The Italian coast guard has rescued 6,000 would-be migrants in the Mediterranean Sea since last Thursday. Meanwhile, Hungarian authorities apprehended more than 200 people who attempted to cross the border from Serbia over the weekend. Also, Serbia arrested eleven people for smuggling immigrants into Hungary.
In other news, Pope Francis decried those who would equate Islam with terrorism.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, Dean, Fjordman, Nick, Nimrod, Reader from Chicago, Seneca III, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Black Lives Matter Coalition Makes Demands as Campaign Heats Up
More than 60 organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement have released a series of demands on Monday, including for reparations.
The list of six platform demands is aimed at furthering their goals as the presidential campaign heads into the homestretch.
The release of the six demands comes a few days before the second anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., which set off months of protests and led to a national conversation about police killings of blacks.
As part of the effort, the groups are demanding, among other things, reparations for what they say are past and continuing harms to African-Americans, an end to the death penalty, legislation to acknowledge the effects of slavery, as well as investments in education initiatives, mental health services and jobs programs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Deadliest July in Chicago in 10 Years
Trinyce L. Sanders-Wilson was a member of the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church for more than 20 years. She was in the choir and worked with the children at the West Side church.
As she left Sunday services and crossed the street to her car over the weekend, her estranged husband walked up and shot her dead, authorities said. Then he killed himself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
John McCain Condemns Donald Trump Over Row With Khan Family
Senator John McCain and other Republican leaders have condemned Donald Trump’s remarks about the family of a fallen US Muslim soldier.
Mr McCain said Mr Trump did not have an “unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us”.
Mr Trump has come under fire for criticising the Muslim American parents of a US soldier killed in Iraq.
Democratic lawmakers and the soldier’s father have called on Republicans to disavow Mr Trump.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mother, 2 Children Killed in SW Miami-Dade Shooting; Suspect ID’d
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) — A South Florida mother and two of her children were killed, and her 12-year-old son was taken to the hospital, after a shooting that took place in Southwest Miami-Dade, early Sunday.
Investigators have also identified the man who, they said, was responsible for the shooting.
Miami-Dade Police received a call at 3:47 a.m. about a shooting at a home near Southwest 115th Avenue and 203rd Terrace. Upon arriving, they discovered a 39-year-old woman and a 19-year-old girl dead inside the home.
7News cameras captured police surrounding the home as loved ones were heard screaming. “I’m picking up pieces of what’s going on,” said relative Tarsenda Bennett.
Family members said the victims found dead at the scene were Takeeya Fulton, a mother of six, and her daughter, Nuckeria Harris.
Two other victims, the mother’s 17-year-old and 12-year-old sons, were found alive. They were taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where the older boy later died and the 12-year-old remains in stable condition.
Sunday night, police identified the suspect as 32-year-old Antwon Fair. Officers said he should be considered armed and dangerous.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Far-Right Candidate Increases Lead
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer has widened his lead ahead of October’s repeat election for the presidency, according to a Gallup poll published by the Oesterreich tabloid on Sunday. Some 52 percent support of 600 respondents said they would back Hofer, with his opponent Alexander Van der Bellen, a Green-backed independent, trailing on 48 percent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Franco-Swiss Tension Stirs Up Trouble at Geneva Airport
Some 200 French workers recently hired by Geneva airport can’t start work because France is refusing to give Switzerland information vital for security checks, according to reports.
According to the Tribune de Genève, for the past two months the French authorities have refused to hand over police records on French residents and former residents to Geneva police so they can carry out security checks on employees at Cointrin airport, which straddles the border between the two countries.
While they will tell the Swiss if a person is known to French police, they won’t hand over detailed information regarding a person’s criminal record.
As a result, nearly 200 new employees recruited for jobs at the airport cannot be given the necessary security clearance and are still waiting to start work, causing concern among airport officials who fear they may be left understaffed at the height of the tourist season.
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Religious Muslim Boys More Violent, Study Says
A study that shows boys growing up in religious Muslim families are more likely to be violent seems set to reignite the debate over religion and integration, a media report said on Sunday.
The study, which involved intensive questioning of 45,000 teenagers from 61 towns and regions across the country, was conducted by Christian Pfeiffer of the criminal research institute of Lower Saxony.
Pfeiffer said he was dismayed by the results, and told theSüddeutsche Zeitung he was a strong critic of political campaigns which painted foreigners as criminals — such as those led by Roland Koch and Thilo Sarrazin.
Pfeiffer’s work took into account the level of education and standard of living in the families of the children — aged between 14 and 16 — who were questioned. He also asked them how religious they considered themselves, and how integrated they felt in Germany.
Pfeiffer said that even when other social factors were taken into account, there remained a significant correlation between religiosity and readiness to use violence. There were some positive correlations too he said, noting that young religious Muslims were much less likely than their non-Muslim counterparts to drink alcohol — or to steal from shops…
| — Hat tip: Nimrod | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Munich Shooting Memorial Calls for Tolerance and Peace
Munich paid tribute to nine victims of a shooting rampage on Sunday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck attending the memorials that called on people to resist slipping into fear and hatred.
