A man walked into a supermarket in Spain carrying a shotgun, gasoline, and gunpowder. He fired at least six shots into the air while shouting “Allahu Akhbar” before he was apprehended by police. The store was almost empty at the time, so no one was injured. The few shoppers who were present fled hastily when the shooting started.
In other news, Morocco has banned the production and sale of the burqa.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, LP, Nick, Reader from Chicago, 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.
Bye-Bye, Euro: France’s Macron Says European Currency May Vanish in 10 Years
The European currency may cease to exist in 10 years without significant economic reforms, mainly by France and Germany, according to French presidential candidate and former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela’s Awful Economy Got Even Worse in 2016
Venezuelans have to navigate a labyrinth of lines to buy staples like sugar or aspirin. They’ve gotten used to finding that the store shelves are empty, a frustration that sometimes boils over into looting. So they don’t really need economic data to tell them that 2016 was a terrible year.
Still, when and if the numbers do come in, they’ll likely confirm a collapse that’s almost unprecedented outside wartime. The government has long since halted regular publication of GDP figures, maintaining radio silence since February. But the International Monetary Fund’s estimate, of a 10 percent contraction, would make Venezuela the world’s worst economy last year — and that’s toward the optimistic end of the spectrum. Private economists put the drop at as much as 15 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Airport Shooter Converted to Islam, Identified as Aashiq Hammad Years Before Joining Army
The Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter is a Muslim convert who years before joining the U.S. Army took on an Islamic name (Aashiq Hammad), downloaded terrorist propaganda and recorded Islamic religious music online, according to public records dug up by the investigative news site of an award-winning, California journalist. This is pertinent information that the Obama administration apparently wants to keep quiet, bringing up memories of the Benghazi cover up, in which the president and his cohorts knowingly lied to conceal that Islamic terrorists attacked the U.S. Special Mission in Libya.
Information is slowly trickling out that links the Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooter to radical Islam while the official story from authorities is that the gunman is a mentally ill, Hispanic Army veteran named Esteban Santiago that became unhinged after a tour in Iraq. Only one mainstream media outlet mentions the possibility of Santiago’s “jihadist identity,” burying it in a piece about New York possibly being his initial target. A paragraph deep in the story mentions that investigators recovered Santiago’s computer from a pawn shop and the FBI is examining it to determine whether he created a “jihadist identity for himself using the name Aashiq Hammad…” The reset of the traditional mainstream media coverage promotes the government rhetoric that omits any ties to terrorism even though early on a photo surfaced of Santiago making an ISIS salute while wearing a keffiyeh, a Palestinian Arab scarf.
The public records uncovered in the days after the massacre suggest Santiago (Hammad) is a radical Islamic terrorist that’s seriously committed to Islam. Besides taking on a Muslim name, he recorded three Islamic religious songs, including the Muslim declaration faith (“there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”) known as the Shahada. He also posted a thread about downloading propaganda videos from Islamic terrorists on a weapons and explosives forum. The investigative news site that unearthed this disturbing information connected the dots between Santiago, who is of Puerto Rican descent, and Hammad, an identity he created in 2007…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Assange: Obama Administration Destroying Public Records ‘Now’
“Past administrations of both Republican and Democratic players have engaged in mass destruction of records as they left office,” Assange said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Broward County Deputy Suspended in Connection With Leaked Shooting Footage
A Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy was suspended in connection with an investigation into leaked security footage of Friday’s airport shooting.
The deputy was identified as Michael Dingman, according to Sheriff Scott Israel.
The video, which appears to be a cellphone recording of the surveillance video, surfaced on the celebrity gossip website TMZ on Sunday.
The video appeared to show the first seconds of the shooting in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2 in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and airport security officials on Sunday began investigating people who had security clearance to watch the footage, Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief said Sunday.
The 20-second video shows a man walking through the baggage claim area, pulling a gun from his waistband and pointing it at people outside the frame, then disappearing from the camera’s view.
The footage shows people around him scattering to seek shelter. Others in the baggage claim area ducked behind luggage carts, chairs and the baggage carousels…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Christopher Steele, Ex-British Intelligence Officer, Said to Have Prepared Dossier on Trump
A former British intelligence officer who is now a director of a private security-and-investigations firm has been identified as the author of the dossier of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald Trump’s activities and connections in Russia, people familiar with the matter say.
Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., prepared the dossier, the people said. The document, which an official close to the matter said was prepared under contract to both Republican and Democratic adversaries of Mr. Trump, alleges that the Kremlin colluded with Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign and claims that Russian officials have compromising evidence of Mr. Trump’s behavior that could be used to blackmail him.
Mr. Trump has dismissed the dossier’s contents as false and Russia has denied the claims.
Mr. Steele, 52 years old, is one of two directors of the firm, along with Christopher Burrows, 58.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton Failed Presidential Bid Cost $1.2 Billion
It’s a record. Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential run cost $1.2 billion. Trump supporters should have a field day with this final bill, given that Clinton slammed the president-elect for losing a billion dollars during his business career.
“What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?” said the Democratic nominee in October. Well, I guess she can add her name to that list I guess (via NY Post):
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Within 100 days of the Trump presidency, nothing noteworthy will remain from Obama’s socio-political ninety-second mischance. Even a screenplay ushering in the first black president, meriting an historic copyright, will be a forgettable tragedy, and farce, without a hint of heroism.
Barack Obama — amateurish, self-absorbed, having bliss-like denial of reality — has been preoccupied with self-congratulatory accolades for merely showing up at the right time. Unlike Bambi, Barack Obama is no innocent. A cultivated radical, Obama created a mask of moderation, promising hope to the long-suffering inner-city dispossessed, and deliverance for guilt scarred uptown and suburban white liberals. He betrayed both, and anyone else who trusted him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Did California Really Legalize Child Prostitution?
Find out the truth behind California’s controversial legislation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fake News: CBS Caught Inverting Reality on Facebook Live Torture Victim
Mainstream network attempts to demonize Trump supporters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Gets $128 Ticket for Idling Car in Own Driveway
Said he was just doing something many people do during a Michigan winter to keep their cars warm.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MN Man Sentenced to 3 Years for ISIS Contacts
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for lying to the FBI about his social media exchanges with Islamic State group recruiters.
Abdul Raheem Ali-Skelton, of Glencoe, pleaded guilty in April to lying about his communications with the group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland or Swaziland? The FBI Appears Confused
It seems the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may need a geography lesson after it confused Switzerland with Swaziland in its recent report into alleged Russian hacking.
Hundreds of IP addresses were listed in an annexe to the FBI’s joint analysis reportattributing malicious cyber activity across the world to Russian hackers.
Of those, three IP addresses were listed as being from Swaziland.
However, analyzing the list, Danish IT news site Version2 found that they were actually Swiss IPs, it said on Monday, something that is easily confirmed via an online IP address checker.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Final American Revolution — Why People Are Rebelling With Dr. Tim Ball
Author and economic analyst John Sneisen talks with Dr. Tim Ball in Phoenix, Arizona about why the people are rebelling against the globalist establishment.
Dr. Tim Ball goes back to the time of Pompeii and gives historical insight on why and how people rebel. This is a must watch! Dr. Ball is a brilliant man with decades of research.
He was a professor at the University of Winnipeg where he left a massive legacy. An absolute rarity when it comes to university professors, he breaks down how globalism affects global politics, economics and the mindset of the populace.
Very few people have such an excellent wealth of knowledge on these specific subjects, but Dr. Tim Ball breaks it down with ease.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Urbanisation Signal Detected in Evolution, Study Shows
A “clear signal” of urbanisation has been identified in the evolution of organisms, which has implications for sustainability and human well-being.
In analysis of more than 1,600 cases around the globe, researchers said the changes could affect ecosystem services important to humans.
More than half of the world’s human populations now live in urban areas, and this proportion is set to grow.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We found that there is a clear urban signal of phenotypic change, and also greater phenotypic change in urbanising systems compared to natural or non-urban anthropogenic systems,” said co-author Marina Alberti from the University of Washington’s Department of Urban Design and Planning.
“So urbanisation, globally, is clearly affecting things.”
Phenotypic change refers to change in an organism’s observable traits, such as it morphology, physiology, phenology, or behaviour.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Election Hack Was 15-Year-Old Not Russians Blasts John McAfee
The FBI have claimed the Kremlin was behind hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in the lead-up to the US election.
However, Mr McAfee, the founder of a successful software company, has ridiculed claims the hack was carried out by Russia because of the inexperienced nature of the work.
The US government expelled 35 Russian diplomats last month due to the alleged hack as Barack Obama retaliated on the advice of US intelligence agencies.
