The democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has finally conceded that his candidacy is over by announcing his support for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democrat nominee. Many of his devoted supporters say they feel betrayed by his reconciliation with the rival he reviled for so long, but it’s not clear whether any of those committed idealists will switch their support to Donald Trump.
In other news, two high-speed trains collided head-on near Bari in southern Italy, killing at least 27 people and injuring many others.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, DV, ESW, Fjordman, KS, LP, 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.
Obama Attends Service for Dallas Officers, Implores ‘Hope’ Amid ‘Suffering’
President Obama joined the Dallas community Tuesday to honor the memories of the five police officers killed last week by a sniper, saying they “answered the call” to protect fellow Americans who now “are struggling with what we have witnessed.”
“The people of Dallas, people across the country, are suffering,” the president said at a memorial service where George W. Bush and others spoke. “All of us are wounded and suffering.”
The officers were fatally shot Thursday by Micah Johnson, a 25-year-old black Army veteran, purportedly angry about two recent incidents — in Louisiana and Minnesota — in which a police officer fatally shot a black male.
The killings occurred during a protest in downtown Dallas over the Louisiana and Minnesota incidents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Parents Upset After Stanford Shopping Center Security Robot Injures Child
The parents of a young boy who got knocked down and run over by a security robot at Stanford Shopping Center want to get the word out to prevent others from getting hurt.
They said the machine is dangerous and fear another child will get hurt.
Stanford Shopping Center’s security robot stands 5’ tall and weighs 300 pounds.
It amuses shoppers of all ages, but last Thursday, 16-month-old Harwin Cheng had a frightening collision with the robot. “The robot hit my son’s head and he fell down facing down on the floor and the robot did not stop and it kept moving forward,” Harwin’s mom Tiffany Teng said.
Harwin’s parents say the robot ran over his right foot, causing it to swell, but luckily the child didn’t suffer any broken bones…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Police Arrest 5 People Suspected of Firing Shots at Washington, D.C., Officers
Police arrested five people for allegedly shooting at officers in Washington, D.C., early Tuesday, officials said. No injuries were reported.
The group allegedly fired at police to avoid arrest, not as part of a targeted attack on cops, a police official toldThe Washington Post .
Officers in marked police cruisers were responding to reports of gunshots just after midnight in southeast Washington, D.C., near Martin Luther King Elementary School, when the cops were shot at by people inside an SUV, police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.
Police returned fire at the suspects, who barricaded themselves in the vehicle, Sternbeck said. Officers ordered the group to come out, but they refused.
After about 30 minutes, three women and two men in the SUV surrendered to authorities. None of the five had been publicly identified as of Tuesday morning.
The investigation will include whether the individuals who were arrested may have been involved in any other crimes before police arrived.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Sanders Endorses Clinton, Touts ‘Most Progressive Platform’ In History
Bernie Sanders on Tuesday delivered his long-awaited endorsement of Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton — who in exchange for that support gave the Vermont senator a platform to lay out what amounts to his socialist-inspired vision he expects Clinton to carry and the party to promote.
The Vermont senator spoke at length as he endorsed Clinton and went on to hammer his own campaign agenda that includes Wall Street reform, free college, a higher minimum wage and expanded, government-backed health care.
In turn, Clinton echoed many of Sanders’ campaign priorities, completing the embrace of many planks of his agenda that has been in the works for weeks — notably, on college debt.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission Under Fire Over Barroso Bank Job
The European Commission has tried to stave off criticism after its former president, Jose Manuel Barroso, went to work with US investment bank Goldman Sachs.
It said that Barroso, under EU rules, had no obligation to notify the commission about his decision.
Commissioners are required to tell the executive if they want to take up a sensitive job within 18 months after they leave office.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France is on the verge of a ‘civil war’ which could be sparked by the mass sexual assault of women by migrants similar to the one seen in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, the country’s head of intelligence has said.
He believes the situation is so tense and fragile that another major Islamist terror attack or mass migrant sexual assault could lead to a huge right-wing backlash.
Patrick Calvar, chief of the Directorate General of Internal Security, told members of the French parliamentary commission: ‘We are on the brink of civil war’.
According to French newspaper Le Figaro, he said: ‘This confrontation I think it will take place.
‘Even one or two attacks and it will happen. It therefore behooves us to anticipate and block all these groups.’