Christians, Jews and Muslims came together at the city’s Gothic landmark church Frauenkirche for a non-denominational service, at which Cardinal Reinhard Marx said mistrust and fear must not have the last word.
Dhari Hajer, who chairs the city’s Muslim council, also warned Germany against falling into a “vicious cycle of hatred and violence” as the country seeks to come to terms with a series of assaults over the past two weeks.
The gun rampage at a Munich shopping mall on July 22 by 18-year-old David Ali Sonboly came four days after a 17-year-old Afghan refugee seriously wounded five with an axe attack.
Two days later, Germany was hit by a kebab knife assault that left one dead and a suicide bomb attack that wounded a dozen people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: ‘What If?’: Daily Life in the Face of Terror
When fears of terrorism creep into daily life, it changes a person. Once that feeling of security is lost, the improbable suddenly seems possible — and that’s how terrorism works. It depends on people losing sight of those odds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Tensions as Tens of Thousands Rally for Erdogan in Cologne
Tens of thousands of supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied in the German city of Cologne on Sunday as tensions over Turkey’s failed coup put authorities on edge.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said he will not resign despite political pressure from some member states. In an interview with the Belgian daily Le Soir on Sunday, he said he had no intention to step down. “I am a free man, if I want to stop, I’ll do it without asking anyone,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Latest Wave of Terror Attacks Exposes EU’s Internal Divisions
For the last six decades, wherever it has been able, and to varying degrees, the EU has lifted barriers to freedom of movement. But now it faces a serious challenge to that policy.
Used to adopting immediate measures to deal with crises, for the first time, the EU has no means at its disposal to avoid indiscriminate terror attacks of the kind carried out in Paris, Nice, Brussels or Germany over the last nine months.
In response, radical parties on the far right have sought to capitalize on the alarm, and even some mainstream social democratic parties are calling for measures that run contrary to the democratic traditions of the EU.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Discovery Rewrites History of Denmark’s Biggest Royal Castle
Excavations of Denmark’s biggest castle show that an overlooked king, Knud VI, played a much bigger roll in its history than was previously thought.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Defends Muslims and Blasts ‘Islam is Not Terrorism’
POPE Francis said yesterday it was wrong to identify Islam with terrorism and that social injustice and idolatry of money were among the prime causes of terrorism.
[I don’t remember any jihadist yelling out ‘I want a pay rise!’ as he self-detonated.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Opposes Branding Islam as ‘Terrorist’
It is “neither right nor true” to label Islam as a terrorist religion, Pope Francis said aboard the papal plane. He lamented young people turning to drugs, alcohol and fundamentalist groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Romania’s Former Queen Anne Dies, Aged 92
The last queen of Romania has died at the age of 92. Anne of Bourbon-Palma and her husband Michael — the country’s last monarch — lived for many years in exile, but remain popular with many in Romania.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish PM: Trump’s Campaign Based on ‘Fear’
But Sweden will still endeavour to maintain a good relationship with the US even if Donald Trump becomes president, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Top Swedish Priest: Islamists Have Declared War on Christianity
“It’s time to wake up”
A priest who represents the largest religious community in Sweden has warned that Europe needs to “wake up” to the fact that Islamists have declared war on Christianity.
Annika Borg, who is a priest in the Swedish Church, an Evangelical Lutheran national church that boasts 6.2 million members, wrote anop-ed for Sydsvenskan in which she decried Sweden’s reaction to last week’s murder of a Catholic priest in France by Islamists, asking why churches were silent on the issue.
Asserting that “the genocide of Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East” has been largely ignored for years, Borg states that Father Jacques Hamel was slaughtered like an animal.
His murder “removes any doubt about the bloody declaration of war directed against Christianity on European soil,” by Islamists, she writes, pleading “What is it you do not understand? What is it you do not see and do not hear?”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
‘Topple Danish Government to Drive Through Muslim Ban’
One of the Danish People’s Party’s most influential figures has called for it to topple the minority centre-right government of Lars Løkke Rasmussen in a bid to force through a temporary ban on Islamic immigration.
Søren Krarup, the priest regarded as the party’s chief ideologue, said he supported the call made on Thursday by the party’s deputy leader Søren Espersen for a total ban on immigration from Muslim countries for a period of 4-6 years, and believed that the best way to achieve this was to withdraw support from the government.
“In my opinion, the Danish People’s Party should topple the [Lars] Løkke [Rasmussen] government without reflection,” Krarup told Denmark’s Berlingske newspaper. “Løkke is a completely unqualified leader, who would rather cultivate a European supra-nationalism than to treat Denmark as a Christian country with our own historical context.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Blasts German Ban on Erdogan Speech
Turkey on Sunday condemned a German court decision banning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing his supporters by video link at a rally in Cologne.
Germany is home to Turkey’s largest diaspora and the rally scheduled for later Sunday was expected to attract tens of thousands of people opposed to the failed July 15 putsch.
Several smaller counter-demonstrations were also planned, including one billed “Stop Erdogan” and another called by far-right activists, raising concern the demonstrators could clash.
