A fight broke out among inmates of an asylum center in the German city of Dortmund. Migrants at the center were seen beating each other with chairs. Three of the “refugees” were arrested, and five others are being treated for their injuries.
In other news, French President François Hollande said that the U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump makes him “want to retch”.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Fjordman, Nash Montana, Nick, Reader from Chicago, Steen, Thucydides, 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.
Breaking: US Police Officer Charged With Providing Information to ISIS
A Washington, D.C., Metro Transit police officer who was a convert to Islam and once dressed up as Jihadi John for Halloween was charged on Wednesday with trying to provide material support to ISIS — the first time a law enforcement officer has been charged with an ISIS-related crime.
Virginia resident Nicholas Young, 36, who has served with the department since 2003, was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI agents.
The lanky, slim-built 36 year old was dressed in a prison issue white t-shirt and dark pants and sported long hair as he made his initial appearance in court Wednesday afternoon. No attorney was present.
Young spoke only to request a public defender be appointed to represent him.
Young will be held in Alexandria until his detention hearing, which is set for Friday at 2 p.m. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.
Authorities allege in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday that Young attempted to send money to ISIS through a mobile-based gift card using an unnamed messaging service the terror group utilizes for recruiting purposes. The transaction, which was redeemed by the FBI for $245, was made in July 2016.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
DC Police Officer Charged With Aiding ISIS
DEVELOPING: A Washington, D.C. metro transit authority police officer was charged on Wednesday with trying to provide material support to ISIS — the first time a law enforcement officer has been charged with an ISIS-related crime.
Nicholas Young, 36, who has served with the department since 2003, was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI agents.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Iowa Parade Float Depicts Crooked Hillary in Orange Jump Suit in Jail
Iowa parade goers were treated to a depiction of Hillary Clinton in jail.
Kyle Julin. of Manilla, pulls his Hillary Clinton-masked friend Adam Corky, of Odeboldt, through the parade during the Arcadia Fire Department’s 100th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday. The group received both accolades and criticisms for handing out water ballons to throw at the candidate.
IT GETS BETTER THOUGH!
The men were handing out WATER BALLOONS to throw at the caged Hillary!
It was a typical summer celebration in small-town Iowa. The sun was shining on children carrying bags full of candy as the Arcadia Fire Department was celebrating its 100th anniversary on Saturday with a parade, a party in the park and a big water fight that would serve as the grand finale.
A young blond boy, no more than 8 years old, ran out into the street near the intersection of West Center and South Gault streets because one float was handing out water balloons. The child grabbed his balloon, took aim and did his best Nolan Ryan impression as he fired the balloon at a man dressed in an orange jumpsuit and Hillary Clinton mask while standing on a platform inside bars, fencing and barbed wire above a “Hillary For Prison” sign tacked onto the side.
Bull’s eye.
The prideful smile of a job well done was written all over the boy’s face.
Some in the crowd were laughing and cheering as the float rolled by, but others could be heard moaning and grumbling that it was “over the top” or “a bit too much.”
“It was my idea,” Kyle Julin of Manilla said. “Pretty much me and Josh (Reetz). It took us about a day-and-a-half to build.”
Julin said he, Reetz and Adam Corky (Clinton impersonator) are not affiliated with any official political organization. Julin said he’s an independent and as of March 2014 Reetz was a registered Democrat.
Julin said the crew had been throwing around the idea of entering the parade for a while.
| — Hat tip: Nash Montana | [Return to headlines] |
Ivanka Trump Says She ‘Clearly’ Disagrees With Obama Calling Her Father ‘Unfit’ To be President
Ivanka Trump responded Tuesday night to comments made earlier in the day by President Obama calling her father “unfit to serve” and “woefully unprepared to do this job” in an “On The Record with Greta Van Susteren” exclusive interview, saying that he understands “how to put this country to work.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Khizr Khan Believes Sharia Trumps the Constitution
Notwithstanding his war-hero son’s genuinely patriotic example, Khizr M. Khan has published papers supporting the supremacy of Islamic law over “man-made” Western law — including the very Constitution he championed in his Democratic National Convention speech attacking GOP presidential nod Donald Trump.
In 1983, for example, Khan wrote a glowing review of a book compiled from a seminar held in Kuwait called “Human Rights In Islam” in which he singles out for praise the keynote address of fellow Pakistani Allah K. Brohi, a pro-jihad Islamic jurist who was one of the closest advisers to late Pakistani dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq, the father of the Taliban movement.
Khan speaks admiringly of Brohi’s interpretation of human rights, even though it included the right to kill and mutilate those who violate Islamic laws and even the right of men to “beat” wives who act “unseemly.”
