In the culturally enriched town of Luton north of London, a former police officer named Mohammad Arshad has received 23 years in prison for grooming and raping multiple underage girls. The case has a Mohammed Coefficient of 100%.
In other news, more than a month after an Islamic terror attack that killed sixteen people, the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels reopened for business.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Derius, Fjordman, JD, Vlad Tepes, 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.
In 1 Out of Every 5 American Families, Nobody Has a Job
If nobody is working in one out of every five U.S. families, then how in the world can the unemployment rate be close to 5 percent as the Obama administration keeps insisting? The truth, of course, is that the U.S. economy is in far worse condition than we are being told. Last week, I discussed the fact that the Federal Reserve has found that 47 percent of all Americans would not be able to come up with $400 for an unexpected visit to the emergency room without borrowing it or selling something. But Barack Obama and his minions never bring up that number. Nor do they ever bring up the fact that 20 percent of all families in America are completely unemployed. The following comes directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…
In 2015, the share of families with an employed member was 80.3 percent, up by 0.2 percentage point from 2014. The likelihood of having an employed family member rose in 2015 for Black families (from 76.4 percent to 77.7 percent) and for Hispanic families (from 85.9 percent to 86.4 percent). The likelihood for White and Asian families showed little or no change (80.1 percent and 88.6 percent, respectively).
For purposes of this study, families “are classified either as married-couple families or as families maintained by women or men without spouses present” and they include households without children as well as children under the age of 18.
Digging into the numbers, we find that there were a total of 81,410,000 families in America during the 2015 calendar year.
Of that total, 16,060,000 families did not have a single member employed.
So that means that in 19.7 percent of all families in the United States, nobody has a job.
And of course there are lots more families that are “partially employed”. In other words, maybe the wife has a job but the husband does not.
[Comment: Governmetn unemployment numbers are a lie.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In Shocking Finding, The Bank of Japan is Now a Top 10 Holder in 90% of Japanese Stocks
The latest shocking example of just how intertwined central banks have become in not only Treasury and corporate bond markets and their respective “valuations”, but also in stocks, comes courtesy of the Bank of Japan which days ahead of an announcement which may see it double its ETF purchases from the current JPY3.3 trillion to JPY7 trillion or more (if Goldman is correct) has just been revealed to be a top 10 holder in about 90% of all Japanese stocks!
As Bloomberg puts it, “they may not realize it yet, but Japan Inc.’s executives are increasingly working for a shareholder unlike any other: the nation’s money-printing central bank.”…
This is simply unprecedented, and confirms that some time over the next several years, the Bank of Japan will not only own a majority of the Japanese bond market, but will be the outright owner of virtually all Japanese stocks!
Furthermore, recall what we have been saying ever since 2010, namely that central banks are nothing more than glorified risk-free hedge funds (because they can always print more funds if they need them)? Well, back then it was another conspiracy theory. Now it is an accepted fact: “When you see the numbers, you see it’s quite a decent holding,” said Nader Naeimi, the Sydney-based head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which oversees about $120 billion. “Central banks are becoming big hedge funds.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Chicago Pension Scandal: $100,000+ Teacher Pensions Costing Taxpayers $1 Billion
As we’ve known for quite some time now, Illinois is completely insolvent, and in large part due to enormous pension liabilities which as of December were underfunded to the tune of $111 billion. Not only is the state insolvent, its millionaires can’t get out fast enough to avoid the massive tax hikes that will be coming in what is sure to be a failed effort to plug budget holes, as well as the soaring criminality in cities such as Chicago which recently just passed the historic milestone of 1,000 gunshot victims in the fastest time in decades.
Citing unfunded pension plans, Moody’s downgraded Illinois to Baa1, and gave it a negative outlook back in October. The issue with the pension funds (aside for the massive shortfall in funding) is that per the Illinois Supreme Court, benefits cannot be altered. In a ruling last year, the state’s Supreme Court overturned a 2013 law that tried to ease the burden of what was then a $105 billion funding gap.
“Crisis is not an excuse to abandon the rule of law. It is a summons to defend it.” the supreme court said in its ruling.
In other words, regardless of the fact that the pension funds are insolvent, the state cannot cut benefits to any of its participants. This is in stark contrast to the multi employer private pension funds, which as we pointed out, are able to cut benefits in order to keep the funds solvent.
At this point, it’s clear that without the ability to cut pension benefits, most plans will end up insolvent, at which point nobody will be receiving benefits. Until that point comes, however, there are a few who are living quite well off of the system.
As Forbes’ Adam Andrzejewski reports, there are currently 7,499 teacher retirees that earn at least six figure pensions, and he estimates that in just six years, the number will be three times what it is today because, as we noted previously, the Illinois Supreme Court recently confirmed that pension benefits are constitutionally guaranteed and “the public employee gravy train is running faster than ever.”
Now, there would be nothing wrong with these retirees collecting the “annuity” benefits after paying to the retirement plan for years as most other honest, hard-working employee do. There is just one problem: this was a human system, and like every human system (especially in Illinois) it was impeccably gamed from the beginning. Especially when Chicago is involved as it is here.
Take the example of two union lobbyists who substitute taught for one-day in the public schools and then started collecting over $1 million of lifetime public ‘teacher’ pension payout — despite a state law expressly designed to stop them.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cruz Coordinates With Kasich to Block Trump
The Cruz campaign released a statement late Sunday saying their campaign would focus their efforts on Indiana, allowing the Kasich campaign to focus on Oregon and New Mexico.
Top staff from both the Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich presidential campaigns issued separate statements Sunday evening, saying they would be working in concert to prevent GOP frontrunner Donald Trump from securing enough delegates to win a first-round vote at the Republican National convention.
The Cruz campaign released a statement late Sunday saying their campaign would focus their efforts on Indiana, allowing the Kasich campaign to focus on Oregon and New Mexico.
The Kasich campaign likewise released their own statement that asserted they would focus on Oregon and New Mexico, and let Cruz focus on Indiana. The remainder of the states would be fair game for both campaigns, said the Kasich statement.
[Comment: Democrat-lite GOP elites hate Trump because he can’t be controlled. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cruz-Kasich Pact ‘Desperate’ Says Trump
Donald Trump says a pact formed by his two rivals for the Republican presidential crown is a desperate act.
He lambasted Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich over the alliance they announced late on Sunday.
Under their plan, Mr Cruz and Mr Kasich will give each other a free run in state primary votes next month.
Before then, five US states go to the polls on Tuesday, when Mr Trump is expected to tighten his grip on the nomination.
He has a clear lead in party delegates but may still fall short of the 1,237 needed to win outright.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Defunding the Marxist Madrassas
Noam Chomsky, a Marxist professor who says he has been at MIT for 65 years, maintains that we need a new economic system. He has endorsed something called “the next system,” which is supposed to replace free enterprise capitalism. My counter-proposal is for a “next system” to replace Chomsky and other Marxists in academia. My old friend, “Jimmy from Brooklyn,” a legendary anti-communist, says what we need is the defunding of the “Marxist Madrassas,” otherwise known as college and universities.