Whistleblower website WikiLeaks published the emails which were hacked just before the US presidential election in November…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
US Police Say Black Shootings, Protests Make Job Riskier and More Difficult
A survey of US officers sheds light on their view of policing in the wake of several black killings. The findings show police forces have been negatively impacted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
WaPo: Time to Remove Trump With “Constitutional Coup”
Mainstream media wants to remove Trump from office using 25th Amendment
The Washington Post, owned by anti-Trump billionaire Jeff Bezos, has suggested a “constitutional coup” is necessary to remove the “ignoramus deadbeat” Donald Trump from office.
“Donald Trump is a one-man basket of deplorable. He is a braggart and a liar. He is a bully and a demagogue. He is an ignoramus and a deadbeat, a chiseler and either a sincere racist or an insincere one, and his love for himself is matched only by my loathing of him,” wrote Richard Cohen for the Washington Post. “He is about to be president of the United States. A constitutional coup may be in the offing.”
[Comment: Leftists have absorbed their own propaganda as truth. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Squeeze Cash From Facebook, Google, Say Canadian News Media Leaders
Tax changes, better copyright protection and fees imposed on Facebook and Google are among the solutions being touted to help rescue Canada’s ailing news industry, internal reports show.
Those suggestions were prominent in closed-door sessions with news leaders conducted by the Public Policy Forum, a think-tank the federal government has hired to suggest policies in support of Canadian journalism during a period of digital disruption and reporter layoffs.
[Comment: Article talks about everything except the big elephant in the room — – the public is sick of leftist bias in newspapers. That’s why sales are down. Their solution? Steal money to keep themselves afloat so they can continue to publish more leftist propaganda and Trudeau love-fest articles.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Latest Death Threat Against Me
“Your throat will be slit.” Glaring at me across the TV monitor, the red-bearded Mullah smirked as he delivered a death threat on India’s most-watched national news network, Zee News.
The remark stunned the host and the panel who were discussing a ‘fatwa’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the very same Islamic cleric when out of nowhere Maulana Barkati made me the target of his anger.
As a vocal critic of Islamism and the Muslim Brotherhood as well as its sister organizations cultivating radical Islam across the world, I am quite accustomed to death threats, but never this direct and so public.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Vienna’s Labour Market Service (AMC) Abused Daily by the City’s Unemployed
Employees of Vienna’s Labour Market Service (AMS) have reported that abuse and assault have become a daily occurence in their line of work. In 2016 alone, there were 750 individual reports of verbal assault experienced via their hotline or in person at one of the many AMS locations around the city.
Statistically this rounds out to about three attacks per day, which allegedly tend to be brought on by missed appointments or sparked by the suspension of unemployment benefits. Yet, despite everything from rude e-mails to all-out bomb threats, those behind this public amenity still persist in their mission to facilitate unemployed individuals in finding their way back into the workforce.
According to a recent interview with Radio Wien, AMS chief Petra Draxl stated, “it’s our duty to calm people down and to deescalate, it goes with the territory.” AMS employees are even specifically trained for these types of situations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Union Chief Warns of Potential No-Go Zones
German Police Union chief Rainer Wendt has warned of the possibility of “police free areas” in which police and other authorities will be unable to enforce the law.
Mr. Wendt has warned German politicians to get the criminal element in the country under control or risk “police-free zones in Germany”. He said that “2017 must be a year of prosecution”, demanding police be allowed to properly enforce the law and hard measures be taken against those “who do not adhere to the laws”, Die Welt reports.
The Police Union head said no-go areas could end up being ruled under criminal laws, rather than the German rule of law, and said this year “must be a year of law enforcement. And indeed there must be consistent law enforcement for those who believe they do not have to stick to the laws in Germany.”
In order to combat criminal elements, Wendt said the government must make more use of technology to boost police presence and capability. He recommended more CCTV cameras in public areas which could work with pattern and facial recognition software to register potential crimes thus allowing police to stop crimes before they happen or better help them identify suspects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Hamburg’s Long-Awaited Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall Opens on January 11
After what seemed like interminable delays, budget overruns and lawsuits, Hamburg’s highly anticipated Elbphilharmonie concert hall officially opens on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gunman Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ Opens Fire in Mercadona Shop, Spain
The man was reportedly carrying gasoline and gunpowder in his pockets as he entered the Mercadona shop, in As Lagoas, Ourense.
Numerous shoppers were inside making their purchases when the assailant, who was armed with a shotgun, entered and fired several shots.
Supermarket employees said he fired at least six shots during the terrifying ordeal.
[…]
One employee said the man, who was standing just a few metres from him, yelled “Allahu Akbar”, which translates to “God is greatest”.