As Pakistani minister of law and religious affairs, Brohi helped create hundreds of jihadi incubators called madrassas and restored Sharia punishments, such as amputations for theft and demands that rape victims produce four male witnesses or face adultery charges. He also made insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammad a crime punishable by death. To speed the Islamization of Pakistan, he and Zia issued a law that required judges to consult mullahs on every judicial decision for Sharia compliance.
Khan, who says he immigrated to the U.S. in 1980 to escape Pakistan’s “military rule,” nonetheless spoke admiringly of Brohi in his review of his speech. He praised his remarks even though Brohi advocated for the enforcement of the medieval Sharia punishments, known as “hudood” (singular “hadd”), that were later adopted and carried out with brutal efficiency by the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
“Divinely ordained punishments have to be inflicted,” Brohi asserted, “and there is very little option for the judge called upon to impose Hadd, if facts and circumstances are established that the Hadd in question has been transgressed, to refuse to impose the punishment.”
Of course, such cruel and unusual Sharia punishments, ranging from stonings and floggings to beheadings, would be a flagrant violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
| — Hat tip: Thucydides | [Return to headlines] |
Metro Transit Officer Charged With Trying to Aid ISIS
Law enforcement officers are seen outside the home of Nicholas Young, a Washington Metro Transit Officer, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016, in Fairfax, Va., Young was arrested at Metro’s headquarters in Washington and charged with a single count of attempting to provided material support to a terrorist group. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON — A veteran officer with Metro Transit Police appeared in court federal court Wednesday afternoon to face a charge that he attempted to aid the foreign terrorist group known as ISIS.
Nicholas Young, 36, of Fairfax, is accused of purchasing $245 worth of gift cards last week that were intended to make it easier for overseas militants to communicate with potential recruits in western countries.
During the brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Young wore his police uniform pants plus a white T-shirt that exposed his tattoos. He had a beard and nearly collar-length hair. He was flanked by federal marshals, and was handcuffed and shackled. A magistrate ordered him held until a status hearing on Thursday. The soft-spoken Young also requested a court-appointed attorney.
The 13-year-officer was arrested at Metro headquarters Wednesday morning, capping an investigation that Metro Transit Police initiated years ago and that was loosely connected to two other men who have are now serving prison sentences for terrorism-related charges.
FBI spokesman Andrew Ames confirmed that Young is the first law enforcement officer to be charged under the federal government’s terrorism law, The Associated Press reported.
Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told The Associated press that Young posed no threat to the Metro system, and nowhere in the affidavit does it mention Metro or Metrobus system.
Young was terminated upon his arrest, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told WTOP…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Moon Express Approved for Private Lunar Landing in 2017, A Space First
For the first time ever, a private company has permission to land on the moon.
The U.S. government has officially approved the planned 2017 robotic lunar landing of Florida-based Moon Express, which aims to fly commercial missions to Earth’s nearest neighbor and help exploit its resources, company representatives announced today (Aug. 3).
“This is not only a milestone, but really a threshold for the entire commercial space industry,” Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards told Space.com.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans Planning Trump ‘Intervention’ After Rocky Week
Influential Republican allies of Donald Trump are trying to arrange an “intervention” — what amounts to a strategic review — with the GOP presidential nominee in a bid to convince the candidate to change up his approach after a rocky few days, Fox News has learned.
The effort includes party boss Reince Priebus, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Study Suggests Population Growth Spurred Plant Domestication
Brian Codding and Elic Weitzel of the University of Utah employed a database of more than 3,500 radiocarbon dates obtained from charcoal, nutshells, animal bones, and other artifacts found in North America to reconstruct population histories dating back 15,000 years. Assuming that as populations grew they would leave behind more artifacts, they found that the population in eastern North America nearly doubled some 6,900 years ago, and continued to grow rapidly until 5,200 years ago. Plants are thought to have been domesticated in the region about 5,000 years ago. “These people were producing food to feed themselves and their families [by farming], they’re still hunting and foraging,” Brian Codding said in a report by The Independent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
To Fight Trump, Journalists Have Dispensed With Objectivity
Any objective observer of the news media’s treatment of Trump can certainly conclude that reporters are taking a side in this election — and they don’t have to be wearing a button that says “I’m with her” for this to be readily apparent. The irony is that the media’s Trump bashing may wind up having the exact opposite of its intended effect.
Polls shows that journalism is one of the least respected professions in the country, and with Trump calling out media organizations for their bias, widespread slanted reporting is bound to reinforce this point — and to backfire. Trump’s campaign is throwing down the gauntlet to the political class. If journalists are seen as the mouthpiece of that class, they may soon find themselves covering Trump’s inauguration.