Going further, I propose we eventually abolish the brick-and-mortar universities that employ the Marxist academics who brainwash young people in fields of study that produce few jobs, and leave them saddled with debt.
His book, The Devil’s Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Theory and the Subversion of the West, examines how American institutions have been taken over by the likes of Chomsky. The solution, however, cannot rest simply with exposure or even reform. The cultural Marxists will not cede power over the minds of the young. Instead, the solution is to establish new institutions that attract parents and young people to educational alternatives which promise marketable skills and jobs in the real economy. Those alternatives are usually grouped under the rubric of online learning. These low-cost alternatives to brick-and-mortar colleges and universities can also address another pressing problem for many young people-massive college debt through federal loans that in 40 percent of the cases are not repaid. The current federal student loan debt stands at a staggering $1.2 trillion. The current system is unsustainable.
Of course, Chomsky does not want to replace the system that pays his salary and provides a platform for his Marxism. A real alternative to the current economic system would take the taxpayers off the hook for subsidizing state colleges and universities that keep Marxists like Chomsky on the payroll and undermine traditional values.
[Comment: Recommeded reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Shot: Killed While Talking to Pennsylvania House Candidate in Philadelphia
A 21-year-old man was shot and killed “execution style” in Philadelphia on Sunday while talking to a candidate for the Pennsylvania House.
Police said the the unidentified 21-year-old man was shot while speaking to Democratic candidate Chris Rabb about the state’s upcoming primary.
Police said the gunman shot the victim twice in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokesman for Rabb’s campaign, Chris Visco, said the the victim told Rabb that he was planning to work the polls on Tuesday.
“He was talking to a voter, a nice young man who works the polls on election day. They were talking about the election. The young man was interested in Chris’ campaign and his candidacy for the 200th,” Vicso told WPVI-TV.
“One of the people that was with (Chris) handed him a piece of literature, took his phone number, and another young man came up behind him and shot him execution style in the head,” he told the televison station.
Rabb is running for a seat in the 200th District, and was canvassing the area at the time.
Visco told Philly.com that Rabb and another campaign worker — both of whom witnessed the shooting but were not injured — were still speaking with detectives Sunday evening and were in shock…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio Mass Murder Commonalities: Marijuana Grows
Authorities investigating the execution-style murders of eight family members at four properties in Ohio, a crime that shook the community over the weekend, said they found marijuana growing operations at three of the homes.
Investigators still haven’t directly tied the marijuana operations with the murders.
But an official with knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity told CNN: “This operation was not for personal use; it was for something much bigger than that. It was a very sophisticated operation.”
Police say they haven’t arrested anybody in connection with the crimes, which involved the shooting deaths of eight relations: Hannah Gilley, 20; Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Clarence ‘ Frankie’ Rhoden, 20; Dana Rhoden, 37; Gary Rhoden, 38; Hanna Rhoden, 19; and Kenneth Rhoden, 44, USA Today reported.
All were shot in the head. Three children, including a baby born just four days earlier, were not harmed.
“This was a preplanned execution of eight individuals,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Fox News reported. “It was a sophisticated operation. And those who carried it out were trying to do everything they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Hopefuls Cruz and Kasich Team Up to Stop Trump
Republican White House rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich announced a deal on Sunday to stay out of each other’s way in some upcoming state primaries in hopes of blocking front-runner Donald Trump from winning the party’s presidential nomination.
Cruz’s campaign said in a statement he would focus on Indiana and give Kasich a clearer shot in Oregon and New Mexico, states where the Ohio governor expects to do well. Kasich, in turn, agreed to shift resources west and away from Indiana.
The Indiana primary is on May 3, Oregon’s is May 17 and New Mexico’s June 7…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saturated Fat Finally Vindicated in Long Buried Study
After analyzing the data, Ramsden and his team found that vegetable oils lowered total cholesterol levels by an average of 14 percent after one year. However, this lower cholesterol did NOT result in improved health and longevity, which is the conventional belief.
Instead, the research showed that the lower the cholesterol, the higher the risk of dying.
For every 30 point drop in total cholesterol there was a 22 percent increased chance of death. In the 65 and older category, those who received vegetable oil experienced roughly 15 percent more deaths compared to seniors in the saturated fat group. Vegetable Oil Nearly Doubled Rates of Heart Attack
The vegetable oil also did not result in fewer cases of atherosclerosis or heart attacks.
On the contrary, autopsies revealed both groups had similar levels of arterial plaque, but 41 percent of the vegetable oil group showed signs of at least one heart attack compared to just 22 percent of those in the saturated fat group. According to the authors:
“Available evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that replacement of saturated fat in the diet with linoleic acid [vegetable oil] effectively lowers serum cholesterol but does not support the hypothesis that this translates to a lower risk of death from coronary heart disease or all causes.
Findings from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment add to growing evidence that incomplete publication has contributed to overestimation of the benefits of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid.”
Why Vegetable Oils Would Be Expected to Increase Disease
If you understand molecular biology, the reason why vegetable oils cause these kinds of observations are clear, and hold true even if they’re organically grown and pristinely processed. In fact it would be precisely what you’d expect.
Why? Because these omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, when taken in large amounts, cannot be burned for fuel. Instead, they’re incorporated into cellular and mitochondrial membranes where they are highly susceptible to oxidative damage, which damages the metabolic machinery.
And that’s in the BEST case scenario. The reality is far worse as most of these vegetable oils are highly processed and grown as GMO crops, loaded with toxic herbicide residues like Roundup.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Scientific American — Another Monsanto Bedfellow
Who can you trust to give you accurate, objective information about science and health these days? That’s a question that keeps surfacing again and again, as mainstream sources for this type of information are being increasingly infiltrated by special interest groups.
A recent article in The Huffington Post1 discusses “Monsanto’s media machine,” noting the many ways in which it has tried to manipulate and dominate the conversation about genetically modified organisms (GMOs)…
Scientific American recently hosted a panel discussion about GMOs, co-sponsored by GMO Answers-a site caught using academics as “independent fronts” to promote GMOs. Three years ago, Scientific American editors wrote an article explicitly supporting GMOs and arguing against labeling, so it would seem the magazine is yet another shill for the chemical biotechnology industry.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(BREITBART) — Since the implementation of Twitter’s new algorithmic timeline back in February of this year, conservatives, libertarians and anti-establishment dissidents alike have been waiting for the social media platform to interfere in the current U.S. election cycle. Now it seems that there is clear evidence of Twitter censoring the current Republican front-runner, Donald Trump.
