Residents of an apartment building in Vienna called police when a man named Ismail S. went on a rampage, damaging objects. When he lunged at police with two large knives, an officer shot him dead. No motive for the attack has been determined.
In other news, citizens in Nice have built a makeshift “anti-shrine” out of stones and trash at the spot where the truck jihadi Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was stopped and killed by police. Pedestrians stop and spit on the pile when they walk past.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Dean, Dora, DV, Fjordman, Insubria, LP, Megan, MM, Vlad Tepes, WRSA, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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German Economy on a Knife Edge: Struggling Deutsche Bank Closes Nearly 200 Branches
GERMANY’S economy could be on the brink of collapse after its largest bank announced it will shut one-quarter of its branches.
Deutsche Bank will close 188 branches across Germany in the coming months, with 51 of them in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.
The lender has been forced to implement dramatic austerity measures after share prices plummeted by a staggering 48 per cent, marking an all-time low.
It has also pulled out of 10 foreign markets, including Russia and Australia, and is poised to cut around 3,000 full-time jobs. …
He said: “If Britain does not remain, the biggest banks would have the biggest problems. They have the most activities in and with London.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Baton Rouge Shootings: Gunman’s Videos Show Anger at Police
The man identified as the killer of three US police officers in Baton Rouge had posted videos complaining at police treatment of African Americans and urging them to “fight back”.
One of Gavin Long’s videos stresses he is not linked to any group but is “affiliated with justice”.
The ex-Marine, 29, was killed by police during the attack on Sunday morning.
Tension has been high since police shot dead a black man in Baton Rouge two weeks ago.
That death — and a second police shooting in Minnesota — sparked protests across the United States and triggered a revenge attack by a black army veteran who shot dead five officers in the city of Dallas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Helluva’ Shot Stopped Gunman in Baton Rouge, Officials Say
(CNN) Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said Monday that the attack that killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others showed why militarized police tactics are needed.
In the last two weeks, police have been ambushed by skilled gunmen in Dallas and Baton Rouge and have taken multiple casualties.
On Sunday, the Baton Rouge SWAT team’s training kicked in and the team performed flawlessly in responding to an ambush on officers, an emotional Dabadie said in the Louisiana city.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said he was “convinced” that if the SWAT team had not arrived when it did, the two wounded deputies would be dead and the gunman would have escaped to attack more officers.
A SWAT team rifleman took out the gunman from more than 100 yards without a clear line of sight, Dabadie said.
“That shot our SWAT team made was a helluva shot,” Dabadie said. “We’ve been questioned for the last (two) weeks about our militarized tactics and our militarized law enforcement. This is why. We are up against a force that is not playing by the rules. They didn’t play by the rules in Dallas and they didn’t play by the rules here.”
“This guy was going to another location. He was not going to stop here,” Dabadie told reporters. “He was going to take more lives.”…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Melania Trump Ignites GOP Convention After Gloom, Turmoil
CLEVELAND (AP) — After a harsh primary, Republicans kicked off Donald Trump’s general election campaign with a warm and personal validation from his wife, Melania Trump, who emotionally assured GOP convention delegates and voters across the country that the brash candidate has the character and determination to unite a divided nation
“If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you, he is the guy,” Mrs. Trump told delegates in her highest profile appearance of the presidential campaign.
Her husband made a brief, but showy entrance, into the convention hall to introduce her, emerging from shadows and declaring, “We’re going to win, we’re going to win so big.” He returned to the stage after his wife’s remarks, greeting her warmly with a kiss and cheering her on along with the crowd.
Mrs. Trump’s appearance was a sharp contrast to most of the night’s other speakers, who painted a bleak picture of an American future that they said only her husband can correct. The evening’s “Make America Safe Again” theme took on new resonance given the nation’s unsettlingly violent summer…
| — Hat tip: Megan | [Return to headlines] |
Note Near Vehicle Mentions Black Lives Matter Group
The Daytona Beach Police Department may have been the target of anti-police backlash early Sunday morning when someone firebombed an unoccupied squad car parked in front of a mosque and left a note near the destroyed vehicle attributing the act to Black Lives Matter.
