrowing too much on easy credit, and the richer and better off will fall as a result of declining returns and falling standards for income.

Banks and businesses are now seeing no return at all for investment in some cases, and a devastating decline in income security for pensioners and savers. Zero interest rates have caused severe damage.

Things are severely distorted.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Padoan Says Italy Turning Corner on Debt

Minister predicts skepticism of markets will end

(ANSA) — New York, February 9 — Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said Italy is turning the corner on its massive public debt of over two trillion euros, which is forecast to start coming down this year. “This will mark a turning point for the country and change the skepticism that the markets have regarding the Bel Paese,” Padoan said in an interview with Bloomberg. The minister was commenting amid turmoil on the money markets, which saw the spread between Italy’s 10-year BTP State bond and the German equivalent rise sharply on Monday. Italy’s high debt of over 132% of GDP was the reason the country risked a Greek-style financial meltdown at the height of the eurozone crisis in 2011, when the Italian spread hit peaks of over 500 points.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

As Obama Plots Ban, Court Upholds “Fundamental Right to Assault Weapons”

The gun control crowd love clouding the issue about personal firearms and misconstruing the idea that so-called “ assault weapons” are too dangerous and too deadly for the American people to own.

They won, for a time, during the Clinton years. And now, they are pressuring Obama to once again use his executive action approach to put the 2nd Amendment in a restraining jacket.

But for now, the courts are pushing back. A Federal appeals court upheld the right to own guns like the AR-15 — celebrated and infamously portrayed as a “ military-style” weapon despite being no deadlier than other firearms — challenging a Maryland assault weapons ban.

In fact, it will be very difficult for the gun control lobby to accept defeat, and freedom lovers should expect a fight.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NASA Releases Stunning 360-Degree Mars Video

Want to know what life is like on Mars? NASA has released an incredible 360-degree video that lets you scroll around the red planet’s surface.

The video, which was taken by a camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover, was posted to YouTube Monday by the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Sends Congress Record $4.1 Trillion 2017 Spending Plan

President Obama sent Congress on Tuesday his eighth and final budget, proposing to spend a record $4.1 trillion on a number of initiatives. They include launching a new war on cancer, combating global warming and fighting growing threats from ISIS terrorists.

The new spending plan, for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 — just 3 1/2 months before he leaves office — is facing heavy fire from Republicans who hope to capture the White House. The proposal had dim prospects of winning approval in a Republican-controlled Congress.

In all, Obama’s budget would increase taxes by $2.6 trillion over the coming decade, nearly double the $1.4 trillion in new taxes Obama sought and failed to achieve in last year’s budget.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sanders Closing Clinton’s National Polling Lead, As NH Votes

If polls are to be believed, Hillary Clinton’s once commanding national lead over Bernie Sanders appears to have evaporated in a matter of days — pointing to trouble ahead for the former secretary of state as voters cast their ballots Tuesday in Sanders-friendly New Hampshire.

Two recent national polls show Sanders closing the gap against Clinton.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Clinton leading Sanders 48-45 percent.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Studying the Solar System With NASA’s Webb Telescope

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will look across vast distances to find the earliest stars and galaxies and study the atmospheres of mysterious worlds orbiting other stars. But the observatory also will investigate objects in Earth’s own neighborhood — planets, moons, comets and asteroids in our solar system.

These studies will help scientists understand more about the formation of the solar system and how Earth became capable of supporting life.

“The James Webb Space Telescope will be an innovative tool for studying objects in the solar system and can help take planetary science to a new level,” said Stefanie Milam, the Webb telescope’s deputy project scientist for planetary science at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Manic Drive to Return Land to Nature While Destroying Agriculture

Since 1992, war on agriculture and food production in the United States has been under fierce attack, but the greatest heat has been felt in the West.

Ranchers have had their long-existing grazing and water rights methodically stripped away on Federal land. Farmers have been relentlessly sued by environmental groups and over-regulated by the government.

The so-called Sagebrush Rebellion was just gaining momentum when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1979. As a Westerner, even Reagan counted himself part of the Rebellion.

At the heart of the early stages of the Sagebrush Rebellion was the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In the 35 years since 1979, the USFS and BLM have steadily advanced like a Sherman tank, treading over any who would resist and destroying any who would actually attack.

An ignorant and apathetic public never came to the aid of their beleaguered brethren, leaving them to crushing machine of the Federal government. This could change shortly, because the recent Bundy (Nevada) and Hammond (Oregon) confrontations have raised public awareness of the resurgent Sagebrush Rebellion.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why Expat Americans Are Giving up Their Passports

According to the US Treasury, a record 4,279 individuals renounced their US citizenship or long-term residency in 2015 — an increase of 20% on the previous year, which was itself a record-breaking year. In 2010, just 1,006 gave up being US citizens, but since then the numbers have risen every year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why the War on Cars is a War on You

By controlling how you travel, politicians gain more control over you

A just-released poll of Los Angeles residents found that 55 percent of respondents indicated their greatest concern was “traffic and congestion,” far ahead of “personal safety” — the next highest area of concern — at 35 percent.

So if their city government was working in their best interests, it would be doing something about automobile congestion.

It is. Unfortunately, it will make things worse.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Widow of High-Ranking ‘Islamic State’ Minister Charged in Death of Aid Worker

A court in Virginia charged the wife of a dead ‘Islamic State’ leader with conspiracy in the death of American Kayla Mueller. She was killed a year ago while being held hostage in Syria.

Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, also known as Umm Sayyaf, admitted to FBI agents last year that “IS” head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “owned” Mueller during her captivity at Sayyaf’s residence.

The 25-year-old told them that “owning” the aid worker was equivalent to enslaving her, according to the complaint.

Officials said Mueller was repeatedly forced to have sex with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the jihadist group.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Liberals Plan to Build Refugee Camps on Seven Canadian Military Bases Taxpayers Will Fund Mosques, Korans

Included in the Department of National Defence budgets are hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for “religious support.”

The Canadian military has been ordered by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to draft plans to house more than 6,000 Muslim migrants on a long-term basis at military bases, according to documents obtained exclusively by The Rebel (see video below.)

Included in the Department of National Defence budgets are hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for “religious support,” including the purchase of Muslim Korans, prayer mats and foot-washing towels.

The plans also call for the construction of mosques or “worship centres,” using taxpayers dollars.

The planning documents, in English and French, were released in response to a Rebel “Access to Information” request about religious expenditures by the Department of National Defence.

But the detailed Quebec budget plans also shed light on the sheer scale of the Trudeau government’s plans to set up refugee camp-style accommodations on seven Canadian Forces Bases across Quebec and Ontario.

The budget for Quebec alone totals more than $46 million for the first six months.

For a typical migrant family, that’s a $200,000/year subsidy — not including medicare or welfare.

It’s shocking that Canadian Armed Forces personnel will be ordered to abandon the coalition battle against ISIS and return to Canada to become waiters, chauffeurs and social workers for Muslim migrants, and that Canadian Forces Bases will be turned into squalid refugee camps.

It’s a disgrace that Canadian military personnel have been sent eviction notices to make way for foreign migrants.

But for the DND’s budget to be diverted away from military purposes and towards buying Korans and building mosques for foreign migrants, is especially outrageous.

[Comment: Will they also be able to use the military facilities to train? /sarc ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Vienna Man on Trial for Jihadist Activities

A 25-year-old suspected jihadist is appearing in court in Vienna on Monday, accused of having fought for an al-Qaeda affiliated group and taking part in weapons and religious training.