Yesterday a leaked report revealed a staggering 1,200 women were sexually abused in German cities during the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Mother Confesses to Killing of Eight Babies
The mother of eight dead babies found in a small Bavarian town made a confession through her lawyer in court on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Train Crash: ‘Twenty-Three Killed’ Near Bari in Collision
Twenty-three people have been killed and dozens hurt in a head-on collision involving two passenger trains in southern Italy, officials say.
The two trains were on a single-track line at the time of the crash, between the coastal towns of Bari and Barletta.
The emergency services have been trying to free passengers from the shattered carriages, near the town of Andria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Face Veil Ban for Workers is Not Discriminatory, Austrian Court Rules
Preventing an employee from wearing a veil is not discriminating against them, one of Austria’s highest courts has ruled.
In the landmark decision, Austria ‘s Supreme Court (OGH) said that if clothing prevents communication, an employer may legally dismiss them.
The decision was made in the case of a woman who already wore an Abaya, which is an Islamic overgarment, and headscarf, but who was fired after she told her boss she wanted to wear a veil covering her face…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
“I felt the Lord’s presence so intimately and the Lord has come through for me in miraculous ways that I could never have imagined. Despite the recent brutal attack outside my home, I have no doubt whatsoever that the Lord was watching over me and preserved my life as it could have been fatal. I felt His warm and glowing presence throughout the ordeal and its aftermath.” — Nissar Hussain
(The UK) — [Assist News Service] Several weeks ago, the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) received letters from Karen Bradley MP, the UK Home Office Minster for Preventing Abuse, Exploitation and Crime, concerning the case of Nissar Hussain, a UK-born man living in Bradford, who has been the subject of a vicious November hate attack for quitting Islam. (Photo Credit: Assist News Service)
The shocking incident took place on November 17, 2015, when Hussain, 49, a Christian father-of-six, was brutally set upon by hooded thugs with a pickaxe handle who targeted him as a “blasphemer” because he had converted from Islam.
During the attack, Mr. Hussain had suffered a shattered knee cap and broken hand when two hooded thugs battered him with a pickaxe handle outside his home.
In a CCTV video located outside his home, he can be seen being repeatedly hit with the weapon, punched and kicked by the attackers who leapt from a car as he left his home in Bradford, an industrial city on the edge of the moors of the Britain’s West Yorkshire Pennines and in the heart of Bronte Country — where the Bronte sisters were born and lived and wrote their classic novels.
But this was not fiction for Nissar Hussain who says he has been leaving in fear for years since converting from Islam to Christianity…
| — Hat tip: KS | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Calls for Action to Crack Down on Sexual Crimes
Five rapes and around 60 sexual offences have been reported at three music festivals across Sweden this summer, an “enormous” spike from previous years, according to police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twenty Killed, Dozens Injured as Trains Collide in Italy
Twenty people died and dozens were injured on Tuesday when two passenger trains collided at high speed in southern Italy, sending debris flying into surrounding olive groves.
Three carriages were torn apart by the violence of the impact after the two trains hit each other head-on as they traveled down the same stretch of track that links the small towns of Corato and Andria in the region of Puglia.
“Unfortunately the death toll has risen to 20,” said Giuseppe Corrado, deputy head of the local province. He appealed for blood donors to go to local hospitals, with at least 30 people hurt in the crash.
There was no immediate indication of what had caused one of Italy’s worst train disasters in recent years, but the government promised a full and swift investigation.
“Tears and grief for the victims and their families, but also a lot of anger. We demand clarity over what happened in Puglia this morning,” Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Twitter. He was expected in the region later on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Two Attempted Assassinations on Farage During Referendum Campaign
At least two would-be attackers were caught trying to smuggle knives into campaign rallies attended by UKIP leader Nigel Farage before he stood down, it has been revealed.
It is also claimed that a surge in death threats against Mr. Farage and his family contributed to him stepping down as the leader of UKIP.
The threats, some deemed “credible” by police, are even thought to have been made against his two young daughters, aged 11 and 16.
One source told the Express: “He has been very concerned about the death threats. They have really got to him.”
Another source explained to the Sunday Times: “While there was a campaign to fight and a cause to stand up for, he [Farage] put up with the s***.
“He’s not running away from threats but it’s part of the mood music of a modern politician, particularly one who is as high-profile and one who has upset so many people.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Hasn’t Changed Its Behavior 1 Year After Nuclear Agreement Reached, US General Says
Two days before the anniversary of the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers led by the United States, a top U.S. military commander says Iran has not changed its behavior, as five Iranian patrol boats took turns shadowing a U.S. Navy warship he was visiting in the Persian Gulf.