According to Police Chief Mike Chitwood, the incident took place about 2 a.m. That’s when someone set fire to the cruiser parked outside the Islamic Center at 347 S. Keech St. The vehicle was engulfed in flames and destroyed.
Chitwood said police found a note at the scene that read “Black Lives Matter A. Sterling P. Castile (Expletive removed) the police.”
It was not yet clear exactly what was used to burn the vehicle, but Chitwood said he assumes the culprits used a Molotov cocktail. He said the firebombing caused more than $20,000 in damage to the vehicle.
Imam Belal Alzuhiry Shemman, the Islamic Center’s religious leader, could not be reached…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Officials Approve Convention Rules, Triggering Uproar
Republican officials on Monday hastily adopted convention rules by voice vote, setting off an unruly protest on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
The rules were adopted — in two voice votes — over objections from anti-Donald Trump delegates, shouting “roll call vote” in a dramatic showdown that effectively ended the Never Trump movement.
Those delegates were hoping for a state-by-state vote on the rules that bind delegates to back Trump.
The Trump camp was said to be “livid” at the revived push.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sheriff David Clarke Schools CNN’s Don Lemon on the Black Lives Matter Movement
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke was interviewed by CNN’s Don Lemon following the ambush of Baton Rouge police officers on Sunday. Lemon was no match for the sheriff.
Clarke began by scoffing when Lemon described the police’s reaction to the shooting as being one of peace and unity. Clarke challenged Lemon: “You don’t believe that, do you?”
He asked Lemon if there were any riots or protests over the death of the police officers in Baton Rouge or Dallas, but Lemon didn’t know.
“I’ve been watching this for two years. I’ve predicted this,” Clarke said. “This anti-police rhetoric sweeping the country has turned out some hateful things inside of people that are now playing themselves out on the American police officer.”
Lemon warned Clarke, “Sheriff, let’s just keep the vibe down here.”
“This anti-cop sentiment from this hateful ideology called Black Lives Matter has fueled this rage against the American police officer,” Clarke said.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Springs Neighborhood Infested With Mystery Bugs
One Spanish Springs neighborhood is dealing with a nasty bug infestation.
“It’s just creepy in ways, like whenever you think about it, you just feel it,” neighbor Logan said.
The Morris family has tried everything to get rid of them and nothing has worked.
“We’ve tried vinegar. We’ve tried bleach. Vinegar doesn’t affect them whatsoever. Bleach of course does kill them, but even there unless you’ve got a very large sprayer, you’re not going to get them all,” homeowner Lance Morris said.
KOLO 8 News Now wasn’t able to get ahold of any entomologists or exterminators Sunday, but we’re hoping to find answers Monday.
From our research, we believe they’re false chinch bugs, tiny little bugs that might be harmless, but can cover homes. Even pesticides and bug killer won’t keep these pests away.
“I do have some bug killer that does work slowly, but it’s supposed to be a barrier to keep them from coming back and that doesn’t affect them. They’ll just cross right over,” Morris said.
If they don’t find a solution, the Morris family doesn’t know how much longer they can stay in their home…
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Semitism ‘Widespread’ Among German Extreme Left
A study from the Free University Berlin (FU) suggests that anti-Semitic attitudes among the German far-left are more widespread than is generally believed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Attack on Nice: French PM Valls Booed at Commemoration
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has been booed as he attended a minute’s silence in Nice, where an attacker in a lorry killed 84 people on Thursday.
Hecklers shouted out “murderer” and “resign” at him before the minute’s silence, held across the nation.
Earlier, centre-right opposition leader Nicolas Sarkozy accused the government of failing to provide security.
Troops are to be redeployed to tourist spots as inquiries continue into the killer’s possible links to jihadists.
Mr Sarkozy, a former president, called for any foreign nationals with links to radical Islam to be expelled from France.
This was a scene that has never been seen before in France at a national act of homage: the head of government booed and called a murderer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Knife-Wielding Man Shot Dead by Police in Vienna
Police called out to a disturbance at an apartment in Vienna early on Sunday morning shot dead a man after he ran at them holding two kitchen knives.
The incident happened in Brüßlgasse in Ottakring when several neighbours called police after hearing noises and a woman’s screams coming from a nearby flat.