Amid fears that the crowds could be riled by live screenings of speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdogan, Germany’s constitutional court banned an application for such broadcasts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘I Do Live in Fear, I Do Live in Hate’ Katie Hopkins Hits Out at Met Chief on ISIS Threat
KATIE HOPKINS has lashed out at Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe after the Metropolitan chief insisted Britain should “not hate or be cowed” despite announcing a terror attack on the country appeared imminent.
Talking on her LBC show, Katie Hopkins raged against the Met commissioner for saying the country should not fight hate with hate.
The presenter spat: “The crux of it is telling the truth, speaking out, saying this is concerning. We do live in fear.
“Listen up. Bernard Hogan-Howe if you want to interview me under caution again I’d be delighted to meet and give you another piece of my mind because frankly I do live in fear. I do live in hate. You have been cowed.”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bradford Kings Science Academy Staff Convicted of Fraud
The founder of a flagship academy and two members of staff have been found guilty of defrauding the government out of £150,000.
Sajid Raza, 43, Shabana Hussain, 40, and Daud Khan, 44, made payments from Department for Education (DfE) grants into their own bank accounts.
The grants were given to set up Kings Science Academy in Bradford in 2011. It opened in 2012.
The three were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court following a six-week trial.
Granting bail, Judge Christopher Batty told them “I am very much considering custody” for September’s sentencing.
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Leytonstone Tube Attacker Caged for Life Over ‘ISIS-Style’ Knife Attack
A MAN who tried to behead a Tube passenger in an ISIS-style attack has been given a life sentence.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tube Station Knife Attacker Sent to Broadmoor to Start Life Sentence
A schizophrenic knifeman who tried to behead a musician during an Islamic State-inspired rampage at a Tube station has been sentenced to life in prison.
Somali-born Muhiddin Mire, 30, targeted strangers at random in the ticket hall at Leytonstone Underground station in east London on December 5 last year.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
What Really Caused the Voices in Joan of Arc’s Head?
Joan of Arc’s claim to fame — the mysterious voices she heard and visions she saw during the Hundred Years’ War — may actually have been due to a form of epilepsy, Italian researchers suggest.
Dr. Guiseppe d’Orsi, a neurologist at the University of Foggia in Italy, and Paola Tinuper, an associate professor of biomedical and neuromotor sciences at the University of Bologna, also in Italy, described their hypothesis in a letter to the editor, published in May in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Will Soldiers Join Cops on German Streets?
Germany’s military and police forces want to work more closely together. But critics note that only the police have the legal authority to ensure domestic security.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia Clears Path for EU Membership
Bosnia’s rival leaders have agreed to key conditions set by the EU for membership, amid pressure to get a much needed IMF loan. “We solved today a set of issues which open the way for the acceptance of Bosnia’s application … but also open the way towards the IMF arrangement,” leader of the Muslim Bosniak SDA party and chairman of the country’s three-man inter-ethnic presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, said on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Opens New Front Against ISIS With Airstrikes in Libya
The United States launched a new round of airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Libya on Monday, Pentagon officials confirmed, opening a more persistent front against the terror group that had no specific “end point” as long as the fragile Libyan government needed U.S. help.
President Obama authorized the strikes after the United Nations-backed Libyan government made its first request for this type of aid, the Pentagon said. It marked the third round of U.S. strikes in Libya since November.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Break the Cross: Vile ISIS Propaganda Mag Calls on Jihadis to Destroy Christianity
ISLAMIC State jihadis have urged followers of the twisted death cult to destroy “arrogant Christian disbelievers”, calling on Muslims to “pray for Allah’s curse to be upon the liars”.
[Calling on who? Radicalised individuals? Lone wolves? Extremists? No. Just ‘Muslims’. How interesting.]
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Iran’s Oil Contract Due Wednesday to Lure Foreign Investment
Iran is expected to approve a new model for oil contracts on Wednesday, as part of a push to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment to help rebuild its energy industry.
“We are awaiting government approval due to be out on Wednesday,” Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said at an energy conference in Tehran on Monday. “Our priorities will be jointly owned oil and gas fields, as well as those in which we are after improved oil recovery.”
Iran has been working on the oil contract model for the past two years. The Persian Gulf country hopes foreign companies will invest as much as $50 billion a year in its oil sector. Major European oil companies such as Italy’s Eni SpA and France’s Total SA have expressed an interest in developing Iran’s oil and gas fields.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Details ‘Why We Hate You’ In New Magazine
In the new edition of its full-color, glossy magazine, ISIS mocks those who claim Islam is a peaceful religion, and even wades into the controversy surrounding Donald Trump and the parents of a dead Muslim U.S. soldier.
The 15th issue of Dabiq, published on July 31, is titled “Break The Cross” and appears to be primarily directed at those that ISIS considers its enemies, particularly Christians. One section is devoted to the words and actions of Pope Francis and is headlined “In The Words Of Our Enemies.” An editorial titled “Why We Hate You and Why We Fight You” takes aim at Westerners and “apostate ‘Imams’ in the West” who refuse to define ISIS’ motivation as being Islamic. ISIS calls this rhetoric purely political.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State’s Child Soldiers: First Come the Sweets, Then the Beheadings
The Islamic State is holding thousands of young boys captive in Syria and Iraq, where it is teaching them the Koran and how to become deadly child soldiers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait Raises Petrol Prices by More Than 80%
The Kuwaiti cabinet Monday decided to raise petrol prices by more than 80 percent from Sep. 1 as part of economic reforms aimed at countering falling oil revenues.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar Air Raises Holding in British Airways Owner Iag to 20%
Qatar Airways Ltd. raised its stake in British Airways owner IAG SA to 20 percent, taking advantage of a drop in the company’s stock price since the Brexit vote to tighten ties with its main European partner.