A tweet sent from Trump’s account at 3:04 PM EDT yesterday is not visible from his timeline, even when showing “Tweets and replies.” That message included a video wherein Trump declared that “the establishment and special interests are absolutely killing our country.”At the time of this writing, the tweet is still publicly accessible via a direct link and thus has not been deleted either by Twitter or by someone operating on the Trump account.
This archive.is link has a copy of the timeline taken before this article was published which clearly shows the tweet not appearing where it should be — between a tweet sent at 12:10 PM EDT and one sent at 3:27 PM EDT; it is possible that the tweet may be reintroduced to the timeline in order to hide the manipulation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Unhappy America: Will the United States Collapse Due to an Internal Societal Meltdown?
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the United States of America? All great nations eventually fall, and the United States is not going to be any exception.
Many of those that write about the decline of our once great country tend to focus on external threats, and there are certainly many that could be talked about. But perhaps even more ominous is the internal societal meltdown that we see happening all around us. According to Real Clear Politics, recent surveys show that 67 percent of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track, and only 26 percent of Americans believe that it is headed in the right direction. So even though we are tremendously divided as to what the solutions are, the vast majority of us can see that something is deeply, deeply wrong with America.
Personally, I spend a lot of time writing about our economic problems. We have piled up the largest mountain of debt in the history of the planet, last year the middle class became a minority for the first time in our history, and 47 percent of all Americans couldn’t even pay an unexpected $400 emergency room bill without borrowing the money or selling something. But I don’t want to focus on economics in this article.
Neither do I plan to focus on our political problems. The fact that somewhere around half the country plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November shows just how far gone we are as a nation. And the Republican Party is essentially just a watered-down version of the Democrats at this point. On average, Congress has just a 14.5 percent approval rating, and yet we keep sending the same corrupt politicians back to Washington D.C. time after time.
What in the world is wrong with us?
Physically we are a giant mess too. According to USA Today, the obesity rate in the United States has more than doubled over the past 25 years, and the OECD has found that the U.S. has the most overweight population in the entire industrialized world by a wide margin.
But our physical problems are not going to be the focus of this article either.
Instead, I want to focus on what is going on inside our heads and inside our hearts. I want to focus on our mental, emotional and spiritual problems.
[Comment: Deuteronomy 28:15 onwards outlines what happens when a nation forget God. Note verse 43 — “The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.” ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Much has been made of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s recent exploits, avidly devoured by the press and lapped up by his dazzled acolytes. The latest installment in the Trudeau saga involves a photo just circulated of Trudeau balancing on a conference table in the advanced yogic Mayurasana or “peacock” pose, which has sent the media into yet another Trudeau frenzy and his fans swooning with adoration. Take a look at the image above.
One admirer tweets: “This guy is just too good to be true.” Another: “I’m so happy to be Canadian.” As CBC News puts it: “Photo of Justin Trudeau doing yoga makes the internet freak out — again.” In my estimation, this is not a posture befitting a head of state—but maybe that’s just me.
A few days earlier, media focus was on Trudeau’s apparently uncanny brain power, to wit, a “stunning” riff on the topic of quantum computing. The media, of course, failed to report that Trudeau’s Wikipedia stunt was set up by Trudeau himself, who asked to be asked so he could reel off a couple of boilerplate lines he had obviously memorized.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Anger as Council Officials Say UK City is ‘Too Multicultural’ To Celebrate St George’s Day
AN ENGLISH city council REFUSED to host St George’s Day celebrations because the area is “too multicultural”.
Bristol City Council allowed the national day to pass without a single event for the patron saint, despite its history dating back to 1222.
Council chiefs said 91 different languages are spoken in the town and it would be “very difficult to commemorate them all”.
Some in the area feel as though the English symbol has been hijacked by far right groups and are concerned about being branded “racist”.
According to the Daily Star Sunday, Kalphna Woolf, founder of 91 Ways to Build a Global City, which aims to unite Bristol’s multicultural communities, said people can be frightened of the white and red St George’s flag.
[Comment: “frightened”…yeah, sure…just an excuse used by communists running local councils.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Far-Right Party Wins First Round of Presidential Vote
The law-and-order canddate of Austria’s right-wing party swept the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, gathering over 35 percent of the vote for the party’s best ever result and leaving the other five candidates far behind.
Among the losers were the government coalition candidates, reflecting deep voter rejection and political uncertainty ahead.
The triumph by Norbert Hofer eclipses his Freedom Party’s best previous showing — more than 27 percent support in elections that decided Austria’s membership in the European Union. With his declared willingness to challenge the governing coalition of center-left Social Democrats and centrist People’s Party, Hofer might push for new elections should he win the May 22 runoff in hopes that his Freedom Party will triumph at the polls.
With 98 percent of ballots counted, Hofer was far ahead of Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens party who ran as an independent. He polled just over 21 percent support and will challenge Hofer in the second round…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Brussels’ Maelbeek Metro Station Reopens One Month After Bombings
Train services have resumed at the Brussels metro station where 16 people were killed in a suicide bombing on March 22. Authorities have set up a wall of remembrance for commuters to leave messages of hope.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Did Anti-Israel Bias Keep France From Getting Terror Tech Before Paris Attacks?
Shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, and nearly a year before terrorists killed 130 in coordinated strikes that rocked the City of Light, French security officials rejected an Israeli company’s offer of terrorist-tracking software that could have helped them flag the deadly terror cell, a security expert said.
The offer of data-mining technology that would allow French authorities to “connect all the dots” in the Islamist extremist community was made to the Directorate-General for Internal Security, France’s main intelligence agency. It is used to analyze and match up fragmented intelligence reports from several national and international databases, giving counter-terrorism agents the most up-to-date information on potential terrorists available.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s Far-Right Welcomes Austrian Election Result
Far-right parties across Europe have hailed the victory of Austria’s anti-immigration Freedom Party in presidential elections. The results mean the country’s next president won’t be backed by the two main parties.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU-US Trade Deal ‘Will Fail’ If US Refuses Concessions: German Minister
Negotiations on a US-EU free trade deal “will fail” if the US refuses to make concessions, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned Sunday ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama.
“The Americans want to hold fast to their ‘Buy American’ idea. We can’t accept that. They don’t want to open their public tenders to European companies. For me, that goes against free trade,” Gabriel, who is also Germany?s deputy chancellor, told business newspaper Handelsblatt.
“If the Americans hold fast to this position, we don’t need the free trade treaty. And TTIP will fail,” he warned.
The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has run into major opposition in Europe, not least in Germany, where critics have raised the spectre of eroding ecological and labour market standards and condemned the secrecy shrouding the negotiations…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Former Bedfordshire Police Officer Jailed for Abusing Girls
A former police officer has been given a 23-year sentence after using Facebook to find vulnerable girls to have sex with.
Mohammad Arshad, 35, of Luton, groomed his underage victims online and paid some for sex, St Albans Crown Court heard.