“A man had gone on a rampage and damaged several objects,” police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer told Radio Wien.
As four police officers approach the third floor flat, the man — named as Ismail S. by Österreich newspaper — reportedly came out of the open apartment door holding two knives.
The officers demanded 37-year-old Ismail S. put the weapons on the floor but he refused, and instead “went at the officers with two 20 centimeter large kitchen knives”, according to Maierhofer.
“He continued running, then the shots were fired,” he said.
It was not clear from police how many officers fired their weapon nor how many shots were made, although witnesses reported hearing four shots. The man then collapsed and died in the stairwell.
The 30-year-old wife of the man was found in the apartment and taken away by the police crisis intervention team…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Axe-Wielding Attacker Injures 15 on Train
A man wielding an axe and a knife has been shot dead after injuring at least 15 people in a rampage on a train in Germany.
Several of the victims are in a serious condition, police spokesman Fabien Hench told Sky News.
The attack took place between Ochsenfurt und Wuerzburg-Heidingsfeld train stations in Bavaria at around 21.15 local time
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Faith in Government Drops, Leaders Jeered as France Mourns Nice Victims
France (Reuters) — Crowds jeered France’s leaders at a tribute on Monday to victims of last week’s truck attack in Nice and an opinion poll showed a sharp drop in confidence in the ability of President Francois Hollande’s government to combat terrorism.
Before and after a minute of silence held to pay respects to the 84 dead, many of the thousands gathered in the south-coast resort city of Nice chanted “resign, resign” at Manuel Valls, the Socialist prime minister. Others yelled “Hollande, resign”.
The poll published in Le Figaro newspaper showed 33 percent of respondents were confident in national leaders’ ability to fight terrorism, down sharply from confidence levels of at least 50 percent in the wake of two major attacks last year.
“The government promises us things but nothing sticks,” Nice city resident Antony Fernandez told Reuters. “What have they done up to now to make us feel safe? And yet what do we expect? Every six months we’re going to mourn for more dead?”
Less than a year before a presidential election, political opponents have abandoned the restraint that usually prevails immediately after such national tragedies to sharply criticise Hollande and his government.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
French Don’t Trust Their Government on Response to Terrorism
Two thirds of French people do not trust the president or government on terrorism, with half believing that France is at war, and the majority wanting more “effective” responses to terrorism including an increase in military and policing personnel, harsher prison sentences, and greater surveillance and policing powers.
According to a survey conducted for Le Figaro the day after the Bastille Day attack in Nice, 67 per cent of respondents said that they do not trust President François Hollande and his government to fight terrorism. This is a sharp decline in confidence in the government, where between January 2015 and January 2016 the same survey showed that nearly one half of those surveyed trusted the government on matters of national security.
A staggering 99 per cent of respondents believe that the threat of attack is either “high” or “very high”, and half believe that France is at war, compared to 37 per cent in December 2015.
Distrust in the executive was felt highest among those on the right who vote Républicains and Front National, with just 17 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, saying that they trust the government to effectively fight the war on terrorism.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Geert Wilders Says the Netherlands Needs a Leader Like Donald Trump
There will be a lot of people who ‘whine, scream and yell’ if Donald Trump becomes president of the US but in the end it will ‘all be fine’, PVV leader Geert Wilders told BNR radio on Monday. Wilders is in the US to attend the four-day Republican convention, at which Trump is expected to be named Republican candidate for the presidency. Trump, Wilders said, is ‘someone who is good at getting himself heard’ and who focuses on ‘the interests of his own people’. ‘He will be a real American leader, who might not always be the best one from Europe’s perspective but defends the interests of his own people,’ the PVV leader said. ‘I wish we had political leaders like this in the Netherlands who defend their own country…. and forget the rest.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Secret Islamic Horror: How Blind Elites Are Destroying a Once-Great Nation
Sexual assault of women en masse was unheard of in modern Germany since the rape of Berlin in 1945, following the invasion of Soviet troops. But it became an abrupt reality again in 2016.
The news from Cologne shocked Europe, though the incidents were at first covered up to protect migrants. Police reports show that more than 2,000 men were involved in the sexual assaults. Only 120 of them were ever identified by the authorities. Those who were found were given suspended sentences of a year or less.