If the man, a native Chechen, is found guilty he faces between one and ten years in prison. A 17-year-old girl is also standing trial. She is married to the man under Islamic law and was planning to travel with him to Syria in Spring last year. She faces up to five years in jail, for membership of a terrorist organization.

The 25-year-old, who came to Austria with his family when he was two-and-a-half years old, is believed to have fought with Islamic militants in the Pakistani-Afghan border region between October 2011 and August 2013.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bomb Threats Made Against Eight Jewish Schools Across UK

At least eight Jewish schools across the UK received bomb threats on Monday, according to theCommunity Security Trust. The threats are the latest in a series of similar such warnings that have marked the resumption of the school year.

A recorded message, with a voice threatening that the school in question will be bombed, while Arabic or Islamic music was heard in the background, was the means chosen to deliver the threat.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Carnival Float Makers Under Investigation in Germany for Racist Symbols

Two parade float organizers are being probed by authorities for allegedly inciting hatred against refugees. One included the words “the plague is coming,” referencing the refugee crisis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Copenhagen Sees Big Rise in Radicalized Residents

The City of Copenhagen received 100 reports of potentially radicalized residents in 2015, a 66 percent increase over the year before.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ex-French Army Commander Faces Jail Over Anti-Islam Rally

General Christian Piquemal, who led the French Foreign Legion from 1994 to 1999, was arrested at the weekend after participating in a banned anti-Islam rally in Calais.

The rally saw around 150 protesters gather in central Calais carrying signs such as “This is our home,” waving the French flag and singing the French national anthem.

Among them was 75-year-old Piquemal, who was leading the march, and who was one of the dozen or so arrested.

He was due to go on trial on Monday, but it had to be postponed after he fell ill and ended up in hospital.

The former general was charged with “taking part in a gathering which did not disperse after warning”.

Piquemal had reportedly told protesters that he wanted “to prevent the decline of my country”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Finnish Terrorism Suspect Aimed to Join Islamic State in Syria

A Finnish citizen arrested in London on suspicion of engaging in terrorism was trying to go to Syria to join the extreme terrorist group Islamic State, according to local police. The 19 year-old was arrested at London’s Stansted Airport on Friday and appeared in court Monday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: ISIS Makes Far-Right National Front Demos Its ‘Prime Target’

Isis took to the pages of its francophone propaganda magazine Dar al Islam to declare that demos by the National Front were now “the prime target”.

The latest issue of Dar al Islam comes with a picture of a National Front march, together with the text: “The prime targets”.

“The question isn’t whether France will get attacked again, it’s how they will be attacked and when,” the magazine said, according to the Metro newspaper.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Francis Broke My Heart, Says Abuse Victim Sidelined by Vatican

A British paedophilia survivor who has been asked to step down from a Vatican panel on the issue told AFP on Monday that he felt betrayed by Pope Francis.

“Of course Pope Francis has established he is part of the problem,” Peter Saunders said in an interview with AFPTV, during which he insisted he had not resigned and that only the pontiff himself could force him to quit the Vatican commission.

ADVERTISING”That breaks my heart because when I met him 18 months ago I thought there was a sincerity and a willingness to make things happen, and I am afraid that has been dashed now.”…

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

German Police Investigate ‘Shariah Police’ Carnival Float

Following allegations of racism over an asylum seeker Panzer tank carnival float in Germany, police in Austria are now investigating a similar accusation over a Shariah police carnival float.

The purple-coloured vehicle was one of 30 floats in the carnival procession in the Lower Austrian municipality of Maissau and was covered with slogans described as racist.

These included a sign saying ‘Shariah Police’ as well as a spoof ‘Red Bull Gives You Wings’ slogan — which had been adapted to ‘Islam Gives You Wings’. The number plate had ‘Asylum 88’ on it — the number 88 is often used as a code by neo-Nazis for ‘Heil Hitler’.

Inside was a figure of the Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Tronca to Provide New Documentation on Rock-Bottom Rentals

Prosecutors could press for fraud, abuse of office

(ANSA) — Rome, February 8 — Rome extraordinary commissioner Francesco Paolo Tronca is to turn new documents over to prosecutors in relation to the rental of city-owned properties at rock-bottom prices, judicial sources said Monday. The documents should pertain to a new front in the investigations, the sources added.

The magistrates will evaluate the situation outlined by two task forces appointed by Tronca to “get to the bottom” of the latest scandal involving the city administration and try to establish whether prestigious properties were assigned to people who were not destitute. Should this be the case, prosecutors could consider pressing charges for fraud against the state for the tenant and abuse of office for the city officials who assigned the accommodation.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Rome Mayor ‘First Step’ Towards Felling Govt — Grillo

‘We’ll start in Rome’ says M5S leader

(ANSA) — Rome, February 8 — Winning the Rome mayoral race in June will be the “first step” towards bringing down Matteo Renzi’s government, anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo said Monday. “We’ll start in Rome, to make it a world city again after the disasters of Rutelli, Veltroni, Alemanno and Marino,” he said. “It will only be the first step, towards also definitively pulling down the government of this country,” Grillo said on his blog. “The truth is that no one had veer before drawn up a programme of solutions for the capital together with citizens, never before had anyone put the interests of the Romans before those of parties, as we M5S are doing. This challenge will be decisive for the future of Rome and the whole country”. The M5S are currently topping polls for the mid-June mayoral race, though they have yet to name a candidate.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Banco Popolare Reports Net Profit of 430mn

Cut toxic loans to 14.1bn in FY2015

(ANSA) — Milan, February 9 — Banco Popolare bank closed out the 2015 financial year with net profits of 430 million euros and proposed dividends of 15 eurocents a share, the Verona-based bank said Tuesday. The lender also reported it cut its non-performing loans by 200 million euros in the past year, to 14.1 billion euros.

Banco Popolare shares closed -8% in today’s trading. The cooperative bank is reportedly in talks with Banco Popolare di Milano (BPM) for a possible merger that would create Italy’s third-largest lender after Intesa and UniCredit, worth 172 billion euros and with 2,484 branches.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: 7 Yr 3 Mths Asked for Ligresti in Fonsai Case

And daughter Jonella

(ANSA) — Rome, February 9 — A prosecutor on Tuesday asked for a sentence of seven years and three months plus a 2-million-euro fine for veteran financier Salvatore Ligresti and his daughter Jonella for fraud in the Fonsai insurance group.

The prosecutor also asked sic years and eight months for former CEO Fausto Marchionni, six years and two months for vice president Antonio Talarico, and three years and six months for auditor Riccardo Ottaviano. The prosecutor said the case was “of exceptional gravity”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Mosques Tackle Home-Grown Terror With Italian Sermons

A landmark agreement that will ensure Italian is spoken in Florence mosques was signed on Monday.

The ruling, signed by the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, and the Izzedine Elzir, president of the Italian-Islamic Community, Uccoi, will push all Florence imams to deliver sermons In Italian during the most important weekly meeting in the Muslim church — the Friday prayer of Jummah.

It will also ensure that passages from the Koran are read out in Italian, not Arabic. It is hoped the milestone initiative will be rolled out across other Italian cities soon.

“It’s about underscoring our citizenship. We are all Italian citizens and what unites us is our language and our culture,” Elzir, also imam of Florence, told The Local.