He also raped a 14-year-old on the back seat of his car.
Arshad was convicted of 17 charges relating to 12 teenage girls last month.
‘Abused my childhood’
Judge Jonathan Carroll called him a “dangerous offender” and gave him a jail term of 15 years plus an eight-year extended licence period, which means he will be supervised by probation officer on his release.
He began abusing girls in 2012, when he was a CCTV operator in Luton town centre, before he joined Bedfordshire Police in April 2014.
Arshad was suspended six months later when the investigation began, after the mother of one of the victims came forward.
He used Facebook, Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp and text messages to groom his victims, the jury was told.
Arshad’s youngest victim was 13, while he paid a 16-year-old girl for sex…
| — Hat tip: Derius | [Return to headlines] |
Former Polish Presidents Say Government ‘Demolishing’ Democracy
Three former Polish presidents have accused the conservative PiS government of threatening democracy and the constitutional order. PiS is under pressure from the EU and Polish opposition for controversial reforms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Soldier Sliced by Man With Box Cutter
A soldier in eastern France has been attacked by an Arabic-speaking man wielding a box cutter, reports say.
The attack occurred on Saturday night near the central train station in Strasbourg, reported BFM TV.
At around 8pm, the man was reportedly walking in the same direction as some patrol troops when he turned around, sliced the face of one of the soldiers, then fled the scene.
The soldiers, who were patrolling the station as part of France’s heightened security measures following last year’s terror attacks, allowed the man to escape rather than risking the safety of the public or causing a stampede, they said.
The aggressor was reportedly speaking Arabic at the time, though did not say “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as has been the case in previous random attacks on soldiers and police in France…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
London Boasts Largest Number of Billionaires: Rich List
London has more billionaires — measured in pounds sterling — than any other city in the world, according to The Sunday Times newspaper’s Rich List 2016.
Some of the richest tycoons in Britain have lost vast chunks of their fortunes because of a retail slump, sinking oil prices and the steel industry crisis, the paper said.
Nevertheless, the overall fortune of the 1,000 wealthiest people in Britain was higher this year — and the country boasts 120 sterling billionaires, a figure beaten only by the United States (378) and China (193), the paper said.
And it said there were more sterling billionaires in London (77) than any other city, ahead of New York (61), San Francisco (57) and Hong Kong (49)…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Obama’s EU Comments ‘Inappropriate, ‘ Say 53% of Brits
A poll by YouGov suggests that Barack Obama’s high profile intervention in the UK’s EU Referendum may not have had the impact it was intended to. The US President’s article in the Telegraph on Friday hasn’t dented his personal popularity amongst the Brits, but polling suggests his comments were unwelcome.
UK voters were asked in a recent poll, whether or not it was “appropriate” for Obama to express a preference with regards to Britain’s vote in the upcoming EU Referendum.
Only 35% of respondents agreed with that statement, with a massive 53% saying it was “inappropriate” — despite that, the President’s net approval rating remains unchanged at +56.
Coinciding with his visit to the UK, President Obama published a controversial, but impassioned plea for UK voters to remain in the European Union. Writing in The Telegraph newspaper, he said:
“The European Union doesn’t moderate British influence — it magnifies it. A strong Europe is not a threat to Britain’s global leadership; it enhances Britain’s global leadership. The United States sees how your powerful voice in Europe ensures that Europe takes a strong stance in the world, and keeps the EU open, outward looking, and closely linked to its allies on the other side of the Atlantic. So the US and the world need your outsized influence to continue — including within Europe.”
The President also spoke about the so-called “special relationship” between the USA and Britain, hinting that it could be damaged irreparably by a vote to exit the EU in June.
Mr Obama’s pro-European plea sparked angry responses from a number of high profile advocates of a ‘Brexit’, not least the Conservative London Mayor, Boris Johnson:
“For us to be bullied in this way, I don’t want to exaggerate, for people to say we are going to be unable to cope on our own is absolutely wrong.”
Of course, this is not the first time that Mr Obama has intervened in a British constitutional debate; during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he made a similar plea — albeit more euphemistically worded — that the United Kingdom ought to remain “united.”
With just over two months before Britain goes to the polls to vote on its continued role in the European Union, campaigners on both sides are growing increasingly fractious.
The ‘Leave’ campaign in particular have cried foul over several interventions sparked by the UK Government; from the pro-EU leaflet sent to every home in the UK, to last week’s Treasury document forecasting a cost of US$6,200 per household in the event of a “leave” vote.
The referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU will take place on June 23rd.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland Yard Vows to Protect Minority Muslim Group Ahmadiyya After Glasgow Killing
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned British Muslims that attacks on the Ahmadiyya community would not be tolerated following the death of Asad Shah.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sperm Donors in Sweden Rush to Help Single Women
Sperm donors in Malmö have rushed to replenish dwindling stocks after single women in Sweden became eligible for artificial insemination his month.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden May Cut Turkish Association’s Funding Following Racist Epithets
Following the latest controversies, Sweden’s Turkish National Association risks having to pay back millions of krona the union earlier received in government grants; competent bodies question whether the association can be considered democratic at all.
On April 9, Barbaros Leylani, then vice president of the Turkish National Association, raised hell with a speech at a demonstration in Stockholm, where he announced his support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Also, a number of flag-waving members of the Grey Wolves, a Turkish supremacist, far-right and neo-fascist organization, were spotted at the demonstration.
“Death to the Armenian dogs! Death! Death!” Leylani shouted, among other things, according to Göteborgs-Posten.
This triggered an investigation to find out whether the Turkish National Association reflects the basic requirements of democratic values.
“This statement was not consistent with respect for human equality and human rights, and therefore we [initially] started this investigation on our own initiative,” says Anders Hagquist, communications director at the National Agency for Youth and Civil Society, MUCF.
Barbaros Leylani was forced to apologize and leave his post at the union. However, his confrontational statements are not the only thing that is now being investigated, according to Anders Hagquist. Numerous minority organizations and former members of the Turkish National Association have formally criticized the organization’s texts and speeches for being “hateful.”
“We have received many complaints in the past and now we need to examine them again, considering the recent situation,” he said.
Earlier, Sweden’s Armenian National Association reported the incident to the police.
“I was very, very worried when I saw the clip. This is very unnerving,” president Garlen Mansourian told TV4.
Despite the frequent complaints, the Turkish National Association has continued to receive state support of over half a million krona per year. According to the news portal Nyheter24, the state aid from MUCF (whose primary aim is to combat racism and promote integration in Sweden) amounted to 630,000 krona (roughly 80,000 dollars) last year alone. Now, MUCF may very see its funding cut, which spells doom.
This would be a disaster for the Turkish National Association, Union Secretary Yasin Ipek told Swedish Radio.
“We would probably go out of business and cease to exist as an association,” he said.