Both the scale of the crimes committed and the nationalities, religion and ethnicities of the assailants were obscured by both government and the media. Similar attacks in Hamburg and Stuttgart were simply not reported by journalists at all.
But recent interviews with victims have revealed the scale of the horrors they endured. One 23-year-old woman recounts: “They were everywhere with their hands. I had fingers in every orifice. I screamed the entire time.”
Women report having their underwear ripped off and being pushed to the ground after being circled by up to 50 men. One policeman described these events as rapes accompanied by thefts and robbery.
There are several reasons these attacks have not been reported on, or been reported on inaccurately. Firstly, the German police force itself covered them up. The Cologne police report released on January 1, described New Year’s Eve as “peaceful” and “relaxed.”
Even more astonishingly, an interviewee on Polish state TV has claimed CCTV footage of Cologne was deleted by senior police officers.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: De Benedetti Gets Five Years in Asbestos Deaths
Trial over 12 Olivetti worker deaths
(ANSA) — Ivrea, July 18 — A city court on Monday sentenced former Olivetti chief Carlo De Benedetti to five years two months in prison over 12 asbestos-related deaths at the company’s Ivrea plant near Turin. The workers, who did jobs ranging from assembling typewriters and machine maintenance to painting, died after their retirements between 2003 and early 2013, had been employed between the 1960s and 1990s in areas of the plant that were allegedly contaminated with asbestos fibers.
They were subsequently diagnosed with illnesses including mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos. The prosecution had requested six years and eight months for manslaughter and personal injury.
Trial Judge Elena Stoppini — who in May ordered a review of medical samples from the 12 victims — also sentenced Franco Debenedetti to five years two months (six years and four months requested) and ex-minister Corrado Passera to one year 11 months (three years and six months requested).
Passera served as Italy’s transport and industry minister from 2011 to 2013 in the emergency technocrat government of ex-premier Mario Monti.
The judge handed down a total of 13 sentences, of which three acquittals including that of former Alitalia president and erstwhile Olivetti CEO Roberto Colannino, who was on trial for one count of culpable injury.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Two Tunisians Arrested for Rome Rape of Girl, 16
Victim dragged to shack near Villa Ada park
(ANSA) — Rome, July 16 — Police have arrested two Tunisian nationals aged 26 and 30 on suspicion of raping a 16-year-old girl Sunday night near Rome’s Villa Ada park, La Repubblica daily reported Monday. The victim told police the two approached her on the street and dragged her to a shack, where they assaulted her. She escaped and stopped a police cruiser, which took her to hospital.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Man Attacks Passengers With Axe and Knife on Train in Germany
A man armed with an axe has attacked 20 people on a train in northern Bavaria, according to local police.
Three people were seriously injured and one person was lightly injured before the attacker was shot by police, a police spokesman told local newspaper Main Post.
The man reportedly attacked passengers on a regional train travelling between the town of Treuchtlingen and the city of Würzburg.
Police have now confirmed the attacker was carrying a knife and an axe and was shot while fleeing the train after it had stopped. The other passengers are said to be in a state of shock.
A man attacked passengers with “cutting and stabbing weapons”, the Bayerischer Rundfunk quoted police as saying.
The train line between Ochsenfurt and Würzburg remains closed while police investigations are ongoing. Police said there was as yet no indication of a motive.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
More Far-Left Violence in Berlin as 17 Cars Are Set on Fire
A total of 17 cars were damaged by arson attacks in the early hours of Monday morning. Police believe far-left extremists are responsible for at least two of the fires.
The attacks come as Berlin’s far-left scene has been involved in an escalating series of violent incidents with the capital’s police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mourners Spit on Place Where Lorry Killer Died
Mourners in Nice have built an anti-shrine on the site where the lorry killer was shot dead by police, moments after massacring 84 people.
Passers-by are stopping to spit on the pile of stones and rubbish which has built up in the spot where Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s deadly rampage was brought to an end.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Were the Real Victims of the Nice Terror Attack, The BBC Explains
by James Delingpole
More bad news from Nice: we learn from the BBC that local Muslims have been getting the cold shoulder from their kuffar neighbours. “People who yesterday would embrace me warmly are now cold towards me,” says one.