Justin Raimondo is the editorial director of Antiwar.com and the author of “Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Election 2016: Republican Divisions Grow Over Trump
Fresh divisions are emerging within the US Republican Party over its presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Republican donor Meg Whitman has endorsed his rival Hillary Clinton, saying Mr Trump’s “demagoguery” had undermined the national fabric.
Senior party activist Jan Halper-Hayes told the BBC she thought Mr Trump was “psychologically unbalanced”.
In the latest controversy, Mr Trump has refused to support two senior figures in his own party.
In an interview for the Washington Post, he said he was “just not quite there yet” when asked if he would endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain, who are up for re-election in November. Both men have publicly criticised him.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What’s Inside Ceres? New Findings From Gravity Data
In the tens of thousands of photos returned by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, the interior of Ceres isn’t visible. But scientists have powerful data to study Ceres’ inner structure: Dawn’s own motion.
Since gravity dominates Dawn’s orbit at Ceres, scientists can measure variations in Ceres’ gravity by tracking subtle changes in the motion of the spacecraft. Using data from Dawn, scientists have mapped the variations in Ceres’ gravity for the first time in a new study in the journal Nature, which provides clues to the dwarf planet’s internal structure.
“The new data suggest that Ceres has a weak interior, and that water and other light materials partially separated from rock during a heating phase early in its history,” said Ryan Park, the study’s lead author and the supervisor of the solar system dynamics group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Armed French Sea Marshals Deployed on UK Ferries
Armed French police are patrolling ferries to and from the UK in response to recent atrocities and a heightened fear of further terror attacks.
France has introduced sea patrols for passenger ferries to and from Britain, after a string of jihadist attacks in recent months that have shaken the country, a marine police spokesman said on Tuesday.
“A permanent unit has been deployed for passenger ferries since August 1,” Lieutenant Pierre-Joachim Antona told AFP.
“The marine gendarmes will carry out patrols, which will be random but regular, with the aim of securing these vessels against the terrorist threat,” he added.
Marine police deployed all along the French coastline — from the North Sea to the Mediterranean — have been tasked with contributing to efforts that began last year to secure the country’s waters, in cooperation with land forces, the spokesman said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Eskimology Course Faces Big Freeze
There are going to be no students starting an undergraduate degree in Eskimology this autumn, for the first time in almost a century.
What is believed to be the world’s only degree in Eskimology and Arctic Studies, taught at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, has stopped admitting new students after cuts to higher education funding.
An official at the university said that this was a “freeze”. It is unclear if he was making a pun.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finnish Universities Circle Wagons Around Turkish Academics
Universities say they may extend the contracts of Turkish researchers working at Finland while the situation in their homeland remains turbulent. Around 100 Turks are employed by Finnish universities.
The Turkish Ministry of Education has suspended or dismissed some 15,200 of its employees as part of the sweeping purge following last month’s failed coup. Many face travel bans. More than 16,000 people have been arrested since the July 15 attempt, including many academics.
According to the Anatolia news agency, researchers and teachers working abroad have also been told to return to Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First Evidence Birds Nap in Flight Without Dropping Out of Sky
The debate has finally been put to bed. Wearable brainwave recorders confirm that birds do indeed sleep while flying, but only for brief periods and usually with one half of their brain.
To settle this question, Niels Rattenborg at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany, and his colleagues fitted small brain activity monitors and movement trackers to 14 great frigatebirds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Flashmob Prank Sparks ‘Terror Attack’ Panic in Spanish Resort
Holidaymakers in the Catalan beach resort of Platja d’Aro thought they were caught up in a terrorist attack on Tuesday evening after a group of German women staged a flashmob.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘France, 2016’ Le Pen’s Fury as Riot Police Drag Christians Out of Church
Marion Le Pen simply wrote “France, 2016 #SainteRita” alongside the image of the priest who refused to leave the mass he was holding in protest against the demolition of local church Sainte Rita.
The angry protests come just a day after Father Jacques Hamel, who had his throat slit by two depraved Islamic State fighters, was laid to rest in Rouen Cathedral on Tuesday.
Thousands of mourners turned out to pay respect to the elderly priest, who was murdered by jihadists as he delivered mass in a church in St Étienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy.
Social media users took to Twitter to express their shock at the protesting priest being dragged out of Sainte Rita, which is due to be demolished and turned into a car park.
One said: “Jihadists have slit the throat of a priest. Anne Hidalgo [the mayor of Paris] helps them by destroying churches.”
Another said: “The day after the funeral of a murdered priest, it destroyed a church in #SainteRita to make parking… Seriously?”