Yasin Ipek believes that last week’s debate was unfair.
“We are neither racists nor fascists. You cannot punish the whole union because of one person,” he says.
According to the Swedish Riksdag, which endorses state aid to minority societies, the Turkish National Organization is a large association, comprising over 12,000 members. At present, over 50,000 Turks are estimated to be living in Sweden.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Terror Suspect: I Want to be a Martyr
A 20-year-old former teaching student accused of plotting to attack Sweden told a court on the last day of his trial that he wanted to be a martyr.
Prosecutor Ewamari Häggkvist started the day at Attunda district court by asking the suspect if he aspired to martyrdom.
“Yes. It’s the greatest thing one can achieve in Islam,” said the accused.
The prosecutor claims the suspect tried to join Isis and also worked on making a homemade bomb for use in Sweden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Time for Austerity? Merkel Owes Her Party About €9,500 in Membership Fees
German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel owes her party about 9,500 euros ($10,660) in membership fees, local media has reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel’s debt to her own party amounted to 4,500 euros ($5,050), however, by now, her arrears have more than doubled, according to local media.
Back in 2014, Merkel’s debt to the party amounted to 4,500 euros ($5,050), however, by now, her arrears have more than doubled, the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper claimed.
The sum has increased sharply since Merkel is ascribed to the regional CDU unit in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that has introduced amendments to the party’s funding.
Under the amendments, the membership fees of parliament and government’s members should make up 6 percent of their salaries as a “special contribution to the party,” the newspaper noted.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mum ‘Had to Dump 500oz of Breast Milk’ at Heathrow Airport
A US mother-of-two has spoken of her frustration that she was forced to dump 500oz (14.8 litres) of breast milk at security at London’s Heathrow Airport.
In an open letter posted on Facebook, Jessica Coakley Martinez, who was travelling without her eight-month-old son, said she felt “humiliated”.
“You made me dump out nearly two weeks worth of food for my son,” she said.
Heathrow says the UK government’s rules on carrying liquids on planes are set out for passengers on its website.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Outrage as Man Who Killed Policeman in Stabbing Allowed Supervised Outings From Prison
Nicholas Vernage (pictured) killed Sgt Alan King when he confronted him during a robbery in Walthamstow, north east London, in 1991. He also killed his ex-girlfriend and a man he tried to burgle.
A triple killer who murdered a police sergeant is being routinely released from jail into the public domain, it has been revealed.
Nicholas Vernage, 51, killed Sgt Alan King when he confronted him during a robbery in Walthamstow, north east London, in 1991.
Days earlier he knifed his girlfriend, Lorna Bogle, to death raging that she failed to write to him when he was in prison, stabbing her 21 times in the hands, back and chest.
Three days after that he murdered Javaid Iqbal, 37, a part-time mini-cab driver, who tried to take him on when he discovered him burgling his home.
Vernage was given five life sentences for his crimes, which also included stabbing two other police officers after telling a friend how much he hated the force, adding: ‘All I want is to kill coppers.’
However, he is now being allowed supervised leave from prison — with officers now worried he is being prepared for full release.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sex Offender Who Assaulted Woman Has Curfew Lifted So He Can Go to Glastonbury
A sex offender has had his curfew lifted by a judge so he can party at Glastonbury.
Harry Webb, from Swindon, was under the influence of drink and drugs when he sexually assaulted a woman who had fallen asleep at his home after a night out.
The 21-year-old was spared jail for the attack, but was given an 8pm to 6am curfew by Judge Peter Blair QC at Swindon Crown Court on Friday.
However, when Webb’s lawyer explained that the defendant had already booked and paid for a ‘family outing’ at the music festival, his curfew was lifted from June 21 to June 27.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Welcome to Angered Camel Centre!
We have now began to realize our vision of establishing a Camel Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden.
We are leasing five hectars of land from Gothenburg City. The place is situated in Angered, a suburb of Gothenburg. There we will create a camel park, where most of the camel centre’s activities will take place.
The camel centre is going to have four areas of activities:
- camel husbandry and management
- tourism and events
- production and sales
- information, education and research
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Says NATO Three Months From Libya Coast Mission
NATO is three months away from launching patrols off Libya as part of a plan to stop migrants arriving in Italy, Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview published Monday.
Pinotti told daily La Stampa that Rome was expecting its allies to approve the plan at a summit of NATO leaders in Warsaw on July 7.
The mission would be part of a broader Italian plan to close the Western Mediterranean route into the European Union based on the return of so-called economic migrants to their countries of origin…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Women’s Blessing at Jerusalem’s Western Wall Curtailed
A bid by a group of Jewish women to challenge tradition at Jerusalem’s Western Wall with a blessing usually conducted by men was curtailed Sunday after a decision by Israel’s attorney general.
The plan was the latest by the group, Women of the Wall, to push for equal prayer rights at the site, the holiest location where Jews are currently allowed to pray.
Around 50 women gathered on the plaza leading to the wall amid Passover celebrations and held prayers, though without carrying out the full blessing.
They prayed under heavy police guard as a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and boys in dark suits looked on and harangued them…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Journalist Arrested in Turkey After Anti-Erdogan Tweets
A Dutch journalist was briefly detained Sunday by Turkish police on Sunday after sending tweets deemed critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to her Twitter account.
Ebru Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist of Turkish origin, said she was arrested at her home in Kusadasi, a resort town in western Turkey, early on Sunday and brought before a judge.
She later said she was “free but forbidden to leave the country”.
Umar, 45, recently wrote a piece critical of Erdogan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
How Islam Erased Christianity From History
Christianity is demonized and its history distorted by its usurping enemies: in the West, by a host of “isms” — including leftism, moral relativism, and multiculturalism — and in the Middle East, by Islam
While Christianity continues to be physically erased from the Middle East, lesser known is that its historical role and presence is also being expunged from memory.
Last month a video emerged showing Islamic State members tossing hundreds of Christian textbooks, many of them emblazoned with crosses, into a large bonfire. As one report put it, ISIS was “burning Christian textbooks in an attempt to erase all traces of” Christianity from the ancient region of Mosul, where Christianity once thrived for centuries before the rise of Islam.
As usual, ISIS is ultimately an extreme example of Islam’s normative approach. This was confirmed during a recent conference in Amman, Jordan hosted by the Jerusalem Center for Political Studies. While presenting, Dr. Hena al-Kaldani, a Christian, said that “there is a complete cancelation of Arab Christian history in the pre-Islamic era,” “many historical mistakes,” and “unjustifiable historic leaps in our Jordanian curriculum.” “Tenth grade textbooks omit any mention of any Christian or church history in the region.” Wherever Christianity is mentioned, omissions and mischaracterizations proliferate, including the portrayal of Christianity as a Western (that is, “foreign”) source of colonization, said al-Kaldani.