And all because of the unfortunate and terribly unfair coincidence that the man who mowed down over 100 people in a truck just happened to be called Mohamed, of Tunisian descent, and allegedly yelling “Allahu Akbar” as he went about his murderous spree.
“The worst affected by these attacks are us, the Muslims. We have seen an increase in abuse and threats,” complains local man Ahmed Mohamed.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Nice Attacker Had ‘Clear’ Interest in Radical Islam
France truck attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had a “clear, recent interest in the radical jihadist movement”, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Monday.
Investigations showed the Tunisian had searched on the internet for information on a terror attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando and the Paris suburb of Magnanville — where a police couple were killed last month.
Molins said the attack was “of a premeditated nature.”
Bouhlel staked out the site of the carnage in Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, on several occasions, took selfies there throughout the day of the attack and had reserved the rented truck on July 4th.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nice Attack: Why the Terrorists Are Winning the Intelligence War — Spengler
by David P. Goldman
Yet another criminal known to security services has perpetrated a mass killing, the Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. Why did the French police allow a foreign national with a criminal record of violence to reside in France? Apart from utter incompetence, the explanation is that he was a snitch for the French authorities. Blackmailing Muslim criminals to inform on prospective terrorists is the principal activity of European counter-terrorism agencies, as I noted in 2015. Every Muslim in Europe knows this.
The terrorists, though, have succeeded in turning the police agents sent to spy on them and forcing them to commit suicide attacks to expiate their sins. This has become depressingly familiar; as Ryan Gallagher reported recently, perpetrators already known to the authorities committed ten of the highest-profile attacks between 2013 and 2015.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Nice, France Attacker Reportedly Recruited by Algerian ISIS Fighter, Researched Orlando Massacre
The uncle of the truck driver who killed 84 people on the French Riviera says his nephew was indoctrinated about two weeks ago by an Algerian member of the Islamic State group in Nice, as anti-terrorism authorities question potential accomplices in the devastating attack.
France held a countrywide moment of silence Monday to remember the victims, but the national mourning was punctured by anger and political division. Crowds massed on the Riviera seafront booed the visiting prime minister, whose Socialist government is coming under increasing criticism from the public and the conservative opposition for failing to prevent the Bastille Day carnage.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nostalgic Germans Hoarding Billions of Deutschmarks
Fourteen years after the introduction of the Euro in cash, Germans are still holding onto their Deutschmarks (DM), mainly for the sentimental value attached to them.
The DM, which was introduced in West Germany in 1948 under Allied rule and adopted in East Germany in 1990, was replaced by the Euro in 2002.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rotterdam Mayor Appeals to Dutch Turks to Stay Calm in Coup Aftermath
Rotterdam’s mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb has appealed to the Turkish community in the Netherlands ‘to stay calm’ following Friday night’s failed military coup. The Telegraaf reported that windows had been smashed at cultural centres in Rotterdam and Zaandam, and that supporters of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan were circulating ‘boycott lists’ of Turkish businesses in Amsterdam that were critical of the president. ‘What has happened in Turkey is already bad enough,’ the paper quoted Aboutaleb as saying. There are some 500,000 people of Turkish origin in the Netherlands.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Several Injured in Attack on Train Near Würzburg, Southern Germany
Multiple injuries have been reported on a train near Würzburg after a man went on a stabbing rampage. According to Bavaria’s Interior Ministry, the suspect has been shot dead by police.
A police operation is underway in the German town of Heidingsfeld, part of the southern city of Würzburg, after a man launched an attack on a passenger train at around 9.15pm local time (1915 UTC) on Monday.
According to Bavaria’s Interior Ministry, a 17-year-old Afghan shouted “Allahu Akbar” before launching the attack using a knife and axe. The suspect was shot dead by police as he attempted to flee the scene.
Three people were seriously injured and a fourth suffered light injuries. Another 14 people were reportedly held up in the train.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann said the possibility of life-threatening injuries couldn’t be ruled out.