The state-owned carrier, which increased its holding from 15.7 percent as of July 28, doesn’t plan to add to the stake, the company said Monday in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Helicopter Shot Down in Syria, All 5 Onboard Dead
A Russian transport helicopter was shot down in opposition rebel territory in northern Syria on Monday and all five crew and officers onboard were killed, the Kremlin said, in the deadliest single incident for the Russian military since its involvement in Syria’s civil war.
The Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in Idlib province while returning to the Russian air base on Syria’s coast after delivering humanitarian goods to the city of Aleppo, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The helicopter had three crew members and two officers deployed with the Russian center at the Hemeimeem air base on the Syrian coast.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Shelling From Yemen Kills Four Across Saudi Arabia Border
A cross-border missile has struck a family home in the Saudi town of Samtah, near Yemen, officials said. The deadly attack follows a clash between Saudi border guards and Yemen “militias” that left seven guards dead.
Cross-border fire has so far killed over 100 Saudis, both soldiers and civilians.
The fighting in Yemen began in March last year, with Shiite rebels taking over the capital of Sanaa and eventually forcing president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia. He has since managed to return to Yemen. His troops have failed to reclaim the capital city, however, despite the air support from the Saudi-led coalition.
The Houthi movement is believed to be backed by Saudi’s archrival, the Shiite-dominated Iran.
The UN estimates that over 9,000 people have died in the conflict. Additionally, the war put millions on the brink of starvation in the poorest Arab country. Al Qaeda militants also used the power vacuum to seize a part of the Yemen’s territory.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: US Combat Units on “High Alert” After Incirlik Surrounded
Vero Beach, FL — (TRUNEWS) Fort Campbell, KY and other active duty combat installations through the U.S. were placed on high alert status Friday, according to a military source.
All units in the 101st Airborne Division are currently operating under a 12 hour recall order as of Friday night, according to the active duty soldier, and other combat bases are also on the same recall status for potential combat deployment.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Calls in Senior German Diplomat After Cologne Rally
Turkey summoned a senior German diplomat on Monday, the embassy said, a day after a rally in Cologne in support of the Turkish president who was not permitted to address the crowd by video conference.
“The charge d’affaires has been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry at 1.00 pm [local time],” a spokeswoman for the German embassy told AFP, adding that the ambassador was not in town.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dangerous Propaganda: Network Close to NATO Military Leader Fueled Ukraine Conflict
Working with dubious sourcing, a group close to NATO’s chief military commander Philip Breedlove sought to secure weapons deliveries for Ukraine, a trove of newly released emails revealed. The efforts served to intensify the conflict between the West and Russia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Armenian President Promises “National Accord” Government
YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia’s president has promised to create a government of “national accord” following a two-week standoff at a police compound that has left two police officers dead and shaken the nation.
Serzh Sargsyan said Monday such a government could be formed in a few months, but vowed to keep “terrorists and their defenders” out of it. The president spoke a day after the gunmen who had seized the police station surrendered to authorities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia ‘Draconian’ Security Law in Force
Tough new legislation has come into force allowing the government to declare martial law over a perceived “security threat.” Critics say democracy is threatened as sweeping powers can be used against political opponents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
MH370 Was Flown Into Water, Says Canadian Air Crash Expert
A world-leading air crash investigator has said he believes flight MH370 was deliberately flown into the sea.
Larry Vance told Australian news programme 60 Minutes that erosion along the trailing edge of recovered wing parts indicated a controlled landing.
The Boeing 777 disappeared while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board in March 2014.
The official investigation team has said it is investigating whether the plane was piloted in its final moments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police Name Bangladeshi-Canadian as Dhaka Attack Mastermind
Bangladeshi officials have identified Tamim Chowdhury as the mastermind behind a terror attack in Dhaka in July, in which 22 people were killed. The attack was followed by a second strike in the country’s north.
Police found clues leading to Chowdhury after raids in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur area earlier this week, in which nine militants were killed. Chowdhury’s role in the attacks was revealed after officers interrogated 25-year-old Rakibul Hasan, a militant arrested in the Kalyanpur raid.
“He trained the extremists behind the two attacks and the nine extremists killed in Kalyanpur,” an official told AFP news agency. He “used to visit the extremists’ flat and give them necessary funds and encourage them by talking about jihad and religious issues,” he added.
Chowdhury, a dual Canadian-Bangladeshi national in his early 30s, returned to Bangladesh from Canada three years ago.
He is suspected of leading a faction of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a group blamed for the attack on Dhaka’s upmarket Holey Artisan Bakery — a strike initially claimed by the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sri Lanka: Ex-Strongman’s Supporters Oppose War Crimes Probe
Tens of thousands of supporters of Sri Lanka’s former president have held a protest march accusing the government of betraying the nation by agreeing with the United Nations to investigate allegations of war crimes during the country’s civil war.