National Front party leader Marine Le Pen also waded into the row, tweeting: “And what if they built parking lots in the place of Salafist mosques, and not of our churches?”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
France: Muslims Screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ Stop Bus, Set it on Fire — Media Ignores
Video from France shows a group of Muslims stop a bus, smash its windows, force its evacuation, then set it ablaze with a Molotov cocktail, all while screaming “Allahu Akbar.”
The incident occurred last Wednesday in Franc-Moisin, Diversity Macht Frei reports. Despite all of Europe being on edge due to a recent series of Islamic terror attacks,this story has received zero international news coverage.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
London Police Deploy Extra Armed Officers to Protect Against Attacks
London’s police force will deploy an additional 600 armed officers across the capital to protect against the threat of attacks, authorities announced on Wednesday.
The threat level in London remains at “severe” and the increase is not in response to any specific intelligence but is a long-term response to a spate of deadly attacks in European countries.
“Anyone who’s been following events in Europe over the past few weeks will understand why we want to show our determination to protect the public,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said in a statement.
In line with British policing methods, the majority of London police officers do not carry firearms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Brabant Beach Massacre Survivors Unhappy With Syrian Neighbours
A Brabant couple who were forced to run for their lives when gunmen opened fire on the Tunisian beach they were holidaying on have been told they will be getting four young Syrian men as their neighbours in the village of Vlijmen. The couple who survived the beach massacre in which 37 tourists died, are still traumatised by the event and told the Brabants Dagblad they cannot accept their Syrian neighbours, even if they have gone through similar events. ‘So it is not going to happen, whatever officials say, their father told the paper. ‘I have plenty of friends.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani Terror Suspect Captained Italy Cricket Team
A Pakistani man expelled from Italy for allegedly plotting an attack in the name of the Isis group used to captain the Italian youth cricket team, media reports said on Wednesday.
Aftab Farook was caught on a wire-tap talking about using a Kalashnikov or bomb to attack targets such as a wine shop in Milan or the airport of Bergamo in northern Italy, saying the important thing was to scare Europeans, Italian newspapers reported.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the 26-year-old supported Isis and was planning to go to Syria to join militants.
The news stunned locals in Vaprio d’Adda near Milan, where Farook had lived with his family since he was 13 years old.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pokémon Go: Spanish Man Becomes First to ‘Catch ‘Em All’
A Spanish man from the coastal town of Elche, south of Alicante, has become the first player in the world to catch all 145 Pokémon.
David Quintana spent the last 22 days (and nights) criss-crossing Elche on his bicycle chasing the virtual monsters in the smartphone game by Nintendo that has taken the world by storm.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Survey: Swiss Fear for Safety Since July Terror Attacks
Some 75 percent of Swiss fear more for their safety following the recent attacks in France and Germany, according to a new survey.
The survey, carried out by newspaper 20 Minutes, asked more than 18,000 people across the country how safe they felt following the events of recent weeks, including the terror attack in Nice on July 14th which killed more than 80 people and the suicide bombing in Ansbach, Germany, 10 days later.
Some 75 percent of respondents said they felt less safe than before.
Consequently, 64 percent said they would be willing to give up some of their personal freedom to enhance their security in Switzerland, found the survey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland Becomes Brexit Casualty
Brussels doesn’t want to set a Swiss precedent for future trade talks with UK.
The U.K. vote to leave the European Union threatens to claim collateral damage in Switzerland, whose own negotiations with the bloc have become much more difficult as a result.
The Swiss, who voted to cap immigration in a 2014 referendum, are approaching crunch-time in their relationship with the EU, which is based on a myriad of bilateral agreements. The parliament in Bern needs clarity on how to apply the referendum result by December — or dynamite Swiss trade ties with the EU.
With the EU painfully aware that the deal could set a precedent for talks with the U.K., the balance of power has shifted to Brussels.
“Basically, Switzerland will get a ‘Cameron minus minus’ deal,” said an EU source close to the talks, referring to the agreement struck in February between the former British prime minister and the EU to restrict some welfare benefits for migrant workers in the (vain) hope of persuading Britons to vote in favor of continued membership.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Ancient History of Cheating in the Olympics
Punishment for cheating and bribery in the Olympics of Ancient Greece could include fines, public flogging and statewide bans from competition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Makes ‘You Want to Retch’, Says Hollande
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump makes “you want to retch”, French leader Francois Hollande said Tuesday, as he added his voice to a barrage of scathing criticism of the White House hopeful.
“His excesses make you want to retch, even in the United States, especially when — as was Donald Trump’s case — he speaks ill of a soldier, of the memory of a soldier,” Hollande told journalists in Paris.