“You have to remember that around 40 percent of Italian Muslims don’t even speak Arabic, so there can be confusion during sermons if they are in Arabic.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Family of Pim Fortuyn Want Independent Review of Killer’s Release

The family of murdered politician Pim Fortuyn have called for his killer to be sent back to court for allegedly breaching the terms of his release. Volkert van der Graaf was freed in May 2014 under strict conditions, having served two-thirds of an 18-year sentence. Fortuyn was shot dead in a car park in Hilversum as he left a recording studio, nine days before the 2002 general election. Representatives of Fortuyn’s family told the Volkskrant they disputed the contents of a letter to parliament by justice minister Ard van der Steur, which stated that Van der Graaf had fully complied with the official requirements for the last two years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Geert Wilders is a Threat to Democracy, Says Labour Chairman

Anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders poses a threat to democracy and the rule of law, Labour party chairman Hans Spekman says in an interview with Tuesday’s NRC. Wilders has ‘let the genie out of the bottle’ with his calls for ‘resistance’ to the establishment of refugee centres and warnings that his supporters will ‘revolt’ if the PVV is not part of the next government, Spekman said. ‘I do not believe that Wilders wants there to be violence in his name, but the comment about a revolt is a very stupid, incomprehensible statement,’ Spekman told the NRC.

Wilders responded to Spekman later on Tuesday by accusing the Labour party chairman of demonising him. ‘If the bullet comes from the left, it will have the letters PvdA on it,’ Wilders told BNR radio.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Poland: In 2016: Industrial Production Up 5.4%

It will be stable in 2017

(ANSA) — ROME — In 2016 industrial production in Poland will record an increase by 5.4%, according to forecasts made by Focus Economics. A stable level, around 5.3%, is expected by 2017.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Says He Angered Merkel With Comments on Europe

Pope Francis has revealed that he received an angry phone call from German Chancellor Angela Merkel after he compared Europe to a “barren woman”, in an interview published Monday.

In a speech to the European Parliament in November 2014, Pope Francis delivered a withering attack on a “haggard” Europe which he said is “now a ‘grandmother’, no longer fertile and vibrant.”

In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera, Francis said he had received an angry phone call from Merkel afterwards.

“She was a bit angry because I had compared Europe to a barren woman, incapable of producing children,” Francis said…

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

Terror Fears Secure Profit for Sweden’s Securitas

Sweden’s Securitas, the European leader in security services, has reported a sharp rise in profits for 2015 amid an increased threat of terrorism and the continent’s refugee crisis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: George Osborne’s Psychiatrist Brother ‘Begged Mistress Not to Report Him’ For the Sake of His Family

The Chancellor’s brother pleaded with the vulnerable patient not to report him to a medical watchdog after he ended their affair, a tribunal has heard.

George Osborne’s psychiatrist brother begged his mistress not to report him just days after she tried to take her own life after he ended the relationship — telling her it would “destroy” his family in public, a disciplinary panel has heard.

Dr Adam Osborne, who is five years younger than his brother and was married at the time of the “inappropriate” emotional and sexual relationship, embarked on the two year-affair with his patient, who he had been treating for depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue.

But after he ended the relationship in February last year, he began making threats towards the woman if she did not retract the complaint she had made to the General Medical Council (GMC).

Dr Osborne was not present at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in Manchester where the tribunal was told he had “blamed” his patient and saw himself as the “victim”.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jeremy Corbyn Fails to Apologise for Links to Hamas and Hezbollah in First Meeting With Jewish Leaders

Labour leader’s meeting with Board of Deputies hailed as ‘beginning of a conversation’ but no regret expressed for controversial links

Jeremy Corbyn has failed to apologise for past links to Hamas and Hezbollah in his first meeting with Jewish community representatives since becoming Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn’s meeting with the Board of Deputies on Tuesday was hailed as the “beginning of a conversation” and led to shared pledges to tackle anti-Semitism in Britain.

However it is understood the Labour leader fell short of expressing regret over previous links with controversial “extremist” figures despite being pressed to behind closed doors.

It triggered a mixed response from Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies, who welcomed commitments for a two-state solution but criticised the lack of remorse over past links.

Mr Arkush said: “Despite being pressed, he should do more to address profound and real concerns about past meetings with people or organisations with extremist or anti-Semitic views.”

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Psychiatrist Adam Osborne ‘Begged Lover’s Silence’

A psychiatrist begged a vulnerable patient not to report him to a medical watchdog after he ended their affair, a tribunal has heard.

Dr Adam Osborne, who was married at the time, told her exposing the two-year affair would “destroy” his family, a disciplinary panel was told.

He made threats towards the woman, asking her to retract her complaint to the General Medical Council (GMC).

Dr Osborne, brother of Chancellor George Osborne, was not at the hearing.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

‘Mickey Mouse and Coca-Cola Revolution’: The Roots of Libya’s Chaos

As Libya votes to form a national unity government, activist Sukant Chandan speaks to Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear about how the NATO bombing — and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton — have plunged the country into chaos.

“The West needs a unity government on paper in order to justify its next phase of military intervention, which it wants to do under the guise and the excuse of Daesh in Libya,” Chandan tells Loud & Clear host Brian Becker, referring to Monday’s election.

“And indeed, Daesh in Libya are a primary, so-called ‘rebel faction’ that the leading NATO powers teamed up with.”

Both the NATO bombing and the subsequent support for terrorist groups were used to overthrow former leader Muammar Gaddafi, who had become a threat to Western governments.

“Gaddafi was too radical because he was directly assisting for many decades and continuing a new phase of support to black and Asian people in Europe, and other radical movements,” Chandan states. “He had to be cut off, so said imperialism, and that’s what they did.”

Without the aid of NATO airstrikes, Libya’s government would have held onto power. It was only with the direct intervention of the West that rebel forces were able to overthrow Gaddafi, violently dragging his body through the street — a sight US presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton joked about on live television.

“Hillary Clinton is the most hawkish, and frankly…[the joking] betrays her totally sociopathic side to her,” Chandan says, adding that, “It was Hillary Clinton who ensured that the death squads in Libya have a leading role to play in the junta in Tripoli.”

While the mainstream media portrayed Libyans as suffering under Gaddafi, that depiction was far from the truth.

“The Libyan people — and I’ve visited many working class areas and housing projects, etc. — they lived very well,” he says. “It’s well known that the United Nations said Libya had the highest development index of any African country, and I think probably people in Libya had the best living standards of arguably any people of the Global South.”

Based on his own personal experience, Chandan describes the uprising as a, “Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola revolution.”

“I had a brief conversation with a pro-rebel, a young Libyan man on one of my flights to Tunisia,” he says. “I said…what do you concretely want to happen in Libya? He said, ‘Brother, you know every Libyan has a Japanese car. We want a Mercedes or a BMW.’“

In many ways, Gaddafi’s Libya offered a better standard of living than the United States.

“There was labor dignity amongst the working class. There was a massive housing project,” Chandan states. “On issues of education, education was free. Not only was Libya the shield of Africa, it was the star of Africa, in the sense that Libya proved what was possible.”

Despite today’s vote, Chandan remains skeptical that Libya will find peace in the near future.

“[Imperialist nations] need Libya to be a detestable death squad state to continue destabilizing Tunisia, Mali, Algeria, especially Egypt, but Libyans will keep on fighting, but I don’t think there’s going to be any real strategic possibility to the liberation of Libya for another generation, at least, yet, unfortunately.”

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

Agreement Fatah-Hamas for New Unity Cabinet

Reached in Doha, it should pave the way to new elections

RAMALLAHnt that should pave the way for national elections, Palestinian daily Al-Quds reports. The paper explained that negotiations were held between Sunday and Monday in Doha under the sponsorship of the Qatari emirate.