The protesters reached the capital, Colombo, on Monday after marching for several days from the central town of Kandy.
They also accused the government of wanting to divide the country by granting more powers to ethnic minority Tamils.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand Lese Majeste: Woman Charged Over Single Word Used on Facebook
A woman has been charged in Thailand over a single word used in response to a Facebook posting critical of the royal family.
Thai police dropped the investigation into Patnaree Chankij after an international outcry earlier this year.
But the country’s attorney general decided to press charges against her under Thailand’s lese majeste laws.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Amazon Japan Enticing Shoppers From an Unexpected Place: China
Just before the stores open in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, buses pull up, unleashing Chinese tourists and their credit cards to snap up televisions, rice cookers and other gadgets. Walk into any department store and there they are, buying mascara, t-shirts and other merchandise.
China’s infatuation with Japanese products is now discovering a new source of satisfaction: the internet. And Amazon.co.jp is responding.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Stakes a Strong Claim in the Greek Electricity Landscape
The strong presence of Chinese firms came as a surprise in the tender for the concession of 24 percent of power grid operator ADMIE, given that the interest of both Italy’s Terna and France’s RTE had been taken for granted.
Government sources describe the Chinese interest as very significant and associate it with Beijing’s strategy to acquire stakes in energy infrastructure projects in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Tech Pleads Guilty to Acting as Agent of China
A veteran FBI electronics technician — who had top secret clearance — pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of acting as an agent of China, and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Kun Shan Chun, who also went by the name “Joey Chun,” was born in China and began working for the FBI in 1997. Chun’s duties with the FBI included “accessing sensitive and, in some instance, classified information.” He’s set to be sentenced in December.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taiwan President Gives First Apology to Indigenous Groups
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has officially apologised to the island’s indigenous population for centuries of mistreatment, the first time a leader has done so.
Speaking to representatives from 16 recognised native tribes, she said Taiwan had to face “the truth” to move forward “as a country of one people”.
Ms Tsai said a historical justice commission would be established.
Immigrants from mainland China arrived in Taiwan about 400 years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Online Fraud: Top Nigerian Scammer Arrested
A Nigerian behind thousands of online scams around the world has been arrested in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, Interpol says.
The 40-year-old man, known as “Mike” is alleged to head a network of 40 individuals behind global scams worth more than $60m (£45m).
His operations involves using targeted malware to take over systems, use compromised emails and romance scams.
Nigeria’s anti-fraud agency was also involved in the arrest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The U.S. Blew $1.4 Billion on Abstinence Education in Africa
The effort was supposed to prevent the spread of HIV—but it didn’t work, according to the most comprehensive study of the program
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela’s Hospitals Reduced to ‘Wartime Conditions’
Efraim Vegas, a doctor at the Periférico de Coche hospital in the west of Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, asks patients to buy their own gauze, antibiotics and other medical supplies. “We are working in a country at war,” he explains.
In the traumatology ward, patients beg to be treated. But medics follow a strict triage procedure, attending the most serious cases first: it’s Saturday and on weekends the staff count is low. Vegas has given Argenis Peña, a man with a deep wound in his leg, priority. The other dozen or so patients requiring urgent care will have to wait in the ward until Monday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New polling data shows that it would be virtually impossible for Hillary Clinton to win the general election if the Republican nominee were able to frame the immigration issue in populist terms that emphasize reducing the overall amount of immigration into the country and protecting jobs, incomes, and benefits for the domestic population.
The poll was conducted by Gravis Marketing, a nonpartisan research firm, in conjunction with Breitbart News Network, and surveyed a random selection of 2,010 registered voters throughout the nation.
“The poll shows that instead of dividing Americans, immigration is an issue where Americans have reached the consensus that it is a problem, maybe the problem,” said Doug Kaplan, the managing partner of Gravis Marketing.
The polling data suggests that the Republican Party could see overwhelming electoral success if it were able to portray Clinton’s immigration policy as a corporatist attempt to flood the labor supply with foreign workers in order to drive down wages and incomes for American workers.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Brussels Plan to Increase Migration to Europe Blasted by Furious German MPs
BRUSSELS bureaucrats have unveiled plans to increase the number of migrants entering Europe by significantly slackening the rules surrounding family reunification.
The EU is drawing up new laws which will unleash a fresh wave of migration and completely undermine attempts to bring the refugee crisis under control, according to furious Germany politicians.
Under proposals put forward by the European Commission drastic changes will be made to the rules which govern who refugees that successfully make it to Europe can bring over to live with them.
Rebellious members of Angela Merkel’s ruling party in Germany have already expressed dismay over the plans, branding them “unacceptable” and saying they will spark huge new numbers of migrants just when the refugee crisis is beginning to subside.
At the moment migrants are allowed to be reunited only with their immediate family, which means wives and children under the age of 18 who they already had before leaving their home country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cash Bonus Fails to Motivate Refugees to Leave Austria
Over 3,100 asylum seekers have returned home voluntarily from Austria so far this year, although experts say they are not motivated by money offered by the government to leave.