The train route between Ochsenfurt and Würzburg has been closed.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan’s Appeal to Islamists in Wake of Failed Coup Spurs Fears for Turkey’s Future
Shouts of “Allahu Akbar” and sermons blaring from speakers continue to echo throughout the cosmopolitan districts of Istanbul in the wake of Friday’s failed military coup, creating a “surreal” scene and stoking fears a nation that remained proudly secular for the last century could be hurtling down the path to full-blown Islamic rule.
As the coup attempt unfolded, President Recep Tayip Erdogan rallied his supporters to the streets and squares of major cities. Long Erdogan’s base, the nation’s most fervent Muslims had steadily been moving from smaller cities and rural villages into the secular intellectual bastions of Istanbul and Ankara. His urgent call amid the coup attempt brought into sharp relief the cultural clash that defines Turkey’s past, and likely, some fear, its future.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Coup Attempt: General Akin Ozturk Denies Role in Plot
A former air force commander has denied being a ringleader of Friday’s attempted military coup in Turkey.
Gen Akin Ozturk and 26 senior officers were charged with treason and remanded in custody by a court on Monday, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
But in a statement to prosecutors, the general insisted: “I am not the person who planned or led the coup.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany and the EU also said any move by Turkey to reinstate the death penalty for the coup plotters would derail Ankara’s long-stalled membership bid.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Brussels that Friday’s attempted putsch was “no excuse” for excessive action.
“We will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that,” Kerry told a press conference with Mogherini.
The EU and US “urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of law,” he added.
Mogherini said as EU foreign ministers met that the “rule of law has to be protected in the country, there is no excuse for any steps that take the country away from that”, adding that it was “for the sake of the country.”
The EU commissioner dealing with Turkey’s long-stalled bid for membership of the bloc said it appeared that the government had already prepared a list before the coup of people to be rounded up.
Germany and the EU also said any move by Turkey to reinstate the death penalty for the coup plotters would derail Ankara’s long-stalled membership bid.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Brussels that Friday’s attempted putsch was “no excuse” for excessive action.
“We will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that,” Kerry told a press conference with Mogherini.
The EU and US “urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation’s democratic institutions and the rule of law,” he added.
Mogherini said as EU foreign ministers met that the “rule of law has to be protected in the country, there is no excuse for any steps that take the country away from that”, adding that it was “for the sake of the country.”
The EU commissioner dealing with Turkey’s long-stalled bid for membership of the bloc said it appeared that the government had already prepared a list before the coup of people to be rounded up.
“I mean, (that) the lists are available already after the event indicates that this was prepared and at a certain moment should be used,” enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn told reporters.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman denounced “revolting scenes of caprice and revenge against soldiers on the streets” after disturbing pictures emerged of the treatment of some detained suspects.
After Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey would consider a return of capital punishment, spokesman Steffen Seibert said such a move “would mean the end of EU membership talks.”
Mogherini was quick to echo the German position.
“Let me be very clear… no country can become an EU state if it introduces the death penalty,” she said.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Privatization Plugging Budget Holes in Russia
Russia’s government has sold a 10.9 percent stake in its diamond miner Alrosa. It’s the first in a series of privatizations planned as the government tries to plug the country’s budget deficit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Islamists Stop Construction of Shrine Dedicated to the Virgin Mary Near Yogyakarta
Catholic leader and shrine promoter Cahyo Binuko receives threats and is the victim of intimidation. Local authorities issued a building permit months ago, but local extremists have tried to stop the construction, accusing Catholics of playing games with local residents’ minds. Now they are putting pressures on the authorities to withdraw the building permit.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Islamic extremists have undertaken a campaign of intimidation against a Catholic family in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia, to stop the construction of a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
In recent days, some members of a fundamentalist group stormed the house of Cahyo Binuko, a Catholic leader in Gunung Kidul District, ordered him to stop the work, even though he has a building permit issued by the authorities.
The Binuko family has been involved for some time in building a place of worship dedicated to the Virgin on their own land. According to the promoters, the Giri Wening shrine would be open to everyone and would promote worship and prayer.
The project began in September 2009, accelerating in 2012, following the visit of the former Archbishop of Semarang Johannes Pujasumarta. The area became popular in March of that year, when dozens of Islamic extremists set fire to the shrine site bringing everything to a halt.