Police arrived at the scene to arrest the attacker…
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Gunman Screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ Opens Fire in Spanish Supermarket in Ourense
A gunman has opened fire in a Spanish supermarket shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
The attacker, who was reportedly carrying gasoline and gunpowder, walked into the Mercadona shop, in the As Lagoas region of the northwestern region Ourense, before opening firing shots into the air.
Several shoppers were inside the supermarket when the man entered and fired several shots into the air, causing emergency services to swoop on the building.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How Germany Plans to Reform Security After Berlin Attack
Top ministers on Tuesday announced plans for security reforms in response to the deadly jihadist attack on a Berlin Christmas market, including electronic ankle bracelets for extremists considered potentially violent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Imams to Get Training on the Constitution
A training course starting soon in northern Italy will teach imams and other religious leaders the workings of the Italian Constitution as part of efforts to improve integration in the country.
The course is aimed at non-Catholic religious leaders who come from non-EU countries but plan to work in Italy.
“The aim is to create a climate of tolerance through the teaching of the rights and duties inherent in our democratic societies,” Bologna University’s Religious Law professor Frederica Botti, who has co-ordinated the course, told La Repubblica.
Islam is the only major religion that does not have official status in Italy, despite the country being home to an estimated one million Muslims.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Le Pen and Petry to Attend “European Counter-Summit” In Germany
Mainz, Germany (dpa) — Leading right-wing populists from across Europe are to convene in the German city of Koblenz on January 21 for an anti-establishment summit, their European Parliament faction said Wednesday.
Expected are Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front and Frauke Petry of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), among others.
Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician whose anti-Islam and anti-foreigner politics have landed him in court, and Matteo Salvini of Italy’s far-right Lega Nord are also scheduled to speak at the event, according to the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) parliamentary group.
[Comment: Very interesting! It would be great if this event is recorded and put on You Tube with translations.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soaring Childlessness Among Southern European Women — Report
Women in Europe are having fewer children, particularly in southern Europe, a French report has found.
Up to a quarter of women born in the 1970s may remain childless, compared to an average of 15% in northern Europe and 18% in western Europe.
Factors including a precarious labour market and lack of family-friendly work policies help explain the rise in involuntary childlessness, it says.
But the report points out childlessness was also very high about a century ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Crackdown: Hungary to Ban Groups Linked to Liberal Donor and Billionaire George
Tough-talking prime minister Viktor Orban will use “all the tools at its disposal” to crack down on non-governmental organisations bankrolled by the Hungarian-born business magnate and investor.
Mr Soros has become one of the US Democratic Party’s main source of funding after ploughing millions into Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.
Szilard Nemeth, vice president of the ruling Fidesz part, said the groups linked to the philanthropist “serve global capitalists and back political correctness over national governments”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Cementing Control Over Europe’s Left
Globalist trying to stop anti-EU populism.
Global hedge fund tycoon George Soros, recognizing that growing numbers of European voters are turning away from the corporate-controlled “social democratic” parties, is reining in so-called “left” parties in order to cement his control over parties, including SYRIZA in Greece and Five Star in Italy, that threaten the cohesiveness of the European Union.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Soros to Keep Funding NGOs in Hungary Despite Government Hostility
BUDAPEST (Reuters) — Billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations will keep working with and financing NGOs in Hungary despite the Hungarian government saying that any civil society group they should be “swept out”, the head of the Foundations said on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish PM: Penalty for Carrying Hand Grenades to Quadruple
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has promised to quadruple the minimum penalty for carrying a hand grenade in the country, during his speech at the first party leaders debate of 2017.
Sweden saw a number of high profile cases of hand grenade blasts in 2016, including the tragic story of an eight-year-old boy from Birmingham, who was killed when a grenade was thrown into a Gothenburg apartment in August.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The EU is More Dangerous Than Russia, Says Farage
Nigel Farage insists the European Union poses a bigger danger to Britain than Russia, as he backed Donald Trump to halt the new Cold War.
The President-Elect said he would speak to Vladimir Putin after admitting that they were behind the hacking of Democratic files in the election campaign.
Speaking on his LBC show, Nigel said he is not a fan of Putin, but believes Mr Trump can solve the current problems.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Islamization of Britain in 2016
“The realistic future for Britain is Islamic.”
by Soeren Kern
Sharia courts administering Islamic justice in Britain are run by clerics who believe some offenders should have their hands chopped off, according to Muslim scholar Elham Manea. She described the prevailing attitude as “totalitarian” and as more backward than some parts of Pakistan.