Since April, the government has offered €500 in cash to asylum seekers from countries including Afghanistan, Morocco, Iraq, and Nigeria if they return home voluntarily within the first three months of their asylum application.
Those who leave within six months get €250, and after six months, they get €50. No figures have been released so far about the number of people who have accepted the offer of cash, although the government has confirmed the number of voluntarily returns this year has reached 3,195.
One asylum seeker from Iraq told the Kurier newspaper, however, that his main motivation for returning home is that he failed to secure himself a better future in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Coast Guard Officers Rescue 34 Migrants Off Lesvos
Coast Guard officers rescued 34 migrants from a dinghy spotted off the coast of Lesvos on Monday following a weekend that saw virtually zero arrivals to the island.
The influx of migrants into Greece has picked up since July 15 following a failed coup in neighboring Turkey.
A total of 3,559 migrants are in camps on Lesvos with another 2,598 on Chios and 1,035 on Samos.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Grants Syrians Temporary Amnesty
Homeland Security granted a new temporary amnesty Monday to more than 8,000 Syrians living in the U.S. right now, saying they can remain for up to 18 months longer no matter what their legal status.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Loses Track of Thousands of Child Refugees Amid Fears of ISIS Recruiting
European governments are losing track of significant numbers of children who have entered the continent without their parents as refugees from war-torn areas in the Middle East and beyond.
The figures from Belgium and other parts of Europe show unaccompanied children slipping through the cracks in Europe’s social-safety net. Lone children, according to officials and advocates, remain at the greatest risk of falling victim to labor and sexual exploitation. Some officials also worry young refugees, including those who have disappeared, could be targeted for recruiting by Islamic State and other extremist groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pioneering political pollster Pat Caddell told Breitbart News that the Breitbart/Gravis poll on immigration confirms that Americans have real concerns about immigration, even Democrats, going into the last 100 days of the presidential election.
“It seems to me that the Democratic leaders and candidates, in regards to immigration, they are not paying attention,” said Caddell, who, before become a popular cable news commentator, worked for several presidential campaigns, including the insurgent efforts of Sen. George S. McGovern (D-SD) in 1972 and Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO) in 1984.
“The Democratic politicians seem to believe that they are right and the public is wrong and that it will work out OK, it is like they are saying: ‘We want to be right and we are not changing — they are convincing themselves and I don’t know how they are doing it.’ The pollster said it was a symptom of the corruption of the consultant class in both parties, where political professionals are telling their clients what they want to hear, not what is really going on,” he said.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary: More Than Two Hundred Illegal Border Crossers Apprehended Over the Weekend
211 illegal border crossers were apprehended on the territory of Hungary between Friday and Sunday, according to a statement by the National Police Headquarters.
According to the statistics published on the Police website, 103, 30 and 57 migrants were apprehended on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and were accompanied back across the Serbian-Hungarian border by police and border guards on duty at the border. 21 illegal migrants were apprehended within the 8-kilometre border zone and along other external stretches of the border.
According to the new regulations that came into force on 5 July, illegal migrants who are apprehended within an 8 kilometre zone of the Serbian or Croatian borders are accompanied back to the closest gate along the border security fence and directed to the nearest transit zone. Those who can be proven to have crossed or damaged the border security fence, or who are suspected of people trafficking, continue to be the subject of criminal proceedings, while migration proceedings are being launched with relation to people apprehended along the Romanian and Ukrainian stretches of the border.
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
Some 6,000 migrants have been rescued trying to make the journey across the Mediterranean since last Thursday, Italian authorities said on Sunday, according to AFP. Two people died in the attempt to cross from the north African coast. More than 3,000 have died since the start of the year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel’s Asylum Policy Under Fire Again From Key Ally
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s key ally in Bavaria distanced himself again on Saturday from her welcoming policy towards migrants in the wake of a series of brutal attacks in the country.
Horst Seehofer, the conservative premier of Bavaria, said he did not share Merkel’s “We can do it” credo on accommodating the almost 1.1 million migrants and refugees who arrived in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Over 250,000 Migrants Reached EU by Sea 2016
The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration on Friday said some 251,557 people seeking either protection or better lives have reached the EU by sea since the start of the year until 27 July. It also noted that the death toll in the attempt has reached 3,034. Some 20,000 people crossed the sea in July alone. Same period last year saw 220,054 arrivals and 1,917 deaths.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police Arrest 900 Syrians in England and Wales for Crimes Including Rape and Child Abuse
SHOCKING police figures released for England and Wales have shown nearly 900 Syrians have been arrested in just one year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia Arrests 11 People for Smuggling Migrants to Hungary
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian police say they have arrested 11 people suspected of smuggling dozens of migrants across the border to EU-member Hungary.
Serbian police said Monday the arrests were the result of “intensive operational work and exchange of information with the Hungarian police.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sorry, Khizr Khan (And Clinton Democrats), Muslim Immigration is Still a Bad Bet
After a mediocre convention, the Democrats and their Main Stream Media allies are trying to dominate the news cycle with Khizr Khan, the Pakistani-Muslim immigrant whose son Captain Humayun Khan died in Iraq. The extent of Khan’s speech was that his son died honorably in Iraq and “[i]f it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America” because “vows to build walls, and ban us from this country.” But the plain fact is that Trump is right: Muslim immigration is still a bad bet.