Along with discussions concerning the creation of a new joint cabinet, talks between Khaled Meshaal for Hamas and Azzam al-Ahmad for Fatah focused — added Al-Quds — on the management of Rafah (the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt), which under the deal should be jointly managed by the presidential guards of Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. A previous attempt to create a national unity government dates back to June 2014, which has so far failed due to the incompatibility of the most radical members of the two factions.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Elbit Systems Introduces Seagull

Israel’s Elbit Systems have unveiled a prototype of what it claims is the world’s first unmanned system for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions.

Developed in less than three years with technical and performance input from the Israeli Navy and Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the self-funded Seagull can complement or even replace expensive, manpower-intensive frigates or aircraft currently used to hunt submarines at sea, according to executives in Israel.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Israeli Defense Company Unveils Robot Warship

A minefield is the last place where a human should be. Unfortunately, for as long as humans have built explosives and floated them underwater, it’s been up to human-crewed boats to get close and do the work of disarming the deadly weapons. Elbit, an Israel-based defense company, today unveiled a new unmanned surface vessel dubbed the “Seagull,” designed to face danger in the ocean without any humans on board.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Unveils Unmanned Naval Vessel “Seagull”

Following a demonstration on Monday, Elbit Systems unveiled the “Seagull”. With over three years of development, the Seagull is a 40-foot, two-vessel system that can detect and destroy underwater mines by deploying technology such as robots and interceptors underwater. It can also fire torpedoes, operate for 96 hours, and can be controlled through a single Mission Control System. The Seagull can be launched from a port or landing craft.

           — Hat tip: Nick [Return to headlines]
 

EU Funded Programme to Teach Syrian, Jordanians Labour Skills

UNESCO project that ranges from 6 months to one year

AMMAN — UNESCO launched projects funded by the EU to provide education and training for Jordanians and Syrian refugees, organizers said today.

A total of three programmes will be part of the initiative targeting thousands refugees from several locations across the kingdom including refugee camps and major towns and cities in the kingdom.

More than 1,300 people will take part in one of the education programmes that extends up to one year at al Qodus college.

A second programme will provide six months mentoring, training and referral opportunities for 400 young people in Zaatari refugee camp. The third programme will be funded by the Walton Family Foundation and will provide four months of training in job readiness, career counseling and life skills for 500 young Jordanians affected by the Syria crisis in Mafraq, Zarqa and Amman, according to the statement.

Students will learn programmes in the fields of hospitability, media production, land survey, graphic design and will have the chance to improve their Enlgish language through specialized programmes.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Iraq: Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad: Christian Properties Targeted by Criminals, Government and Police Weak

Msgr. Warduni confirms reports of “gangs and militias” responsible for attacks and expropriation of houses, commercial, cultural and religious sites. A milieu of groups that operate by exploiting the inertia of the authorities and the institutions and target Christians, Muslims, Yazidis. They are acting for money and are a concern. UN blue helmets to ensure the unity of Iraq.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) — “We do not know which militias or gangs are specifically responsible for these attacks and violence, but it is a phenomenon that has emerged over the most recent period, and it is something that deeply wounds our faithful “.

Msgr. Shlemon Warduni is seriously worried about the continued seizures of homes and commercial activities attacks on cultural centers and places of worship, including churches, which periodically occur against the Christian community in the capital. The Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad speaks to AsiaNews of “militias exploiting the weakness of the central government and the police”.

Several local and international media reports have recently returned to highlight the issue of expropriations against the Christian community in the capital — Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syrians — at the hands of so-called “Shiite militias” supported by Iran. The robbers force the owners to leave houses and possessions, according to the principle that “the property of a Christian can be confiscated.”

In the pastoral letter to the faithful for Christmas, even the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Raphael Louis Sako had denounced the large-scale and widespread the phenomenon, including it among the evils “afflicting society”, some of which affect “especially Christians” . His Beatitude had spoken of “families being targeted with attacks and expropriations by criminals and extremist groups”, in an appeal to the authorities for added security and protection.

The auxiliary bishop of Baghdad explains that it is difficult to single out these criminal groups and gangs, because they are from “different backgrounds” and have a transverse position within the ethnic and social landscape. Msgr. Warduni speaks of “gangs, not a single militia; there are various groups of thugs, operating mainly for money. “

“The police just respond little and badly — continues the Iraqi prelate — allowing these gangs operate with impunity. They also have the support and coverage of institutions and foreign governments, which fund them by providing weapons and cover”.

Msgr. Warduni also adds that “it matters little whether this violence is widespread or limited, because they have already sown fear in the population and even among Christians the fear of attacks is higher.”

Criminal gangs strike where there are interests and money, without distinguishing between Christians, Muslims, Yazidis: “They go where they can,” says the Baghdad’s auxiliary, we ask for “help against these cannibals, who kill us every day.” For these purposes, Msgr. Warduni says “the liberation of our villages and our towns” is essential.

The bishop maintains that “the intervention of an international force, like the blue helmets of the United Nations,” is needed “while ensuring national unity, because for us division is a bad thing”. Division would result in “the destruction of Iraq, and there are many forces at play that have an interest to divide by exploiting the inertia of America and the West.”

“You have to sow peace and justice — concluded the Baghdad’s auxiliary — and you need to stop the sale of weapons. Unscrupulous people who earn billions trading in death and crime just like the Daesh [Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, IS] “.

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

Italy: FS: Iran’s RAI in High-Speed Rail Deal

Italian rail firm to build two high-speed lines in Iran

(ANSA) — Rome, February 9 — Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) public railway company and State-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop two high-speed rail lines in Iran and to train Iranian rail staff. The accord for the deal worth up to five billion euros was signed in the Iranian capital of Tehran by Deputy Transport Minister Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei, who is also the president of RAI, and by FS CEO Renato Mazzoncini.

FS said in a statement it will design and build two high-speed rail lines, one connecting Tehran and to the city of Hamadan, the other linking the industrial cities of Arak and Qom.

Iran plans to extend its 10,000-km railway system by 25,000 kilometers by 2025. Of these, 7,500 are already being built.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Air Strikes in Syria ‘Good Thing’: Del Ponte

Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who is currently probing rights abuses in Syria, on Monday backed Russia’s air strikes on “terrorist groups” in the war-torn country.

“Overall, I think the Russian intervention is a good thing, because finally someone is attacking these terrorist groups,” Del Ponte told Swiss public broadcaster RTS, listing the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra among the groups targeted.

ADVERTISINGBut Del Ponte, a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, quickly added that the Russians apparently “are not distinguishing enough between the terrorists and others, and that is not as good.”

Her comments came amid international bickering over the Russian air strikes and what role they played in undermining last week’s peace talks to end the country’s five-year war…

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

Syrian Army Scores Strategic Victories on All Fronts

In a series of fierce clashes with terrorists, the Syrian army backed by aerial support managed to take control over a strategic town and a key height in the province of Aleppo.

Syrian government forces and their allies continued their offensive in Aleppo province, regaining full control of the strategic town of Taana in the eastern part of the region. The town came under full control of the Syrian Army on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Air Force attacked terrorists’ position in the towns of Hayan and Hraytan.

The Syrian Army also continued to advance toward Tal Rafat in northern Aleppo.

Scores of terrorists were destroyed and injured as the army was carrying out mop-up operations in the newly regained towns.

In the countryside east of Aleppo, government troops alongside popular forces took full control over the strategic Barlaheen hilltop, after daylong clashes with terrorists.

The army backed by the Air Force also conducted a series of attacks against Daesh militants in other parts of the province, having destroyed scores of terrorists and many of their military hardware.