More than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who commit other terrorist acts, according to a 615-page survey. Only one in three British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody close to them had become involved with radical Islam. In addition, 23% of British Muslims said Islamic Sharia law should replace British law in areas with large Muslim populations.
Belmarsh maximum-security prison in London has become “like a jihadi training camp,” according to testimony from a former inmate. The government was accused of burying a report on prison extremism. The report warned that staff have been reluctant to tackle Islamist behavior for fear of being labelled “racist.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Children’s author Helen Bailey may still have been alive when her fiance dumped her in a cesspit while trying to kill her for her £4million fortune, a court has heard.
The renowned 51-year-old writer could also have been put in a martial arts neck lock while drugged and then suffocated, jurors were told, before being found alongside the body of her beloved dachshund Boris submerged in ‘human excrement’.
Her arm was spotted poking out of the cesspit deep below her lavish property in Royston, Hertfordshire, in July 2016, a jury at St Albans Crown Court was told.
Mrs Bailey’s fiance, Ian Stewart, 56, from Royston, is accused of drugging and killing her, before dumping her body at the home the couple shared.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hoverboard Family Bought as Christmas Present for Their Daughter on Facebook Explodes
Traumatised Clare Happe, 32, from Barking, Essex, said she now wished she’d never bought the unbranded hoverboard for her daughter Summer-Lily for £185 on Facebook.
[Comment: Skateboard would have been better — plus you get more exercise than with a hoverboard.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Joanne Corless, 45, of Manchester, admitted assaulting former partner Patrick Kelly, 37, because she feared losing benefits payments over his plans to get a job.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco ‘Bans the Sale and Production of the Burka’
Morocco has banned the sale, production and import of the burka, according to local reports.
Letters announcing the ban were sent out on Monday, giving businesses 48 hours to get rid of their stock, the reports stated.
There was no official announcement from the government, but unnamed officials told outlets the decision was made due to “security concerns”.
It is unclear if Morocco is now intending to ban the garment outright.
A high-ranking interior ministry official confirmed the ban to the Le360 news site, adding that “bandits have repeatedly used this garment to perpetrate their crimes”.
The burka, which covers the entire face and body, is not widely worn in Morocco, with most women favouring the hijab, which does not shroud the face.
Women in Salafist circles, and in more conservative regions in the north, are more likely to wear the niqab, which leaves the area around the eyes uncovered.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A draft of the summary statement that will be released at the conclusion of the 70 nation conference in Paris on Sunday has been leaked. As you will see below, this communique is going to call for the division of the land of Israel, for the establishment of a Palestinian state, for the 1967 borders to serve as the basis for final negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and for the condemnation of any officials that refuse to support a two state solution. Of course this comes on the heels of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which many believe represented America’ s greatest betrayal of Israel. Israeli government officials are publicly warning that there is a possibility that the principles agreed upon at this conference may form the basis for another Security Council resolution before January 20th, and this is something that we should all be watching for very closely.
Haaretz exclusively obtained a copy of a draft of the summary statement that will be released following the conference on Sunday, and you can read it for yourself right here. Reportedly, there was a major meeting of diplomats last Friday, and the latest draft reflects feedback that was received from those diplomats during that meeting…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How a Nazi War Criminal ‘Spent His Final Days in a Syrian Basement’
Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, who was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 130,000 Jews, died in 2001 at the age of 89, locked up in a squalid Damascus basement, a French magazine reported Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration has paid Iran more than $10 billion in gold, cash, and other assets since 2013, according to Iranian officials, who disclosed that the White House has been intentionally deflating the total amount paid to the Islamic Republic.
Senior Iranian officials late last week confirmed reports that the total amount of money paid to Iran over the past four years is in excess of $10 billion, a figure that runs counter to official estimates provided by the White House.
The latest disclosure by Iran, which comports with previous claims about the Obama administration obfuscating details about its cash transfers to Iran—including a $1.7 billion cash payment included in a ransom to free Americans—sheds further light on the White House’s back room dealings to bolster Iran’s economy and preserve the Iran nuclear agreement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi confirmed last week a recent report in the Wall Street Journal detailing some $10 billion in cash and assets provided to Iran since 2013, when the administration was engaging in sensitive diplomacy with Tehran aimed at securing the nuclear deal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Erdogan: Fighting “Islamophobia and Xenophobia Will be High on the Agenda of Our State”
Turkish president has pledged to fight against Islamophobia and xenophobia, which he said “turned out to be a serious security threat for our citizens living abroad”.