Of course, Christian minorities throughout the Middle East-not just in Jordan-have long maintained that the history taught in public classrooms habitually suppresses the region’s Christian heritage while magnifying (including by lying about) Islam.
“It sounds absurd, but Muslims more or less know nothing about Christians, even though they make up a large part of the population and are in fact the original Egyptians,” said Kamal Mougheeth, a retired teacher in Egypt: “Egypt was Christian for six or seven centuries [before the Muslim invasion around 640]. The sad thing is that for many years the history books skipped from Cleopatra to the Muslim conquest of Egypt. The Christian era was gone. Disappeared. An enormous black whole.”[ia]
[Comment: Recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Urges Gulf States to Adapt to Lower Oil Prices
The International Monetary Fund forecast Monday economic growth in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council will be 1.8 percent this year, down from 3.3 percent in 2015, and urged spending cutbacks.
In an interview with AFP, IMF regional chief Masood Ahmed also said the oil-exporting Gulf states should press forwards with diversifying their revenue base faced with persistent low crude prices.
OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia is expected Monday to announce reforms aimed at diversifying its almost total economic reliance on crumbling oil prices.
This year will see “a continuation of a low oil-price environment, so we are going to see further — maybe $100 billion or so, in terms of lower revenues from oil exports” Ahmed said of the GCC which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi King Sacks Utilities Minister Amid Anger Over Prices
The king of Saudi Arabia has sacked the country’s water and electricity minister, Abdullah al-Hussayen, amid public anger over price hikes, state media reported.
King Salman issued a decree on Saturday ordering his dismissal and replacement in the interim by Agriculture Minister Abdel Rahman al-Fadli, said the official SPA news agency.
His removal comes after the government reduced subsidies on electricity, water and other services.
In March, the Arab News daily reported that Hussayen had called on citizens to get permits to dig their own wells in the face of increasing complaints about high water bills…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey to Geneva: No, You Can’t Insult Erdogan Either
And now Erdogan’s campaign against his foreign critics has extended to the capital of political neutrality in Geneva, Switzerland. This time, it’s not targeting a comedian but an already dead teenager, a photo of whom is on display in Geneva as part of a photography exhibition across from the United Nations complex there. On Monday, the Turkish consulate filed an official complaint with Geneva demanding that the photo, taken by Swiss photographer Demir Sönmez, be removed from the ongoing exhibition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Demands Geneva Remove Photo Attacking Erdogan
The Turkish consulate is demanding the City of Geneva remove a photo from an exhibition directly blaming President Erdogan for the death of a teenage protester. Erdogan’s thin skin is stretching across national borders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Saudi Princes Are Panicked
The Saudi deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, recently pulled the plug on an output freeze deal that was scheduled to have been signed by oil producers in Doha, Qatar. Since then, the press has been filled with the same story: Prince Mohammed was offended because Iran was a “no show” in Doha. So, he shredded the draft output freeze agreement.
As it turns out, there is an economic story that explains why the Saudis began, in late 2014, to pump crude as fast as they could — or close to as fast as possible. In fact, there is a good reason why the Saudi princes are panicked and pumping.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chernobyl 30 Years on, A Soviet Legacy
The survivors of Chernobyl continue to fight for recognition 30 years after the disaster. Filip Warwick spoke to locals and explored the Exclusion Zone on the anniversary of the explosion and fire at the Soviet plant.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Doh! ‘Maidan Godfather’ Gets His Assets Frozen by London Court
Ukrainian business tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, one of the main sponsors of the Maidan coup d’état which rocked Ukraine two years ago, had $380 million of his assets frozen by a London court, Bloomberg reports.
The business news agency explains that Kolomoisky and fellow oligarch Hennadii Boholiubov have been accused by Russian oil company Tatneft of seizing control of a refinery being run as a joint venture in Ukraine, and of “siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars into their shell companies, according to documents filed at a London court. Two wealthy associates of the Ukrainians were named by state-controlled Tatneft in the suit that is seeking more than $334 million from the men.”
The asset freeze approved by a London judge includes Kolomoisky’s properties in the UK and France, including a one hectare French villa, and a 50 acre estate in the Haute Savoie region, a boat, and a private jet. Boholiubov’s frozen assets include expensive London properties, including a house on Belgrave Square near the gates of Buckingham Palace in London.
Kolomoisky, who is believed to have been one of the principle financial backers of the Maidan protests of late 2013 to early 2014, which culminated in the illegal overthrow of unpopular but democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych.
He would go on to be appointed governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Region, running it like his own personal fiefdom, before being dismissed by post-Maidan President Petro Poroshenko, with whom he had a series of high profile run ins, in March 2015. Among the scandals were allegations that Kolomoisky had siphoned off $1.8 billion in IMF loan funds into a bank account in Cyprus, and an ownership dispute over state oil company Ukrnafta.
Following his dismissal, Kolomoisky funded the so-called UKROP Party, a rag-tag collection of ultranationalists and outright neo-fascist MPS including Dmytro Yarosh, Andriy Biletsky, and Boryslav Bereza, each of whom have been accused of war crimes in eastern Ukraine.
Last month saw the closure of Kolomoisky’s Ukraine Today television channel, meant to serve as an alternative to the popular Russian broadcaster RT. Experts believe that the oligarch now lives in Switzerland, and spends time in the US, and is looking to get the remainder of his ill-gotten assets out of the country.
Long-known on the Ukrainian economic scene, Kolomoisky has been accused of using murder, bribery, and other illegal methods in his business dealings. A Russian criminal court launched a criminal case against him in 2014, convicting him in absentia of aggravated murder, kidnapping, obstructing the work of journalists and using prohibited means of warfare in eastern Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shock Claim: Ukrainian Fighter Jet Shot Down Malaysia Airlines’ MH17
A BBC documentary will air “shocking new allegations” about the downing of Malaysia Airlines plane MH17, including claims it was shot down by a fighter jet and not a ground-to-air missile.
The Boeing 777 exploded over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 people.
The official report concluded that the jet, bound for Kuala Lumpur, was downed by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from a Ukraine area under the control of Russian-backed rebels.
However, the programme will present new evidence that a Ukrainian fighter jet may have shot down the aircraft.
Another theory is that a CIA-backed “terrorist operation” planted two bombs on the airliner.
We heard a bang. At first we saw black smoke and two planes, little ones like silver toys.
[Comment: A Ukrainian rebel backed fighter…yeah…sure…More anti-Russia propaganda and lies dsigned to emotionally manipulate western public into WWIII.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
23 Dead in Pakistan After Eating Poisoned Sweets
At least 23 people have died and dozens of others fell ill in central Pakistan after eating sweets which police suspect were tainted with pesticides, officials said Monday.
Umar Hayat, a resident of the Karor Lal Esan area in Punjab province, bought the baked confectionery on April 17 to distribute among friends and family after the birth of his grandson.