Army General Joseph Votel, who leads U.S. Central Command, said while the deal has frozen Iran’s nuclear weapons program for a time, the activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces still concern him in the Persian Gulf and beyond. Among those activities: capturing 10 U.S. Navy sailors at gunpoint when their vessels drifted into Iranian territorial waters in January.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh: Catholic Woman Doused With Gasoline and Set on Fire
Maya Karmokar lives with her elderly mother in the village of Kajura. Relatives report that the woman has no enemies. After the attack she was admitted to a hospital, but then returned home because has no money to pay for treatment. Local Catholics count about 4 thousand, mostly poor and needy.
Jessore (AsiaNews) — A Catholic woman was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the village of Kajura, Jessore district (southwest Bangladesh). The woman, named Maya Karmokar, was asleep in her bed when unknown persons entered the house and attacked her.
Her desperate cries attracted the attention of relatives, who arrived just in time to save her life. Rushed to the hospital, doctors found burns over most of the body. Now, however, she has returned home and is under the care of a local doctor, because she can not afford specialized medical treatment.
The attack took place Sunday, July 9, just 15 days after the massacre in Dhaka, where five Islamic terrorists killed 20 people. Yesterday the local police returned to the place of the attack and gathered information. The criminals are still unknown.
The dynamics of the attack was so sudden that the woman herself was not able to recognize who attacked her. “I could not figure out who they were — she said — I only felt the fire burning my skin and I started crying in pain.”
Maya, 45, has worked as a nurse in the medical facility operated by the diocese of Khulna. Single and childless, she lives with her elderly mother and takes care of her.
She remained hospitalized just for one day and had to return home because they can not afford better treatment. She says: “I have no enemies, I do not know why they want to kill me!”.
Salomon Das, a relative, confirmed that the woman has good relations with everyone, and this is why family members are shocked by the brutal violence and demand that justice be done.
Fr. Ananda Gopal Biswas, parish priest of the Catholic church of Shimulia, which serves the Maya’s village, told AsiaNews: “I heard of the attack and I strongly condemn it. I express my closeness to my parishioner”.
The Catholic community of Shimulia consists of about 4 thousand faithful, mostly poor and needy. The violence against the Catholic woman is not the first incident of this kind. Recently several members of Bangladesh’s minorities, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, have been attacked but also moderate Muslims who are targeted for their liberal ideas.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Muslims Kidnap Christian Girl in Faisalabad, Kill Father When He Tries to Rescue Her
A 14-year-old girl has been abducted on the pretext of a job. Her father was persuaded to withdraw a complaint against her abductors, but instead of getting his daughter, he was killed in cold blood on his way to rescue her. His wife and three daughters now live in fear of reprisals, and ask for help from God’s people.
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) — Two months ago, a group of Muslims abducted a 14-year-old Christian girl in Faisalabad, and later killed her father in cold blood when he tried to bring her home.
Since then, the kidnapped girl’s mother and three sisters live in fear and indigence. They cannot leave home, go to work, or attend to chores for fear of retaliation from the Muslims against whom the girl’s father had filed charges before being killed.
Najma Bibi, the girl’s mother, told AsiaNews that “several months after my daughter’s kidnapping, the police have not done anything because we have no money to defend our rights. We live in a hopeless situation, we need help. I pray that my daughter will continue to place hope and faith in Jesus Christ.”
The murder victim is Tanveer Masih, 42, Najma Bibi’s husband and Mehwish’s father. He and his family lived in Khalid Colony slum. He worked as a rickshaw driver. Whilst his eldest daughter looked after the house and the younger sisters, his mother and Mehwish served as domestic workers in private homes.
Mehwish went to school until eighth grade, but then had to abandon her studies for lack of money and to help the family. On 12 March, a Muslim family visited the Masih-Bibi house to ask if they could hire Mekwish’s services for a party that evening. They said they would bring her back at the end of the celebrations.
However, she never made it home, and has been missing ever since. Tanveer, desperate, went several times to the Muslim family that had hired his daughter, asking them to release her. Every time he was prevented from seeing her, given some explanation like she was out on some errands.
He also tried reconciliation through the village council, without success. After several failed attempts, Tanveer went to Raza Abad police station on 10 May and filed a complaint of abduction against Umar Daraz, Muhammad Zahid and Mobeen Rehman.
Immediately, Tanveer began receiving threatening phone calls, telling him to withdraw the complaint. But he refused to be intimidated and made a supplementary statement before the police.