The French leader was referring to a feud between Trump and the Muslim parents of a slain US soldier, which has shaken the presidential campaign just three months before the November vote.
Hollande criticised Trump’s “hurtful and humiliating comments”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Nationalists Storm Wrong Party in Vienna
Turkish nationalists turned a birthday celebration into a surprise party when they stormed an event in Vienna after mistaking it for a Kurdish workers’ meeting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A woman has died and up to five people have been injured after a man allegedly ‘went on the rampage’ with a knife in a possible terror-related mass stabbing in London.
Police confirmed a man was arrested after he was seen ‘brandishing a knife’ and ‘injuring people’ in front of horrified onlookers in Russell Square at about 10.30pm last night.
Fears that the knifeman operated with an accomplice were raised in the early hours as the Met refused to rule out further suspects. One witness said he saw ‘a man flee on a motorbike’, while another described hearing one of the victim’s ‘screaming and covered in blood’.
Officers arrived at the scene to find six people injured including one woman who died from her injuries a short time later. The condition of the other five is not yet known and police have not yet named or revealed the ages of the victims.
The incident occurred in the same area as where one of the 7/7 bombs detonated in 2005. A total of 26 people were killed when Germaine Lindsay, 19, detonated a suicide bomb on a Piccadilly line Tube as it moved between King’s Cross station and Russell Square.
And last night’s incident comes just hours after the Met unveiled its brand new elite anti-terror unit.
Scotland Yard confirmed that ‘terrorism is one possibility being explored at this stage’.
One source said the suspect was seen to go ‘on the rampage’ with the weapon. The woman’s body is still believed to be on the pavement with a forensics tent covering it. Police have cordoned off the area and there is a heavy presence of officers and paramedics.
One witness said he heard the victim scream before running over to help them.
The man, who goes by the name Michael, told MailOnline that he saw a woman around 25 years old with blood coming from her back and another woman of the same age with a wounded arm.
He said he believed the victims were heard speaking in Spanish.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Another military base was on high alert today after two men were seen acting suspiciously, just weeks after an abduction attempt at RAF Marham.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that two men had tried to kidnap a serviceman, close to the garrison in Aldershot, Hampshire at around 8.15am, and soldiers were said to have been warned not to wear their uniforms to work or in the town.
However, police later confirmed that no soldier had been involved in the incident, which had been reported by a member of civilian staff working at the barracks.
They said there is no evidence to suggest a crime had taken place, but are investigating reports of two men acting suspiciously in a blue Renault Clio, close to the garrison in Aldershot, Hampshire at around 8.15am…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Wine Floods Streets of French Town After ‘Act of Sabotage’
A town in southern France saw its streets running red last night but this was not about revelry.
The town of Sete, near Montpellier was drenched in red wine on Tuesday night after the contents of five huge vats of wine were spilled onto the streets.
Up to 50,000 litres of the tipple belonging to the Biron distributors were spilled, according to reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Firefighter Killed After Jet Crash-Lands in Dubai With 300 People on Board
An Emirates flight from India with 300 people on board crash landed at Dubai’s main airport Wednesday, sending black smoke billowing into the air and halting all flights at the Middle East’s busiest airport. A firefighter died while responding to the blaze, but none of the passengers or crew on board were killed.
The accident was the most serious ever for Emirates, which has grown at a breakneck pace over the last three decades and turned its hometown of Dubai into a major long-haul international air hub.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kirby Defends $400m Iran Payout: ‘This Was Not Ransom’
State Department spokesman John Kirby joined Bill Hemmer on “America’s Newsroom” to defend a $400 million cash transfer to Iran during the release of four Iranian-held U.S. hostages.
Kirby said the money had been frozen in a trust fund in the U.S. for decades and it was “their money.”
He asserted that the fact that the transaction occurred during the release of the detained Americans was “coincidental.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lawmakers: ‘Ransom’ To Iran Puts Americans at Risk
Republican lawmakers are fuming over a bombshell report overnight that the U.S. government airlifted the equivalent of $400 million to Iran this past January — as four detained Americans were released by Tehran — and say the transaction has put more Americans at risk of being taken hostage.
The cash transfer, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, was the first installment paid in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution.
The cash flown to Iran consisted of euros, Swiss francs, and other currencies because U.S. law forbids transacting American dollars with Iran. While the Obama administration denied the cash transfer was done to secure the release of the four Americans, GOP lawmakers said it was tantamount to “ransom.”
“Paying ransom to kidnappers puts Americans even more at risk,” Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said in a statement. “While Americans were relieved by Iran’s overdue release of illegally imprisoned American hostages, the White House’s policy of appeasement has led Iran to illegally seize more American hostages.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: West Backs Terrorists and Plotters, Says Erdogan
Turkey has accused the West of supporting terrorism and backing the failed coup to overthrow the government.