Trump initially called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration. He has modified his immigration stance from prohibiting Muslims to people “from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.” This is not ideal—remember how often we hear the media refer to Islamic terrorists as “Belgian Nationals” like Ahmad Dahmani and Abdelhamid Abaaoud, or “French Nationals” like Salah Abdeslam. [Paris attacks: Who were the attackers?, BBC, April 27, 2016]. Nonetheless, barring those from terrorist nations is simpler to implement—it’s easy for someone to lie about their religion—and as a practical matter would greatly restrict Muslim immigration.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Threatens to Reopen Migrant Floodgates if No Visa-Free Travel Soon
(REUTERS) — Turkey would have to back out of its agreement with the European Union to stem the flow of migrants into the bloc if the EU does not deliver visa-free travel for Turks, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
Visa-free access to the EU — the main reward for Ankara’s collaboration in choking off an influx of migrants into Europe — has been subject to delays due to a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism legislation and Ankara’s crackdown after a failed coup.
Cavusoglu told Germany’s daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the agreement on stemming the refugee flow had worked because of “very serious measures” taken by Ankara.
“But all that is dependent on the cancellation of the visa requirement for our citizens, which is also an item in the agreement of March 18,” Cavusoglu said in a release in advance of comments to be published in the newspaper’s Monday edition.”If visa liberalisation does not follow, we will be forced to back away from the deal on taking back (refugees) and the agreement of March 18,” he said, adding that the Turkish government was waiting for a precise date for visa liberalisation.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Threatens to Scrap Migrant Deal With EU, Again
Turkey has threatened to scrap a migrant swap deal with the EU unless it waives visas, amid a sudden upsurge of Aegean sea crossings into Greece.
Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country would no longer abide by the deal should the EU fail to lift short-term visa restrictions on Turks.
Thousands were arriving on the Greek islands on a daily basis at the height of the crisis last year. Those numbers dropped to double figures following the March deal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Borders Matter — and a Borderless World is a Fantasy
by Victor Davis Hanson
Borders are to distinct countries what fences are to neighbors: means of demarcating that something on one side is different from what lies on the other side. Borders amplify the innate human desire to own and protect property and physical space, which is impossible to do unless it is seen — and can be so understood — as distinct and separate. Clearly delineated borders and their enforcement, either by walls and fences or by security patrols, won’t go away because they go to the heart of the human condition — what jurists from Rome to the Scottish Enlightenment called meum et tuum, mine and yours. Between friends, unfenced borders enhance friendship; among the unfriendly, when fortified, they help keep the peace.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly 200 Apply to Change Gender Under New Norway Law
A total of 190 people have applied to change their legal gender in Norway in the month since a new law came into force allowing them to do so without gender reassignment surgery.
Norway on July 1 brought in one of the world’s most liberal laws for transgender people, allowing citizens to change their legal gender without surgery or even securing the approval of a medical professional.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Should Animals Have ‘Human’ Rights?
Animals like gorillas and chimpanzees are closely related to humans. But they have no rights. Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics tells DW why great apes should be legally recognized and why animal interests matter.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Thoughts on Neanderthal Brain Development
Previous studies of Neanderthal brain development have suggested that Neanderthal and modern human brains looked similar at birth, but then developed differently. Chirstoph Zollikofer of the University of Zurich and his team generated 3-D casts of the brain cases of 15 Neanderthal skulls ranging in age from newborn to adult. The scientists then compared the images of the Neanderthal brains with patterns of brain development in modern human children. New Scientist reports that at birth, Zollikofer found the Neanderthal brains to be longer, wider, and flatter than modern human brains. He claimed that similar to patterns of modern human development, the cerebellum and other regions of the Neanderthal brains grew quickly during childhood.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Warm Coats May Have Given Modern Humans an Ice-Age Edge
Cold-weather gear may have helped early modern humans survive while Neanderthals died out, according to a new study led by Mark Collard, a visiting fellow at Simon Fraser University. He noted that figurines discovered in Siberia dating back 24,000 years are thought to depict people wearing furry, hooded outfits. Bone needles, pelt scrapers, and the bones of creatures such as rabbits, foxes, mink, and wolverine have been found at modern human campsites. Their fur may have been used to make such warm garments. Collard explained that wolverine fur makes an excellent ruff for a parka hood because it shields one from the wind, sheds hoarfrost, and is durable.
Neanderthals are thought to have worn draped animal skins, since the tools associated with crafting closely fitted garments have not been found at Neanderthal sites. Inadequate clothing could have left Neanderthals vulnerable to frostbite and hypothermia, and may have limited their ability to look for food. “Keeping children warm particularly is likely to have led to many more surviving childhood which would have improved population size,” Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum commented in The Telegraph.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Memo to Pope Francis:
“The Koran directly commands us to commit terrorism, so why are we afraid of it?” Egyptian MP Ragab Hilal Hamida
in the Egyptian Parliament.
Muslim boys haven’t been feminized yet?
Don’t forget Obama, Hilary and few others.