But their celebrations turned out to be short-lived when ten people died on the same day…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Facing Its Worst Humanitarian Crisis Since War Began, Red Cross Says
The crisis in Afghanistan has escalated to a new level of urgency, the outgoing head of the International Red Cross said Sunday, citing a record number of civilian casualties and evacuations of war wounded.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Jean-Nicolas Marti said the drawdown of NATO forces has led to a rise in fighting.
The Red Cross says the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit a record high for the seventh consecutive year in 2015, with more than 11,000 innocent men, women and children killed or wounded, Reuters reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islam and Modernity: “Halal” Cosmetics Business, A 20 Billion Dollar Market
Beauty products, creams, makeup and lipsticks free of “prohibited ingredients” major market among Muslim women. Business volume expected to double by 2019, carving out a 6% share. According to the Global Islamic Economic overall value of the “halal” market will touch 7 trillion. China at forefront of production.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — The ban on the consumption of pork and spirits — along with their derivatives — under the precepts of Islam has pioneered the marketing of “Halal” products, which also allow the strictest observers of the Muslim religion to enjoy them. This is not just the case for food and drink, but also beauty products, perfumes and creams that contain “prohibited ingredients.” According to some studies, the growing demand for products devoid of the banned ingredients has increased the turnover of “halal make up” for a total value of 20 billion dollars. Moreover the industry is expected to expand profits in the future.
In recent days, one of the most important beauty fairs, aimed primarily at women, was held in Paris, in France. Among the various personalities in the various stands, there was also the Muslim leader Shaikh Ali Achcar busily explaining that makeup and Islamic rules can get along.
“When an animal-based product isn’t halal (“allowed” in Arabic), or contains alcohol, it’s not only forbidden to consume it, but it’s also considered to be impure: you cannot use it on your face, or your skin,” said Achcar, manning the stand of the Swiss-based Halal Certification Services (HCS).
“That’s why it’s increasing the need for halal products in cosmetics,” said the Brazilian, who heads HCS’s office in Madrid. The many to date off-limits products for Muslim women include lipsticks and perfumes, many of them containing pig fat or alcohol.
The European Union ban (Directive of 2013) on animal tests for cosmetics and the growing trend of cosmetic vegans have led to the growing spread of “bio” creams, makeup, lipstick. “The majority of the consumers do not know if the product comes from animal-based ingredients or not. So when they see the halal product, they buy it,” says Achcar, a copy of the Koran lying on the table beside him.
Until a few years ago the beauty products “lawful” for Islam was a niche sector, certainly not attractive to large industries in the sector; There were small companies, concentrated in Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore (Southeast Asia). However, the volume of business grew to touch 20 billion in 2014 and is expected to double by 2019, carving out a 6% share of the global cosmetics market.
Now even the most important companies are looking carefully at “halal production”, as well as the governments of nations with Muslim majorities that can recover a fair amount of money thanks to the certification of goods. Suffice the example of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world with 200 million inhabitants. Sources linked to the industries in the sector confirm that “for many, more than religion its about money”, although there remains the question of a “universal” certificate that is accepted by all nations with a Muslim majority.
In addition to cosmetic products, there are also other sectors that are looking with increasing attention at the phenomenon, such as (sic) alcohol-free wines in a recent exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Moreover, already today the world’s Muslim population is 27% of the total worth a total market of more than 2 trillion US dollars, and growing.
The Global Islamic Economic Report for 2015-16 estimated total value of the “halal” market at 7 thousand billion by 2019. Among the first countries in the world to recognize the potential was China, which has already begun production of ad hoc items
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Confirms Canadian Killed by Terrorists in Philippines
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the “cold-blooded murder” of a Canadian by terrorists in the Philippines who were holding him hostage.
Trudeau confirmed Monday that the victim was John Ridsdel of Calgary, Alberta. He was 68 years old.
Ridsdel was one of four tourists — including Canadian Robert Hall, a Norwegian man and a Filipino woman — that were kidnapped last September by Abu Sayyaf militants from a marina on southern Samal Island.
The militants had threatened to kill one of the three male hostages if a large ransom was not paid by 3 p.m. Monday local time — 0800 GMT.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s President Xi Stresses Communist Leadership Over Religion
Chinese religious groups must obey the staunchly atheist ruling Communist Party, President Xi Jinping has told a key meeting on religion according to state media, as Beijing tightens controls on civil society organisations and churches.
“Religious groups… must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC),” Xi told senior party officials at a conference ending on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency said.
But party members must be “unyielding Marxist atheists”, he said, calling on them to “resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong: Christians Protest Against Demolition of Crosses
Led by Card. Joseph Zen, dozens of Christians of all denominations protested to ask Beijing to stop the destruction of Christian religious symbols. The retired bishop of the territory: “We have less freedom here too, it is our moral duty to denounce this”. Xi Jinping meets religions: “You have to obey the Party, and Communist officials must be atheists and Marxist to defend ourselves against overseas infiltration “.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — A group of dozens of Christians led by Card. Joseph Zen has asked the Chinese government to stop demolishing crosses on mainland China and to release religious leaders from jail. The retired bishop of Hong Kong pointed out that freedom is declining even in the former British colony: “We need to speak out, to take action to prevent this from spreading”.
The protests were held yesterday in front of the Hong Kong Liaison Office with China. The Hong Kong Christian Institute, Christians for Hong Kong Society, Christian Social Concern Fellowship and Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Hong Kong were the four groups that protested yesterday. Participants chanted “respect for religious freedom” as they left flowers in memory of those who have died to affirm this right in China.
The group reminded those gathered that more than 2,000 crosses were removed or demolished in the province of Zhejiang alone since the end of 2013, when the campaign against Christian religious symbols was started by the local Party. In addition, the protesters asked the central government in Beijing to release pastors and priests imprisoned for opposing these demolitions.
Card. Zen he was worried the anti- Christian campaign could spread to Hong Kong. “The freedom is less and less. So we have to speak out because we, in Hong Kong, can see the possibility of the anti- Christian campaign spreading from the mainland,” he said.
The Hong Kong protests come one day after the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and representatives of the United Front (which gathers together all “non-communist” social groups in modern-day China).
During his address, Xi stressed that religious groups must obey the Party: “ Religious groups must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China”. But party members must be “unyielding Marxist atheists,” Xi said, calling on them to “resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: World ‘Greatly Worried’ Over China’s Maritime Expansion
Japan says its concerns over China’s military buildup in the South and East China Seas are shared by many other countries. The issue is expected to be discussed at upcoming talks between the two countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philippine Presidential Candidate Widens Lead After Rape Comment
A Philippine presidential candidate who joked about raping a murdered Australian missionary has widened his lead over his rivals despite a backlash from diplomats, the influential church and women’s groups.
Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of the southern city of Davao, emerged as the “clear front runner” in a survey that research institute Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Monday.