In a fiery speech delivered at his 1,150 room palace in Ankara on Tuesday (2 August), president Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded the United States hand over his bitter foe Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen, a 75-year old cleric who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1991, has been accused of masterminding the 15 July coup. He denies any involvement.
“This coup attempt has actors inside Turkey, but its script was written outside. Unfortunately the West is supporting terrorism and stands by coup plotters,” said Erdogan.
The US, for its part, offered a mild rebuke to Erdogan’s comments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Cypriots Protest Turkey’s ‘Religious’ Influence
Hundreds of Turkish Cypriots are protesting against what they say is Turkey’s attempt to mold their secular culture into one that’s more in tune with Islamic norms.
Some 1,500 mostly young people gathered in front of the Parliament in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island Wednesday to decry the creation of a “coordination committee” that will oversee all youth sport and cultural activities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Elevated Bus: Futuristic ‘Straddling Bus’ Hits the Road
It may look like something from the future, but China’s long-awaited “straddling bus” ran its inaugural test in Hebei province this week.
The 2m-high Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) straddles the cars below, allowing them to pass through.
Powered by electricity, the bus is able to carry up to 300 passengers in its 72ft (21m) long and 25ft wide body.
A video of a mini-model of the vehicle caused great excitement when it was released in May.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram in Nigeria: Abu Musab Al-Barnawi Named as New Leader
The Islamic State (IS) militant group has announced that its West African affiliate Boko Haram has a new leader.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who was previously spokesman for the Nigerian-based Islamists, is featured in the latest issue of an IS magazine.
Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to overthrow Nigeria’s government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cuba Sees Tourism Rise, French Will Renovate Havana Airport
Cuban officials say more than 2 million tourists have visited Cuba this year, putting the country on track for a record number of visitors. They’re bringing badly needed cash to an economy facing a sharp reduction in subsidized oil from Venezuela.
Visitor numbers are expected to get a major boost after commercial flights from the United States begin this month.
The government also announced Wednesday that the French government’s Aeroports de Paris company will receive a concession to operate and renovate Havana’s international airport.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico: The Black People ‘Erased From History’
More than a million people in Mexico are descended from African slaves and identify as “black”, “dark” or “Afro-Mexican” even if they don’t look black. But beyond the southern state of Oaxaca they are little-known and the community’s leaders are now warning of possible radical steps to achieve official recognition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report: 9 Citizens of Trinidad Sought to Join is Group
The government of Trinidad and Tobago has reportedly confirmed that nine of its citizens will be deported from Turkey after being detained while trying to enter Syria or Iraq to join the Islamic State group.
The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian said in an article published Wednesday that Attorney General Faris al-Rawi told it the nine will be under surveillance and could face criminal charges for involvement with a terrorist group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Czech President Criticised Over Refugee Comments
German EU commissioner Guenther Oettinger has spoken out against Czech President Milos Zeman, who urged the Czech parliament on Tuesday to ignore EU quotas and take no refugees. “The refugee quota has been approved by a large majority and is European law,” Oettinger said in an interview to German radio ffn. He accused Zeman of defaming European law and weakening Europe as a whole.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Desperate and Depressed, Syrian Refugees in Greece Regret Leaving Home
If Mustafa had known what it would be like living in a refugee camp in the Greek capital, he would never have left Syria.
Four months of living in a broken tent by Athens’ Pireaus harbour, waiting for his asylum claim to be processed has caused Mustafa to bitterly regret his decision to leave Aleppo.
“Anywhere. Anything is better than this,” he said as a tear trickled down his cheek.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Asylum Applications Double Post-Soviet Peak
The EU registered double the number of asylum seekers last year than its previous peak figure, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Some 1.3 million people applied for asylum last year in the 28 EU states along with Norway and Switzerland, US-based Pew Research centre said in a report out on Tuesday (2 August).
“Since 1985, Europe received about 11.6 million asylum applications — meaning that last year’s 1.3 million amounted to about one-tenth of all applications received during the past 30 years by current EU countries, Norway and Switzerland,” notes the report.
The 1.3 million figure also almost doubled the applications registered in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1992, when roughly 700,000 applied.
Roughly four-in-ten asylum seekers in Europe in 2015 were young men between 18 and 34 years old. Those coming from The Gambia, Pakistan and Bangladesh were almost exclusively male.
Most asylum seekers were trying to reach preferred destinations such as Germany and Sweden.
Sweden, for instance, received more applications than both France and the UK combined.