Stubbornly, Catholic leaders, led by Cahyo Binuko, continued the project. In February, they obtained the building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan, IMB) from local authorities.
Building non-Muslim places of worship in Indonesia is complicated and may take five to ten years before permits are issued.
This is even more difficult for Christians who need to get the signatures of (at least) 60residents in a particular area, plus the local chief’s consent, before they can apply.
Often “unspecified reasons” lead officials, under pressure from radical Islamic movements, to stop projects.
This is why Christian leaders tend to remain silent over building permits, taking a cautious approach that is often not enough to prevent attacks and intimidation by Muslim extremists.
The latest episode unfolded Wednesday of last week when a mob forced its way into the house of Binuko family, accusing them of playing games with the minds of local residents in order to build their shrine.
Under pressure from extremists, local leaders and police chief forced Cahyo Binuko to sign a statement saying that he would stop building the shrine until the authorities ruled on the building permit.
Meanwhile, radical groups have already contacted local officials to get them to withdraw the permit.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Catholics number seven millions or about 3 per cent. In Jakarta, they are about 3.6 per cent. They play an active role in society, the country’s development, and emergency situations.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Road to High-Tech Supremacy
China wants to become a leading high-tech power by 2049. To achieve this goal, Chinese businesses are acquiring firms and know-how in the West. But many industry experts are concerned about the development.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea ‘Fires Three Ballistic Missiles Into Sea’
North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, say US and South Korean military officials.
The missiles were launched from the western city of Hwangju, said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The US said the first two were believed to be short-range Scud missiles while the third was presumed to be a mid-range Rodong.
It comes after the US and South Korea said they would deploy an anti-missile system to counter the North’s threats…
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Fury as TV Host Calls for End to Muslim Immigration Because ‘She Would Like to Feel Safe’
A TV presenter has found herself engulfed in controversy after calling for Australia to ban Muslim immigration.
Channel Nine Today Extra co-host Sonia Kruger angered her colleagues and viewers after she asked for a halt to Muslim immigration to Australia because she “would like to feel safe”.
Kruger’s views became apparent when she commented on an article by conservative columnist Andrew Colt, who wrote that jihadist terrorists had made France “Europe’s bloodiest battlefield” because “France let in the most Muslims”.
Kruger said: “Personally I think Andrew Bolt has a point here that there is a correlation between the number of Muslims in a country and the number of terrorist attacks.
“I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslim, who are peace-loving, who are beautiful people but there are fanatics and does the population and a correlation between those two things have an effect?
“If you look at Japan, Japan has a population of 174 million and has 100,000 people in that country who are Muslim. We never hear of terrorist attacks in Japan.
“Personally, I would like to see it stop now for Australia because I want to feel safe as all of our citizens do when they go out to celebrate Australia Day and I would like to see freedom of speech.”
Her comments caused a furious backlash from her fellow presenter David Campbell who rebuked her desire for “freedom of speech”.
“I would like to see freedom of religion as well, as well of freedom of speech because they both go hand-in-hand,” Campbell told her.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Argentine Jews Urge President to Help Solve Terror Bombing
Jewish leaders asked President Mauricio Macri to help solve Argentina’s worst terrorist attack as the country observed the bombing’s 22nd anniversary Monday.
The 1994 attack on the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association collapsed the organization’s main building, killing 85 people and leaving hundreds injured in the rubble.
During the ceremony Monday, Macri presented a flower wreath as sirens blared and the families of the victims held photographs of their loved ones.
Survivors also criticized previous governments for not solving the crime.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twin Falls Elected Officials Getting Blow Back in Rape Case; They Are Not the Victims
…but you might think so if you read two articles that appeared in my alerts this morning!
I urge you to read the two stories here and here and remember three things (I know you know!).
1. The little girl is the victim!
2. Threats of violence against anyone are never condoned.
3. Elected officials hate controversy, so keep the pressure on them.
On number three: Many of the elected officials in Twin Falls failed in their duty to be fully transparent with the community and all those concerned for the well-being of the real victim. Some called those who wanted answers (and are still waiting for answers) racists and bigots.