The Syrian Air Force attacked a number of militants’ positions across the central province of Hama, inflicting losses and damages on them. During the airstrikes, several militant positions in the town of al-Ziyarah and villages of al-Qarqur and al-Mansoura in central Hama were razed.

In addition, Syrian warplanes alongside the Russian Aerospace Forces attacked militants across the northern part of the region. At least 10 terrorists were killed, and several military vehicles and an ammo depot were destroyed.

Scores of militants were killed or wounded in the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Army shelled their positions and outposts. Fierce clashed also broke out between popular forces and Daesh in the eastern part of Deir ez-Zor. According to FARS News, 15 Daesh militants were killed in fighting in the region.

Tens of wanted militants turned themselves in to the Syrian authorities in Homs province as government troops continue to gain ground across the country, officials reported.

Earlier, the Syrian Army and popular forces advanced against the Daesh militants in the eastern part of Homs province and deployed their units around the town of Quaryatayn.

In the eastern part of Daraa province, terrorist groups sustained heavy casualties in clashes with the army on Sunday. Syrian troops have also scored many victories against militants in different parts of the province.

Syrian troops and popular forces killed and injured scores of terrorists in heavy clashes in eastern Ghouta in Damascus province. At least 30 were killed and many more were injured in fierce clashes with the army. Meantime, scores of terrorists were also killed and wounded in clashes with the Syrian army in Darayya town in eastern Ghouta.

The Syrian Air Force carried out several raids on militants’ positions in mountainous areas in the northwestern province of Latakia. Meanwhile, Russian warplanes attacked terrorists’ positions in the eastern part of the province.

The Syrian Army also took full control of al-Aliya strategic village and its surrounding mountains in Latakia and destroyed a number of militants’ positions across the region.

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

Turkish President Scoffs at the Idea of a ‘Right to Smoke’

Calls for the state to ‘protect from tobacco, alcohol and drugs’

(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, FEBRUARY 9 — Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday during a reception at his residence in Ankara that “there can be no such freedom as the freedom to smoke”.

“Just as there can be no such freedom as the freedom to kill oneself or to expose oneself to fatal diseases,” he added, speaking on World No Tobacco Day. “The most important thing is to protect non-smokers, not smokers. The state is responsible for protecting its citizens from tobacco, alcohol and drugs, just as it is responsible for protecting property owners from theft and innocent citizens from terrorists,” he said. Turkish health minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu announced that the government was drawing up new smoking bans in some open spaces such as public parks, areas around shopping centers and other gathering places.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

World War III Starts in the Middle East? Saudi Arabia and Turkey Consider a Ground Invasion of Syria

Are Saudi Arabia and Turkey about to send ground troops into Syria? If so, how will Russia, Iran and the Syrian government respond? In 2016, Syria has become ground zero for a conflict that has been raging for centuries. For more than a thousand years, the Sunnis and the Shiites have been wrestling with one another for control of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other Sunni nations had hoped to turn Syria into a Sunni nation, and for years they have been funding and arming ISIS and other Sunni insurgent groups in an attempt to overthrow the Assad regime. Initially the Assad regime was losing quite a bit of ground, but the tide turned once the Syrians invited the Russians and the Iranians to help them. Of course the Iranians have their own long-term goals. Once Assad leaves power, the Iranians hope to turn Syria into a truly Shiite nation that is run and dominated by Hezbollah. At this moment, the Sunnis and losing and the Shiites are winning. Relentless Russian airstrikes have enabled Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah ground forces to advance, and now they have surrounded Aleppo. Before the war Aleppo was the largest city in Syria, and if it falls, the war will be very close to over.

Thousands of refugees are currently flooding out of Aleppo as the Russians bombard the surrounding area continually. There is little hope that the Sunni forces that once were so optimistic about overthrowing Assad can hold out much longer without help.

As the situation becomes increasingly desperate, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are now considering what was once unthinkable — a full-blown ground invasion of Syria.

Of course this could very well set off World War III in the Middle East, but Saudi Arabia and Turkey have already invested so much in this conflict, and they don’t appear to be willing to throw up their hands and walk away now…

All of that stuff that the UAE and the Saudis are saying about fighting ISIS is complete nonsense.

Thanks to the Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah, ISIS and other Sunni insurgent groups are already on their last legs in Syria.

No, the truth is that the only reason the UAE, the Saudis and Turkey would go in would be to help the Sunni insurgency win the war.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Indian Scientists to Verify Tamil Nadu Meteorite Death Claim

Indian scientists have been asked to verify claims that a man died after being hit by a meteorite in southern Vellore city.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram said on Sunday that Kamraj, a bus driver, died after a meteorite fell on a college campus.

Scientists said tests were needed to confirm that the rock was a meteorite.

If confirmed, experts said this would be the first such death in nearly 200 years.

According to a list prepared by the International Comet Quarterly, a man was killed in a “meteorite fall” in India in 1825.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan: A ‘Water Man’ Discriminated in High School Because He is Christian and Should Not Give Water to Students

Qaisar Jahan began to work at the MC Girls High School in Faisalabad in November 2015 bringing water to students. When the headmistress found out that he was a Christian, she told him to do the janitorial work and not deliver water. He refused saying, “I shall not bend in front of this kind of people”.

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) — Qaisar Jahan, a Christian man who was hired as a ‘water man’ by the MC Girls High School in Partab Nagar (Faisalabad), has been the victim of religious discrimination.

“You are Christian and no one in the school wants to get a glass of water from you,” the school’s headmistress told him. Because of this, she ordered him to do the janitorial work. However, Jahan refused and filed a complaint.

The story began in May 2015 when the previous ‘water man’ at the MC Girls High School passed away. The school’s headmistress, Najma Naheed, a Muslim, sent a request to the Education District officer (EDO) for a new employee. The choice fell on Jahan, who began working in November.

However, towards the end of December, Ms Naheed started to put pressure on the new “water man” to do the janitorial work instead. On 6 February, she wrote a letter of complaint to the EDO.

Since he was not being allowed to do the work for which he had been hired, Jahan turned to Lala Robin Daniel, a Christian political and social activist, who yesterday filed a complaint with the EDO for religious discrimination.

“The headmistress’s act of discrimination is unethical and violates the code of human behaviour,” Daniel said. It also violates “Articles 11 and 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan and Conventions 105 and 111 of the International Labour Organisation.”

“Her unwarranted requests are against the law,” Daniel added. “Hence, we shall raise our voice and ask the authorities to take action against her to ensure the protection of the law for workers who belong to minorities.”

“I will fight for my rights,” Qaisar Jahan said, “and I shall not bend in front of this kind of people, because I believe that my Saviour Jesus Christ will help me find justice. Two other friends of mine have been hired as ‘men water’ in other schools but have been forced to do the janitorial work. I will not do it.”

The charge of blasphemy levelled at Asia Bibi in 2010 also began with a dispute over water. The Christian woman, a farmer, had been asked to bring water to her Muslim colleagues, but the latter had objected saying since Asia was not a Muslim, she would have made the water container unclean, and thus she should not be allowed to touch the water.

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

Viewpoint: Will 2016 be a Turning Point for Free Speech in India?

2015 had been one of the harshest years in memory for India’s journalists, and for free speech in general — local-language newspapers, reporters and stringers had faced everything from defamation suits to threats and detentions, and worse.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bangladesh Show Covers Up Tibetan Art After China Complains

One of Bangladesh’s biggest art shows has covered up an exhibit by Tibetan artists after the Chinese embassy in Dhaka said it was “offended” by the artwork, an organiser said Monday.