But Germany remained the top destination overall with 442,000 applications lodged last year.
Hungary (174,000) and Sweden (156,000) were next most popular, and Hungary also had the highest number of applicants as a proportion of its population.
The country registered 1,770 applications for every 100,000 residents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Urges ‘Plan B’ In Case EU-Turkey Migrant Deal Fails
Greece’s immigration minister called Wednesday on the European Union to draw up a back-up plan in case Turkey reneged on a controversial deal aimed at stemming the influx of migrants.
“We are very worried. We need a Plan B in any case,” Yannis Mouzalas told Germany’s Bild daily.
Due to its geographic proximity to Turkey, Greece has become a key gateway country for migrants seeking to reach Europe. At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis last year, thousands of asylum seekers landed every day on Greek Aegean islands close to the coast of Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration Drives Up Dutch Population in First Half
The population of the Netherlands grew by 43,000 people in the first half of this year, the biggest first-half rise since the beginning of the century, the national statisics office CBS said. There were 99,000 new immigrants written in to local authority registers, while 64,000 people left the country, giving a net balance of 35,000.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Beat Each Other With Chairs in German Refugee Center Brawl
Three refugees were detained and five more treated in hospital after a vicious brawl broke out at a migrant center in the German city of Dortmund. Police have launched a criminal investigation but are still puzzled over the exact cause of the violence.
Scenes similar to an all-out street fight first appeared in a video on Facebook, which was then shared on other social media platforms. The footage shows men and a woman punching and kicking one another. Some of those involved are seen in the footage smashing chairs over the backs of fellow migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Breakthrough in Swiss-EU Immigration Stalemate
Switzerland and the European Union have ended summer talks without finding a way to break a deadlock over immigration, Swiss media reported on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Refugees to be Warned About Dangerous Mushrooms
Warning leaflets about dangerous mushrooms that grow in Sweden have been translated into 29 different languages and will be distributed to asylum seekers by the Migration Agency.
This move comes after a Syrian woman in Teckomatorp in southern Sweden became seriously ill after eating a poisonous white mushroom (vit flugsvamp).
People who come to Sweden from abroad are most likely to suffer mushroom poisoning, Erik Lindeman of the Poison Information Centre told Swedish Radio News.
“It’s common that those who are poisoned have a foreign background,” he said. “It could be tourists, asylum seekers or migrants who go out in the Swedish forest and think they recognise mushrooms they know from their home countries.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Bus Driver Fired for Hitting Asylum Seeker
A Swedish bus driver who was caught on camera hitting and kicking a passenger has been fired.
A video showing the driver punching an asylum seeker on Öland, an island off the east coast of Sweden, went viral last month after regional newspaper Barometern first published it.
The passenger, Mohammed, and bus driver both reported the alleged assault to the police, with the driver claiming he had been hit on the arm during the altercation and had received a fracture.
Speaking to regional newspaper Östra Småland last month, the driver admitted to hitting the other man, but said that the whole story had not been told, referring to previous conflicts between bus drivers and Öland asylum seekers which he said had sparked tension.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Border Protection Agcy. Advertises Safe Zones for Illegal Aliens
Just about any illegal alien can avoid arrest by following these simple rules, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) advertises in a post on its website’s homepage.
Providing a virtual “how-to” guide for illegal aliens in its “Sensitive Locations FAQs,” CBP explains that immigration laws are not to be enforced at any of a wide range of designated “sensitive locations” — so that illegal aliens may be “free” to live their lives “without fear or hesitation.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Navy Should Run Migrant Patrols in Channel, MPs Suggest
The Royal Navy should be deployed in the English Channel to deter people-smugglers and combat potential terror threats, a report from UK MPs in a Home Affairs select committee suggested. Royal Navy vessels should be made available to bolster the current Border Force, which has only three boats — a “worryingly low” number, according to the MPs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Student Facing 50 Day Suspension for Saying ‘All Lives Matter’
Politically correct tyranny is afoot at the University of Houston.
I was recently made aware of a student at the university who was suspended for 50 days by the student government association and ordered to attend diversity training over a reference she made about the Black Lives Matter crowd. (She can still go to class but she can’t participate in student government activities.)
“#ForgetBlackLivesMatter; more like AllLivesMatter,” wrote Rohini Sethi, the vice president of the school’s student government association.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hot Climates More Likely to Spawn Violent Behavior, Theory Suggests
A team of researchers recently published a study that proposes a new model on how violent human behavior may be impacted by a warmer climate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Quantum Computing Race Heats Up as Trapped Ions Rival Microchips
In the race to build large-scale quantum computers, two contrasting strategies — one based on trapping ions, the other on more conventional technology — have drawn neck-and-neck. Both sides can now create simple devices that run multiple varieties of quantum software.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
M. Hollande says Trump ‘makes him want to retch’. A somewhat inelegant phrase for the President of La Belle France.
Especially, in view of the fact that M. Hollande has much stronger emetic qualities.