The candidate, who has promised mass killings of suspected criminals, saw his support rise from 27 percent of respondents in March to 33 percent in April, giving him a nine-point lead over second-placed Senator Grace Poe just two weeks before the vote…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic Republic of Congo: A Country Where Toilets Are a Sign of Hope
War, corruption and poverty have dogged the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is widely believed that incumbent president will cancel this year’s presidential elections. But despite the instability this could bring, Mary-Ann Ochota met a community who remain surprisingly upbeat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Equatorial Guinea’s Iron-Fisted Leader Set for Re-Election
Africa’s longest-serving leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, is set for re-election as the tiny nation of Equatorial Guinea goes to the polls Sunday.
Initially scheduled to be held in November, the vote was brought forward to April 24 following a presidential decree, with no reason offered for the change.
Obiang, who has ruled the west African country with an iron fist for more than 36 years, faces six candidates in Sunday’s vote.
The main opposition parties have however boycotted a vote that the doyen of African leaders looks certain to win…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa’s Zuma in Iran Praises 1979 Revolution
South Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma praised Iran’s 1979 revolution Sunday at the start of a three-day state visit which he said could “dramatically expand trade” with the Islamic republic.
The overthrow of a US-backed Shah was a source of encouragement as black South Africans fought against apartheid, Zuma said at a press conference with President Hassan Rouhani.
With international sanctions against Iran now lifted under its nuclear deal with world powers business activity is likely to increase.
“Iran occupies a special place in our struggle against apartheid,” Zuma said, noting how Tehran cut ties with South Africa when it was under white rule, only resuming relations in 1994 after Nelson Mandela was elected as its first black president…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico’s Ex-President Warns US Voters Against Trump as President
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is urging US voters to look before they leap. The global consequences would be dramatic if Donald Trump won the presidency, he told DW’s James Blears in Mexico City.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“Gone to Hell”: Invader Center Burns
Yet another planned invader center in Sweden, this time in Härnösand, has been burned down to the ground in an ongoing series of attacks against the nonwhite invasion of that country.
The fire, which was started early on Monday morning, April 25, completely gutted the building which was being prepared as a “home for unaccompanied refugee children.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For Germany’s New Arrivals, Bank Account is Key to Integration
“No more appointments today” reads a sign at a bank in Berlin where refugees are queuing to open an account — a key step towards integrating into German society, even if not all banks are playing along.
But Mohammed is one of the lucky ones and has an appointment for the afternoon.
The 29-year-old Iranian arrived early in the morning to secure a place in the queue at the Berliner Sparkasse, a savings bank that offers accounts for refugees.
And after an interview that normally takes 30 minutes, he hopes he will re-emerge waving an account number and a trademark red information pack explaining in three different languages and pictograms how to withdraw from an ATM or transfer money in the EU…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria and Iraq Signs Create Debate in Denmark
Traffic signs erected near asylum centres that displayed the distance to Syria and Iraq were removed over the weekend after attracting both detractors and supporters.
The signs were posted near the northern Jutland municipality of Thisted, which is home to six asylum centres.
Placed under existing signs, the new ones had a directional arrow and the text ‘Syrien 4426’ and ‘Irak 5317’, the distance in kilometres to the home countries of many of the asylum seekers.
The nationalist Danes’ Party (Danskernes Parti) claimed credit for the idea behind the signs on its website.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Editor of Bangladesh’s First Gay Rights Magazine Stabbed to Death
Unidentified assailants fatally stabbed two men in Bangladesh’s capital Monday night, including a gay rights activist who also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, police said, in the latest in a series of attacks targeting atheists, moderates and foreigners.
Police said they suspected radical Islamists in the attack, which occurred two days after a university professor was hacked to death. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Online Backlash Grows Against Target Bathroom Policy
Target is facing an increasing backlash over its policy allowing customers and employees to use whichever bathroom they choose, regardless of the gender listed on their birth certificates.
A pledge to boycott its stores, launched Wednesday by the American Family Association, has received more than 545,000 signatures.
“This means a man can simply say he ‘feels like a woman today’ and enter the women’s restroom… even if young girls or women are already in there,” a supporting statement on the website says. “Target’s policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trump on Transgenders in Public Restrooms
There’s a lot the sex change industry doesn’t tell you. Here’s a prime example from Charisma News. The picture is of Nancy Verhelst, a 44-year-old woman disappointed by her female-to-male surgery, who decided to die by euthanasia.
In a WSJ article, they state, transgender surgery isn’t the solution, a drastic physical change doesn’t address underlying psycho-social troubles. [Link] But studies repeatedly show that “transgender” people who seek to become the opposite sex are in fact not happy or fulfilled. In fact, a life-or-death internal war is continually going on within, to the degree that many, if not most, seek to end their lives.
Trump on Transgender Bathrooms
Trump was asked, in an interview on CBS News, about North Carolina’s controversial bathroom law, HB2, which, by stopping local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules, effectively requires so-called “transgender” people to use bathrooms assigned to their biological sex at birth.
In the interview, Trump said North Carolina should “leave it the way it is” because before HB2, “there have been very few problems. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic — I mean the economic punishment that they’re taking.” HB2 is negatively affecting North Carolina’s economy. [Link]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Widowed Ex-Senator, 90, To Wed Same-Sex Partner, 40
Harris Wofford, a Pennsylvania Democrat who served in the U.S. Senate between 1991 and 1995 — and who was married to a woman named Clare for 48 years, before she died in 1996 from leukemia — announced via an op-ed in the New York Times he had found love again and was set to marry, this time to a man 50 years his junior.
[Comment: Likely always swung this way. Marriage was just a beard — ie disguise.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rise in CO2 Has ‘Greened Planet Earth’
Carbon dioxide emissions from industrial society have driven a huge growth in trees and other plants.
A new study says that if the extra green leaves prompted by rising CO2 levels were laid in a carpet, it would cover twice the continental USA.
Climate sceptics argue the findings show that the extra CO2 is actually benefiting the planet.
But the researchers say the fertilisation effect diminishes over time.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s first Camelkaze center? Where there’s a market…
“Ebru Omar” is not a “Dutch journalist”, any more than Igor Kolomoisky is a “Cypriot” billionaire.
She is a Turkish journalist living in Turkey, her homeland. She happens to have a Dutch passport.
Kolomoisky is an Israeli Jew living in Switzerland (and the USA, on occasion) . He happens to have a Cyprus passport.
Words matter. Purchasing a passport does not make you a member of a different nation.
*** NATO is three months away from launching patrols off Libya as part of a plan to stop migrants arriving in Italy, Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said ***
These things can NOT be rushed.
Just getting to Libya is a navigational feat. How can the navy be asked to conduct such a difficult mission at all, let alone in three months? If 250,000 invaders come to Italy in the meantime, that is just the price that must be paid for proper planning and preparation.