To see this cry-baby spin on the story now—that the poor elected officials are being besieged by e-mails from all over the country—is maddening.
They asked for the job of representing the people of Twin Falls, and as the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!
And,learn a lesson as it relates to the Refugee Admissions Program : Citizens of a community being targeted as a federal resettlement site have every right to all the answers about how the program is run, what it costs, who is coming and from where, and must have their questions answered as it relates to security and crime. Additionally, they must be told who in the business community is promoting and benefiting from the arrival of low-skilled workers from the third world…
| — Hat tip: WRSA | [Return to headlines] |
Heiko Maas would have them arrested for that anti-shrine!
If I were neare Nice, I’d buy a couple of Qurans and throw them into that anti-shrine for a full picture.
You forgot to add bacon. 🙂
Really seems the French public has had enough of the “all talk and no action” socialist politicians toward the growing Islamic terror attacks. The Socialists are in trouble, and Le Pen has a real chance for political power.
.
Richard Dawkins:’To hell with their culture’
TOP academic and atheist Richard Dawkins has attacked western society’s relaxed attitude to radical Islam in an extraordinary outburst.
http://snaphanen.dk/2016/07/18/stop-muslimsk-indvandring-helt-nu/
http://ef-magazin.de/2016/07/19/9441-nach-zug-attentat-bei-wuerzburg-16-fragen-eines-die-bild-zeitung-lesenden-arbeiters
16 questions by a Bild newspaper reading workers – funny in a sad way.
It was amusing. After no offer to translate the page popped up, I cut and pasted a section into Google translate:
10.[Why] the perpetrator of Würzburg without the welcome policy of Chancellor had ever [been] allowed to stay in Germany?
The question has been deleted by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The questioner is cautioned. He is threatened with a Facebook-blocking.
11. Some of the victims are from Hong Kong. Is the act damaging Germany’s image abroad and have a negative impact on tourism, as is alleged in Pegida the case?
Answer: The image of Germany in the world is damaged by German right-wing extremists and xenophobes. Since the offender himself was a foreigner, like there is no fear.
12. Had the man to be shot? If the officer can not incapacitate shoot him?
Answer: The Greens will introduce a bill that says traumatized gunman may only be shot incapacitating.
13. How can I protect myself as citizens from these attacks?
Answer: That’s unnecessary. The likelihood that you will die in a car or household accident is statistically many times higher. We recommend a surly indifference.
14. Do I have to prevent the entry of other individual perpetrators, select AFD?
The AFD is responsible for the radicalization of Muslims. With her right slogans, it offers a bogeyman. Without incitement AfD teenagers would not drift into radicalism.
15. Why do you speak now in the majority? You said just that it was isolated incidents? And this Afghan: Was the German for? Or incited the AFD already on Afghan?
…
Hello?
…
16. Ernst Thalmann said in 1932: “Who votes for Hitler votes for war.” If I fancy a similar set with Merkel and immigrant violence and post on the Internet, what happens then?
Answer: Two officers are already on their way.
————–
I like #16
This satirical Q&A format could be put to good use in a number of American stories.
I think an anti-shrine is great idea… I wish somebody in those areas would start a couple of them for the killers of the Dallas and Baton Rouge cop killers.
“Pedestrians stop and spit on the pile when they walk past.” This would no doubt get them arrested in Germany.
For the first decade of this millennium the best bet on which European population would be forced into dhimmitude was a horse race between Sweden and France due to trending demographics. It now seems that Germany will blow them away coming out of the last turn due to its masters sheer will to obedience.
If a knife-wielding attacker was shot dead by police in Jerusalem instead of Vienna, the human rights campaigners would be going on about how it was an execution.
Just sayin’.
you mean “just observing” what already happens…
New Rules:
A surly indifference to tobacco and smoking caused them to go away. A surly indifference to drunk driving caused it to go away. A surly indifference to racial prejudice, womens’ rights, and LGBT bigotry caused their supporters to go away.
So this is the first time in the theory of hermeneutics, argumentation, and pragma-dialectics where we can’t reason and dissect and holler and scream and yell?…Because you make your opponent more numerous and stronger?
Do you lack an irony detector, Mr Palmer?