A photographic exhibit entitled “Last Words”, featuring the letters of five Tibetans who self-immolated in protest at Chinese rule, was covered with white sheets at the Dhaka Art Summit, an AFP correspondent said.

ADVERTISINGThe work belonged to Indian filmmaker Ritu Sarin and her husband Tenzing Sonam, a Tibetan living in exile, and were part of a larger multimedia installation on Tibetan self-immolations in the past six years…

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

China Needs More Teachers — But They Have to be Men

China wants its students to man up.

Amid fears that a shortage of male teachers has produced a generation of timid and effeminate boys, Chinese educators are trying to reinforce gender roles in the classroom, The New York Times reports.

Among China’s 15 million teachers — who instruct 270 million students in kindergarten through 12th grade — women occupy four out of every five positions in urban areas, according to a 2012 study by Beijing Normal University, and officials want to even up the ratio.

In Zhengzhou, schools are asking boys to sign pledges declaring them to act like “real men”, while in Hangzhou, educators have started a summer camp called West Point Boys, teaching taekwondo classes with the motto “We bring out the men in boys,” the New York Times reports.

Colleges in the city of Fuzhou have even gone so far to offer full scholarships and teaching jobs to young men.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Japan and the Whale

Hunting whales is irrelevant to feeding Japan’s population, draws global condemnation and is certainly not economic. So why does Japan still do it?

The answer from the Japanese government is that whaling is an ancient part of Japanese culture, that fishermen have caught whales for centuries, and that Japan will never allow foreigners to tell its people what they can and cannot eat.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

North Korea Nuclear: Plutonium Reactor ‘Restarted’

North Korea has restarted a plutonium nuclear reactor that could provide fuel for nuclear weapons, US intelligence chief James Clapper says.

He also said the North had taken steps towards making an intercontinental ballistic missile system.

It comes days after the North launched a long-range rocket, which critics say is a test of banned missile technology.

Last September Pyongyang said its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon had resumed normal operations.

The reactor there has been the source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme. The North carried out its fourth nuclear test in January.

Experts have said that, when fully operational, the Yongbyon reactor could make one nuclear bomb’s worth of plutonium per year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

North Korean Satellite Reportedly ‘Tumbling in Orbit, ‘ Making it Useless

The North Korean satellite that was launched into orbit Sunday has been tumbling ever since, making it too unstable to send data back to its controllers, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

A U.S. official told CBS News the rocket was able to get its payload into orbit, but is now tumbling. Also, a U.S. official told ABC News the satellite may not work, but North Korea still considers the launch a success since the nation was able to launch it into space.

The same technology used to get the payload into orbit is the same needed to launch a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile at the U.S., that official added.

As of Tuesday, no signals from the satellite have been confirmed, which would mean it is not fulfilling its official mission as an Earth observation satellite, according to The Associated Press.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

United Nations Hold Emergency Security Meeting: Is North Korean Satellite Orbiting Over USA Equipped With Emp Weapons System?

Editor’s Note: As Jeremiah Johnson notes in his latest analysis, North Korea poses a real and present danger to the United States. It’s a threat that most Americans discount as implausible, but as you’ll see below, our defenses are pretty much ineffective should North Korea decide to utilize a satellite-launched Electro-Magnetic Pulse weapon deployed above the continental United States. It’s a low probability event to be sure, but a realistic possibility nonetheless and one that world affairs analyst Joel Skousen has often cited as a potential catalyst for World War III. “The trigger event has to be North Korea North Korea is the most rogue element in the world and yet it’s been given a pass by the U.S,” Skousen has warned. As you read the following, keep in mind that North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un, probably insane in his own right, would more than likely not be acting alone in such a scenario, as he is beholden to his Chinese neighbors. And as we’ve oft cited, it is only a matter of time before East and West clash over resources and economic hegemony. A war is coming and it could well be that North Korea is positioning their military assets for the coming conflict.

Now that the North Korean missile launch is “over,” most would assume there is no cause for concern. That assumption is incorrect, because Kim Jung-Un has already declared there will be more missiles launched. Rice, the U.S. National Security Advisor has already stated that the Koreans did indeed launch using an ICBM. The very first thing we can do is present an excellent site that tracks satellites, their trajectories, orbits, and other useful data.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

6,000 Invader “Incidents” Per Day

Nonwhite invaders in Germany are responsible for in excess of 6,000 “incidents” — most of them criminal — to which police are called out every day, according to an extrapolation of figures secretly compiled by the authorities in the state of Saxony.

According to a report in the Schsische Zeitung, the German police in that state are keeping a record of all the incidents -in secret-and deliberately not releasing the figures to the press or the public.

The report, leaked to the newspaper by a whistle-blower in the police, revealed that nonwhite invaders posing as “refugees” are responsible for around 400 crimes per day in the state of Saxony alone.

If replicated throughout Germany’s sixteen federal states -and there is no reason to think that they are not — this means that there are likely in excess of 6,000 such incidents every day right throughout Germany.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Asylum Seekers Given Priority for Hospital Visits

An admission by Austrian health officials that asylum seekers have been given priority for hospital visits has been greeted by angry reaction.

The reason is that many asylum seekers need expensive translators to help communicate with doctors, and officials do not want to pay for the translators to sit around waiting.

As part of the asylum process, refugees get a health check. With 90,000 asylum seekers registered last year, this has put a huge strain on health resources.

Austrian officials have confirmed that they have been ordered not to make asylum seekers wait and to give them fast track treatment.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Austrian Minister: Spielfeld Model for Brenner Pass

“Any measure will be agreed with Italy”

(ANSA) — BOLZANO — Austria’s Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil has proposed a “border management” for the Brenner pass, like the one which has been already put in place at the border with Slovenia in Spielfeld. “Currently the Brenner records between 200 and 300 refugee arrivals per day,” a spokesman for the ministry told the local daily Die Presse. If these numbers continue to increase, “it will be necessary to manage these arrivals in an orderly way”, just like it happens in Spielfeld. Experts — the minister added — will have to assess, according to the topographical situation, the possible need for a barrier at the border between Italy and Austria. Any measure — he stated — will be agreed with Italy. According to Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, interviewed by the Apa news agency, said that building barriers at crossings along the southern border of Austria is deemed to be “possible”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Erdogan Blackmailed EU for 30 Billion Eurosn Over Migrant Crisis Plan

Erdogan threatened to send migrants to Europe

In November, during a meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and European Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded from Brussels 30 billion to resolve the European migrant crisis, a leaked document revealed.

The talks took place in Antalya on November 14, 2015. The confidential document has been published by Greek website Euro2Day.According to it, Erdogan threatened to send migrants to Europe.

By that time, the EU and Turkey had agreed a plan on providing 3 billion to Ankara in exchange for assistance in resolving the migrant issue.

However, Erdogan threatened that he would take measures if the EU delayed Turkey’s admission to the bloc. Particularly, he said Turkey would put refugees on buses to Europe and the consequences for Europe will be “more than a dead boy” on the Turkish shores.

Erdogan refused to receive the 3 billion euros in two years, which he had earlier agreed to. He said the proposal should be at least 3 billion euros a year. Otherwise, no deal concerning the refugees would work, according to the document.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Geert Wilders: Stopping Islamic Immigration is a Matter of Survival

While the world’s population is expected to rise by 35 per cent until the middle of this century, Islam will grow with a staggering 73 per cent.