At that point, two of the accused went to Tanveer’s house and told that they could settle the matter out of court if he withdrew all charges.
When he agreed to do so in order ensure his daughter’s safety, he went to a prearranged meeting, but instead of his daughter, he met two gunmen on a motorcycle who shot him to death on Jhang Road, in Thikriwala.
Local police filed a murder case, but did not arrest anyone. For this reason, Najma Bibi and the other three daughters live holed up in their home in fear that the accused of the two crimes — murder and kidnapping — might want to kill them too.
In the past few months they have survived thanks to the support of relatives, who bring them bread and butter.
“I want my daughter back,” Tanveer’s widow said. “I want the perpetrators brought to justice. I have no money to buy food or continue the legal battle. I ask help from God’s people.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Brexit Strains London’s ‘Golden’ Ties With Beijing
The UK has tried hard to strengthen its already robust economic relationship with Chinese politicians and businessmen. But many now question Britain’s future as an investment destination — and a gateway to the EU.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Rejects Tribunal’s Ruling on South China Sea Land Grab
A tribunal at The Hague ruled in a sweeping decision Tuesday that China has no legal basis for claiming much of the South China Sea and had aggravated the seething regional dispute with its large-scale land reclamation and construction of artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and the natural condition of the disputed areas.
China “does not accept or acknowledge” the tribunal or the ruling, China’s state Xinhua news agency said. The nation has long maintained that the tribunal did not have jurisdiction over the dispute.
The ruling is binding on both countries under a United Nations treaty that both have signed, but there is no policing agency or mechanism to enforce it. The ruling still constitutes a rebuke, carrying with it the force of the international community’s opinion. It also gives heart to small countries in Asia that have helplessly chafed at China’s expansionism, backed by its military and economic power.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South China Sea: China Defiant as Tribunal Backs Philippines
China has firmly rejected an international tribunal ruling that its claims to rights in the South China Sea have no legal basis.
President Xi Jinping said China’s “territorial sovereignty and marine rights” in the seas would not be affected by the ruling “in any way”.
But he insisted China was still “committed to resolving disputes” with its neighbours.
The Philippines brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UN: 36,000 Displaced in South Sudan
The United Nations says about 36,000 people have been displaced since fighting began in South Sudan last week.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that about 5,000 of those have sought shelter at a U.N. compound in the capital Juba. Some 28,000 people had already been living there since 2013. Government troops fired on the U.N. compound, killing at least 8 civilians.
South Sudan’s government has said at least 272 people have been killed, including 33 civilians, in fighting that broke out Thursday night with gunfire between opposing army forces that raised fears of a return to civil war.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Leans on Military to Combat Food Shortages
Venezuela’s Defense Minister is getting a major promotion as the socialist-run country struggles to combat severe shortages and stave off food riots.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Commission Stays Course on Migration After Brexit
Avramopoulos says policy won’t change despite falling popular support.
The European Commission’s migration chief says there are no plans to rethink the bloc’s migration policy after the British vote to leave the EU, despite claims from some countries that the issue is fueling Euroskepticism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europeans Fear Wave of Refugees Will Mean More Terrorism, Fewer Jobs
Sharp ideological divides across EU on views about minorities, diversity and national identity
The recent surge of refugees into Europe has featured prominently in the anti-immigrant rhetoric of right-wing parties across the Continent and in the heated debate over the UK’s decision to exit the European Union. At the same time, attacks in Paris and Brussels have fueled public fears about terrorism. As a new Pew Research Center survey illustrates, the refugee crisis and the threat of terrorism are very much related to one another in the minds of many Europeans.In eight of the 10 European nations surveyed, half or more believe incoming refugees increase the likelihood of terrorism in their country…
| — Hat tip: ESW | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s Rail Motorway Halts Over Calais Migrant Crisis
A rail motorway that takes trailers from Spain through France to the UK has been halted because of the number of migrants trying to break into trailers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berliners’ ‘Huge’ Response to Need for Refugee Guardians
Thousands of vulnerable refugee children have arrived alone in the German capital. Locals have been enthusiastic to help.
Currently, the youth welfare offices of Berlin are being inundated by a stream of refugee children who have fled from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Syria.
Roughly 5,100 unaccompanied underage refugees have arrived in the German capital since 2015, according to the Senate Department for Education.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Six in Ten Germans Link Terrorism to Refugees: Survey
A majority of Germans fear the recent refugee influx will heighten the risk of terrorist attacks and cost their country jobs and social benefits, said a survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wanted
Languages spoken: Norwegian, English and Arabic