Hollande has a face like a skittery hippen.
He looks like he lays eggs.
How low can a socialist go?
Remarkable, this attitude towards a possible future American president. And, at the same time hitting back at Hollande himself, and, not least, France! Hollande is disgracing the French people by this inelegant phrase.
Hollande lives in his own parallel universe. I’m pretty sure he wakes up every morning with a thought of what a great socialist leader he is and how all poor adore him. He is so out of touch, he really thinks he can win next elections.
Forget La Belle France. France is not so Belle anymore.
Thanks to Hollande the place turned into a toilet.
France today will make you retch.
To his defence, it sounds better in French. A better English translation might be “puke”, which is used more in the figurative sense like this.
Hurrey for Sweden’s magnum overcrowded multiethnicity. Arabs and Somalis have priority access. Their “worth” is of higher value ©.
———-
Cancerpatient Solveig, 72, was sent home to die
Published August 3, 2016 at 12:38
DOMESTIC. When Solbritt Björkstrand, 72, went to the hospital to undergo surgery for her pancreatic cancer, she was told that the surgery had been canceled due to lack of space.
– I feel like now I’ll just wait, lie down and die, says Solveig to Sundsvall Tidning.
Solbritt Björkstrand from Sundsvall was diagnosed in May with aggressive pancreatic cancer, a cancer that require rapid interventions for the patient to survive.
After several months of waiting, she was called to the University Hospital in Umeå for surgery. The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, but when Solveig and her daughter came to the hospital on Tuesday for enrollment they received the grim news.
-A doctor sat down with us in the dining room and told me that the surgery was canceled indefinitely – because of lack of space.
– When I asked if they ment to send me home with a death sentence. And then we got the answer: yes, unfortunately, says Solbritt Björkstrand to SVT News Västernorrland.
Sundsvall Tidning says 72-year-old that the only thing she knows now is that she’s just that I have a few months left to live.
Malin Sund, the acting director of the Norrland University, told the local newspaper that only this week they has been forced to remove four cancer patients and a vascular surgical operation due to lack of space.
http://www.friatider.se/cancersjuka-solveig-72-skickades-hem-f-r-att-d
Sounds awful, Da Capo. I can’t read the Swedish in your link; is there any evidence that the holdup was due to immigrants putting pressure on the system? I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but evidence is needed.
Yeah right.
He must believe the fix is in or feels threatened.
London knife terror
Somali terrorist
It now emerges that it was a Somali with Norwegian passport who killed US woman in London on Wednesday, yesterday, while injuring five other victims of different nationalities.
ISIS-Daech referring to London as center of “Christendom”
“ISIS supporters have already expressed delight at the stabbing attack in London that left one American woman dead and five people injured.”
UK media now up to its usual tricks – no mention of Muslim back ground but plenty of buzz words and phrases, Spontaneous attack, random victims, mental problems (before they even knew his name) etc.
Ordinary police made the arrest and not the ludicrous “robo cops” so highly trumpeted just 24 hours earlier in most of the press.
Watch, soon they’ll refer to him as a “Norwegian” only.
Hollande was asked for comment while skip-hopping in between mistresses and $1000 hair cuts – “Oui, Trump disgusts me.”
Whose hair was that? I didn’t recall seeing any on Hollande’s head recently!
Just lock them in a room together. Much cheaper than war.
https://youtu.be/XwkPjg5otoo
Authority armed forces cleaned up an African camp in Paris last night. The Africans staying there, mainly Sudanese and Eritreans, will be asked to leave French territory.
Will be ASKED???
No wonder France is a toilet.
Mr. Frank Holland could kiss my [fundament]; jackass, that is. However, our donkey would not
allow it.
Having said that; Mr. Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican Convention was
music to most of the ears of those sick of Hussein Obama’s lies. We want someone who
speaks plain, says what they mean, means what they say. Now, any mortal man is not
up to governing this country or this world; and I think there is only One who is able –
Yeshua HaMaschiach – Christ Jesus.
I’ve been around long enough to be SICK of the Clintons’ inability to determine the
meaning of what “is” the definition of “is”. Those two were able to pin the blame on
“Monica”, thus insuring her life loused up forever, with bilious Bill slithering free as
a snake. I guess. He’s threescore and ten – all we’re promised – same age as me.
Let me tell you, Bill’s sad cockiness is a sight to behold.