The consequences of future Islamic growth are frightening. Islam is not a religion like Christianity, but rather a totalitarian political ideology. Its goal is primarily political. Islam wants to make the whole world submit. It aims to establish a worldwide Islamic state and bring everyone, including “infidels,” such as Christians, Jews, atheists, and others, under Sharia law. This is the barbaric Islamic law which deprives non-Muslims of all rights, treats women as inferior beings, condemns apostates and critics of Islam to death, and condones terror. More Islam equals more violence, more intolerance, more terrorism.

With the growth of Islam, the world will become a less safe place.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germans Rush for Weapons Licences Amid Public Anxiety

The number of Germans holding licences for non-lethal weapons rose sharply over the last three months, as the refugee influx appears to have unleashed a wave of public insecurity.

Between November and January the number of non-lethal weapons licences rose by 21,000, bringing the total to 301,000 nationwide. The numbers come from a request made to the interior ministry by Green Party MP Irene Mihalic.

Mihalic, who is herself a trained police officer, said the numbers were worrying.

“It’s not hard to imagine people at big events jumping for their weapon too quickly and in the end inciting violence or chaos through their actions,” she said.

These licences allow holders to carry blank-firing guns, pepper spray and other sprayed deterrents.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary vs.Greece, In the South We Are Defenseless

Macedonia is protecting Schengen area without being part of it

(ANSA) — AMSTERDAM — “In the south we are defenseless.

Thousands of illegal migrants enter the EU territory every day.

It’s obvious that the southern border of the Schengen area is not safe and if Greece is not able to protect the Schengen area and does not accept to be helped, the EU should have another line of defense, which, of course, runs across Macedonia and Bulgaria”. Thus Hungarian foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, launched his attack . In the second day of Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers , which is focused on the migrant crisis, he also stated that “it is frustrating to hear everyone talking about the external border protection and then nothing happens: this thing has to stop”. Hungary’s foreign minister then added that we should have “respect” for Macedonia and provide “support” to a country “that has done so much to protect the Schengen area and the EU, without being part of neither of them”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

IOM Says 409 Migrants Have Died in Mediterranean in 2016

The International Organization for Migration says 409 people have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and migrant crossings in the first six weeks of 2016 are running at nearly ten times the rate of the same period last year.

IOM says 76,000 people have reached Europe by sea, nearly 2,000 per day, since January 1.

More than three-fourths of the deaths have been on the short eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece — which traditionally has seen far fewer deaths than the much longer central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Sala Blasts ‘Racist’ Comments After PD Primary

Grillo accuses PD of ‘bogus’ votes from ‘illiterate Chinese’

(ANSA) — Rome, February 8 — Former Expo world’s fair commissioner and winner of the Milan center-left mayoral primary Giuseppe Sala on Monday blasted opposition insinuations that he won thanks to “bogus” votes from “illiterate Chinese” immigrants.

“This city has always found its strength in immigration — first from the South, now from the rest of the world,” Sala said, calling opposition accusations “specious” and “racist”.

“(Milan) is 20% immigrants, and 4% of them voted (in the primaries at the weekend),” Sala said.

“I would hope more and more of them will vote in future”.

At the weekend, anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo alleged on his blog that Sala won thanks to the “bogus” ballots of “Chinese voters who can’t read or write Italian”. Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti from Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia (FI) party jumped on that bandwagon, in a tweet mocking Chinese people’s alleged accent when speaking Italian.

“Victoly!!!! Sala won the primaries…they’re celebrating in Chinatown,” tweeted Toti, who was elected with backing from the anti-immigrant, rightwing Northern League. On Sunday, Renzi replied to Grillo that while some politicians’ idea of politics is to manipulate “50 people” into clicking on a website, others have the guts to hold primaries “involving thousands”. “We’re the only ones with the courage to hold them,” Renzi said.

Sala won with 42.28% of the vote or 24,961 ballots cast. Fellow contender and current Deputy Mayor Francesca Balzani followed him with 33.96% of the vote while city council member for welfare Pierfrancesco Majorino obtained 23%.

“Outsider” Antonio Iannetta, who heads the Italian Sport for Everyone Union (UISP) and comes from the civil sector rather than party ranks garnered just 432, votes or 0.73%.

Sala, who established a reputation for sound management skills during the unexpectedly successful Expo, was the favourite.

“I’ll do things the way I have always have — with a lot of commitment and team spirit, because I am not one to live by the idea that a man can win difficult battles on his own,” Sala said in his primary victory speech.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants: Schengen: 28 OK on 3-Month Greece Ultimatum

Formal green light scheduled Friday by Ecofin Council

(ANSA) — BRUSSELS — The ambassadors of the 28 member states gathered tomorrow for the so-called Coreper meeting should approve the Council’s recommendations based on evaluations of the Schengen system giving Greece three months, based on article 19.a of the Schengen code, to take care of the shortcomings noted. Moreover the recommendation states that when the three-month deadline expires, article 26 can be activated, extending by two years controls over certain parts of the border. If Greece will comply, European sources said, the second phase will not kick off.

The formal adoption of the recommendation is part of ‘point A’, or ‘without discussion’ at the Ecofin Council scheduled on Friday and the three months available for Greece will be calculated starting that day.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Norway ‘Lost’ 661 Asylum Seekers in January Alone

Some 661 asylum seekers, including 28 unaccompanied minors, are registered as having disappeared from Norwegian asylum centres in January.

Of those who dissapeared in Janauary, 163 were Syrians. The next largest groups were asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Egypt.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norwegian Police Chief Warns Mass Immigration Threatens Civil Unrest

The head of Norway’s Police Security Service (SSP) warns that the importation of large numbers of migrants who fail to assimilate into western society could spark civil unrest and a groundswell of right-wing extremism.

During a security and defense conference in Sweden, Benedicte Bjrnland said that the recent surge in asylum seekers from Muslim countries could have “unfortunate consequences,” including violent clashes.

“One can not take for granted that new population groups automatically adapt to the norms and regulations in Norwegian society,” said Bjornland. “New populations are not homogeneous, and they can bring their ethnic or religious differences from their homeland.”

Bjornland went on to warn that the mass influx of migrants is fueling “radicalization” and and “extremist environment” amongst anti-immigrant groups.

Comments to the article:

One commenter LBJ to the article astutely notes: “is fueling “radicalization” and and “extremist environment” amongst anti-immigrant groups.” … Here it comes, this train is never late. It’s extremists they want, the white ones… This came out in Denmark: Copenhagen sees big rise in radicalized residents… They are encouraging people to spot and notify the authorities about radicalization. And that will ultimately become anyone with alternative views to the Government.

mike — 3 hours ago — The globalist want the fighting between migrants and nationalist so eventually the Globalist can come to the rescue and save us all from the nationalist (who will be portrayed as NAZIS) and help eliminate the last vestiges of national borders. Yes, they will turn national pride, and concern for individual cultures into radical, extremist, nationalist Nazis, so everyone will be guilt-ed into going along with the rest of the sheep.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Orban-Szydlo: Schengen Southern Borders Should be Closed

Hungarian Premier wants special powers in the event of attack

(ANSA) — BUDAPEST — Southern borders of the Schengen area should be closed and solutions to the migrants crisis should be found outside the EU. This position was agreed today in Budapest between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Poland’s PM Beata Szydlo. “We have to stop mass immigration, and if the EU leaders are not able to do this, the crisis will go on and worsen”, Orban said. The Hungarian prime minister fears the threat of terrorism and wants the government to be provided with exceptional powers, in order to be able to deal with it. He spoke in his weekly interview with the public radio.