Pope Francis is senile and I say that as a Catholic myself (not a good one, but still one). I am and have been amazed at some of the things he’s said since he became pope. But then what can you expect from a socialist, keeping in mind that in my youth socialism was associated with communism and neither was really acceptable to the church’s beliefs back in those days. Yes, long ago.
I don’t think he is senile, but instead willfully ignorant of the true nature of Islam. I pick him has an old time lefty priest, grew up during the liberation theology days and wants to believe despite contrary evidence that Islam is a benign brother faith of Christianity and Judaism. He’s wrong big time and probably needs to look up his predecessor Benedict who had a much more realistic view of Islam and it’s danger.
Exactly. Has a stupid answer and action for everything. If this equal opportunity fella was around in the 1940’s would he be washing Herr Hitler’s and the nazi blood soaked feet? Will his final act of popery be to do what that other liberal church the BBC did and foist a Koran cutter to scare the beJesus out of non-believers. Moi non plus.
*** U.S. Blew $1.4 Billion on Abstinence Education in Africa ***
Clearly a US responsibility, and what better way to spend our tax dollars.
With a 90% illegitimacy rate in, um, certain of our own population, it’s a wonder some of those Africans we “educated” didn’t die of laughter.
I know we’re ‘ceptional and like that but sometimes I ask myself just who do we think we are that we go around the world straightening everybody else out? It’s unbelievable . . . although the really best way to say this would violate Gates of Vienna comment guidelines in a major way.
*** Police Arrest 900 Syrians in England and Wales for Crimes Including Rape and Child Abuse ***
OK. I see what we have to do now – we need to import more Syrians!
No. Arrest the police. The Nuslims are doing what they do. The police are not. Go figure.
*** Turkey Threatens to Reopen Migrant Floodgates if No Visa-Free Travel Soon ***
Europeans paralyzed.
3,500,000 active and reserve military on extended Ramadongalong break. Unavailable.
,*** Why Borders Matter — and a Borderless World is a Fantasy ***
God bless VDH for stating the obvious. In this pre-Pres. Trump surreal world, he actually performs an absolutely vital service – which is to say what ALL human beings in the last 30,000 years understood perfectly by the age of six.
Only educated Westerners in the Early Stupefaction Era of the Third Millennium A.D. congratulate themselves on their enlightened practice in welcoming millions of their enemies into the tribal heartlands. There murder cultists and slavers, voodoo votaries, santeria experts, phrenologists, Presbyterians, witch doctors, MS-13 gang members, communists, patriots, cultural Marxists, welfare parasites, populists, Keynesians, ISIS savages, gypsies, head hunters, flat earthers, FGM technicians, spies, sleeper cell members, wickans, lunatic academics, metrosexuals, Zulus, lucious infobabes, “civil rights” charlatans, revolutionaries, subversives, nihilists, atheists, Turks, polygamists, feminist nut jobs, Unitarians, bikers, preppers, gun grabbers, imams, environmental wackos, progressives, black supremacists, and nudists can, the theory goes, dwell in harmony.
We can do this. I wonder if Erdogan could get a 100,000 or so regulars and irregulars in as refugees. Has Europe already collapsed? The Muslims and illegals are certainly acting as if. We too?
I think Europe’s collapsed. All Merkel will put forth is that “migrants” must come in and no minor impediment or major barrier must even be mentioned. No return of “migrants” may be contemplated, only 100% imposition on Europeans. There are NO negatives to immigration that a hate speech prosecution won’t overcome. And, finally, that once in Germany, at least, each “migrant” has an absolute right to bring his extended family in after him.
Using even one actual @#$% weapon in the hands of any European power is an absurd idea. Italy now sends its navy to Libya to pick up “migrants.”
“Migrants” will destroy Western civilization. Europeans bring in more of them at an alarming rate. Therefore, Europe has collapsed. Only a gentle breeze is needed now to bring it all down.
That’s quite a list, Colonel. Let me put in a word for the Wikkans; I’ve a friend who is one, and he’d argue that they were here before the Abrahamic religions.
He and others have, without provocation, suffered harassment and threats from people calling themselves Christians.
Ps Good thing they’re not allowed to burn witches any more.
Presence on that list is not necessarily indicative of bad character. Quite the contrary in some instances.
It is unfortunate your friend was harassed. I am sure there were also many Christians who left him alone. There is a desiccated form of belief that mistakes doctrine for the substance. It can operated in religious matters as well as secular ones.
Jesus wept. Are you serious? Unfortunately I think probably yes. “Wicca – Wiccan” is an anti social modern nut job creation. Unbelievably it is accepted voodoo by some. Obviously from your statement you know exactly nothing about this very ill intentioned cult. Anglo Saxons and Celts have moved on since the Middle Ages and certainly since these posers and con artists started to cry croc tears in the founding year 1953.
You sir, do not know what you are writing about. That old saying, “You ain’t got no socks you can’t pull ‘me up.”
“You ain’t got no socks you can’t pull ’em up!”
Wicca is a modern contrivance which I seem to remember two people created around WWI when people started losing faith in the Christian notion of a loving God because He didn’t prevent such a meat grinding war from happening.
It’s an “invented tradition” since the people who came up with it really had no documentation or evidence to base their “reconstruction” on. Oddly it seems that the human sacrifice part got left out somehow….