In the event of receiving information about the risk of terror attacks, the government could declare a state of emergency and curfew, decide to shut down the internet, issue bans on broadcasting and publications, and carry out house searches and even arrests without warrant.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Out of Reach: 40% of Migrants Have No Chance of Obtaining Asylum in EU

Nearly forty percent of migrants who arrived in the European Union in January have slim chances of receiving asylum, a senior European Commission official told a German newspaper on Sunday.

As more Iraqis and Afghans flee to the EU, only around 39 percent of the refugees who came in last month were Syrians, a notable drop from 69 percent last year, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung wrote, quoting statistics from the EU’s border agency Frontex.

Twenty-four percent were from Afghanistan, up from 18 percent, and 25 percent from Iraq, compared to 8 percent in 2015. The rest were from North Africa and the Balkans, the paper wrote.

According to Frontex, migrants from countries other than Syria have less chance of being recognized as asylum seekers, while Moroccans, Tunisians and Algerians, as well as those coming from the Balkan states are viewed as economic refugees.

The German government is now working on a law which, if passed, will designate some regions as “safe” thus allowing easier deportation of people coming from these countries.

October saw the largest influx of refugees with almost 7,000 arriving in Europe each day, while their numbers considerably decreased in January when just over 60,000 refugees crossed the EU’s borders, the newspaper wrote.

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

Smugglers in Izmir, Turkey, Stay Busy Through Winter

Record numbers of refugees continue departing from Turkey, where smugglers still operate relatively openly despite increased pressure from the European Union and local police. Diego Cupolo reports from Izmir, Turkey.

Questions aren’t necessary on the Basmane square. Smugglers approach new faces to provide all the details on boats departing for Greece and, as with veteran telemarketers, it’s impossible to interrupt them.

“Six hundred and fifty dollars,” a young man said in Arabic, his accent clearly Syrian, offering passage to the EU for the equivalent of 585 euros. “The boat leaves for Lesbos at sunset tonight. … There will be no more than 35 people aboard, and the driver speaks four languages.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: ‘Migrant Attack’ Plot Leads to 14 Arrests

Police believe the group was planning a violent attack at refugee housing in Nynäshamn, a small town in a rural area south of Stockholm.

Officers rounded up 14 people on Monday night in cars close to the asylum accommodation that is thought to have been the intended target of the plot.

Batons, knives, iron bars and axes were found in the suspects’ vehicles.

Hesam Akbari, a spokesperson for Stockholm police, told the TT news agency that members of the group were facing a number of charges.

“The (police) report now concerns three offences. Preparation for aggravated assault, incitement to aggravated assault and incitement to aggravated arson,” he said.

Police added that all of those arrested were set to be questioned on Tuesday.

TT reported that the suspects have “foreign origins” although some of them live and work in Sweden, with several of them thought to be Polish citizens.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Tank Float: German Prosecutors Investigate

In what many see as a return to Stasi-era intimidation, state prosecutors in the German states of Thuringia and Bavaria have been instructed to open investigations into the large number of carnival floats which made fun of the Angela Merkel-inspired nonwhite invasion of Germany.

News of the orders to start investigations into the carnival floats was carried by the pro-invasion Bild newspaper, which asked if the now famous “Tiger Tank anti-asylum” float and other floats were “satire or incitement to race hatred.”

Typically, the Bild answered its own question by heading its article “The Floats of Shame.”

The Bild also said that police had received “several” complaints about the floats, claiming they were incitement and “insulting.”…

Meanwhile, carnival participants in the town of Altenberg, Saxony, also gave vent to their frustration with the nonwhite invasion with a series of floats mocking various aspects of the current political situation.

Most striking was a float of a Red Indian teepee, with a slogan reading, “The Indians could do nothing against immigration, today they live on reservations.”

[…]

Another part of the procession in Altenberg consisted of a number of women wearing “arms’ length” protection gear. This “Cologne model” wear was based on the idiotic suggestion made by the mayor of Cologne who suggested that German women keep the nonwhites at arm’s length following the mass sex attacks over the New Year period.

[…]

Another float with the slogan lagenpresse (“lying press”) prominently displayed, was accompanied by several clowns with “press” badges, all sporting long Pinocchio noses.

[Comment: You must check out the pictures in the article. ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Macedonian Village That Has Become a People-Smuggling Hub

Smugglers in the Balkans are doing a roaring trade. The village of Lojane in Macedonia is a good example of how the complex networks of smugglers, helpers and corrupt police work, DW’s Nemanja Rujevic writes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Netherlands Announces Tigher Border Controls to Stem Migrant Flow

As more and more European countries feel besieged by a mass influx of refugees, many are tightening their borders. The Netherlands and Macedonia have pledged to strengthen their border controls.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey’s Erdogan Threatened to Flood Europe With Migrants: Greek Website

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened in November to flood Europe with migrants if European Union leaders did not offer him a better deal to help manage the Middle East refugee crisis, a Greek news website said on Monday.

Publishing what it said were minutes of a tense meeting last November, the euro2day.gr financial news website revealed deep mutual irritation and distrust in talks between Erdogan and the EU’s two top officials, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk.

The EU officials were trying to enlist Ankara’s help in stemming an influx of Syrian refugees and migrants into Europe. Over a million arrived last year, most crossing the narrow sea gap between Turkey and islands belonging to EU member Greece.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey and Germany Pledge to Unite in More ‘Joint Efforts’ In Refugee Crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for more talks on reducing the influx of migrants to Europe. Both condemned the Russian-backed airstrikes over Aleppo in northern Syria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish Official Lambastes EU on Migrant Demands

A top government official has reacted angrily to European Union pressure on Turkey to open its doors to tens of thousands of Syrians who have massed at the frontier fleeing a government onslaught.

Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan accused the EU on Monday of giving Turkey lessons in morality and pushing the refugee burden on the country, without taking any responsibility itself.

Akdogan said: “On the one hand they say ‘open your borders, take everyone in’ on the other hand they say ‘close your border don’t let anyone through.”

“Without even providing money, they say ‘taking these people is conscience necessity,’“ Akdogan said. “Is it just us that must to act with conscience? … Why don’t you take them in?”

He was referring to the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) the EU has pledged to help Syrian refugees in Turkey.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Two Dutchmen on Trial for Trying to Smuggle 24 People to England in Tiny Boat

Two men from Noord-Holland have appeared in court in Amsterdam charged with attempting to smuggle 24 people to England in a small yacht. Djarno P (25) and Sebastian van B (24) are accused of trying to take 13 Vietnamese and 11 Albanian nationals to England in the boat last August. They were caught in the port of IJmuiden after a spot check by military police. According to the police, the boat was only suitable for a maximum of eight people, the two Dutchmen could barely sail and the boat itself was in poor condition.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NASA Bans the Word ‘Jesus’

One of the nation’s largest religious liberty law firms, threatened to file a federal lawsuit

The name of Jesus is not welcome in the Johnson Space Center newsletter, according to a complaint filed on behalf of a group of Christians who work for NASA.

The JSC Praise & Worship Club was directed by NASA attorneys to refrain from using the name ‘Jesus’ in club announcements that appeared in a Space Center newsletter.

“It was shocking to all of us and very frustrating,” NASA engineer Sophia Smith told me. “NASA has a long history of respecting religious speech. Why wouldn’t they allow us to put the name Jesus in the announcement about our club?”

Commenter to the article notes:

AmericanCitizen- 18 hours ago “When I became the NASA administrator, (President Obama) charged me with . . . (finding) a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering.” — Charles Bolden, NASA director.

That’s why Jesus is banned by NASA.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/9/2016

  1. This story will not feature in the main media outlets of the West. Now if it had been a Muslim water boy sacked by a Christian or Jewish high school?

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