“Islamophobia and xenophobia will be high on the agenda of our state,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the ambassadors attending the 9th Ambassadors Conference in capital Ankara on Monday.
Erdogan called on Turkish ambassadors from all around the world to carry out “a fight of law, public relations, and civil society” against those circles, which he said “encourage violence, terror, and hatred against our country and citizens”.
“We should fight together with other Muslim communities and migrants who are faced with the same problem,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Julian Assage Answers Questions About Russia Sources in Reddit AMA
Julian Assange took part in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Tuesday, answering questions about a range of topics including allegations of WikiLeaks colluding with the Russian government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia has denied allegations that the Kremlin collected compromising information about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed news reports as a ‘complete fabrication and utter nonsense.’
U.S. officials allegedly included a two-page synopsis of ‘kompromat’ — Russian for compromising material — as part of their security briefing of Trump on Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia, Trump Deny Report Moscow Has Compromising Info on President-Elect
Moscow denied allegations Wednesday that the Kremlin has collected compromising information about Donald Trump and called news reports on the matter a “complete fabrication and utter nonsense” — as the president-elect blasted the claims on Twitter.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, insisted that the Kremlin “does not engage in collecting compromising material.”
Shortly afterward, Trump unleashed a barrage of tweets about the “fake news.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Year 2017, According to a 1960s Soviet Filmstrip
It’s a new year, and before this one is over Russia will mark the centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution. A hundred years ago, the men and women who brought Communism to the Tsarist Empire had big plans. Decades into that experiment, the U.S.S.R. was leading the world’s “Space Race,” and it seemed there was nothing the country couldn’t do. In 1960, the Soviet movie studio “Diafilm” released a filmstrip titled “In the Year 2017,” by V. Strukova and V. Shevchenko, depicting a vision of the U.S.S.R. set 57 years in the future.
The 45-pane filmstrip is as spectacularly fantastic as it is dated. In Strukova and Shevchenko’s vision of 2017, it’s the “imperialists” of the West who have destroyed themselves, and the Soviet Union has mastered science to such a degree that “atomic trains” traverse the Bering Strait and flying power stations control the planet’s weather. The story even captures the U.S.S.R.’s fascination in the 1960s with “meson energy” — a theoretical type of atomic energy later rejected as impossible to harness.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
United Arab Emirates: 5 Diplomats Killed in Afghanistan Bombing
The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that five of its diplomats were killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan the day before, the deadliest attack to ever target the young nation’s diplomatic corps.
The federation of seven sheikhdoms, founded in 1971 on the Arabian Peninsula, said it would immediately fly the nation’s flag at half-staff for three days in honor of the dead from the attack Tuesday in Kandahar, which killed at least 11 people.
Meanwhile, the Taliban denied planting the bomb in the Kandahar attack, which also wounded the UAE ambassador to Afghanistan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Medicine Expert Say ‘Anti-Smog’ Teas Ineffective
As parts of China continue to be engulfed by choking smog, many are turning to traditional Chinese medicine to combat the pollution’s effect on their health.
One practice that has gained popularity is drinking “anti-smog” tea, which some believe can “clean” their lungs.
But a leading Chinese medicine practitioner has sought to dispel this myth, saying it is ineffective.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Prepares for Emperor’s Abdication, Says Local Media
The government has set out plans to create a legal avenue for the emperor to step down, local media reported. In the wake of World War II, Japan’s constitution scaled back the emperor’s role as a “symbol of the state.”
Japan’s government planned legal steps to allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate and have his eldest son ascend the throne in 2019, local media reported.
In August, the 83-year-old emperor hinted at the desire to step down, citing his advancing age and weakening health. While former emperors have abdicated, it has not occurred in 200 years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taipei Says Chinese Aircraft Carrier Has Entered Taiwan Strait
Taiwan has scrambled jets and navy ships to track a group of Chinese warships sailing north through the Taiwan Strait. Beijing’s move has been seen as a show of strength amid deteriorating ties.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taiwan Scrambles Jets as China Aircraft Carrier Enters Taiwan Strait
Taiwan scrambled jets Wednesday as China’s sole aircraft carrier led Chinese warships through the Taiwan Strait amid heightened tensions between the mainland and self-governing island it claims as its own territory, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.
It was the second time China sailed the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, through the strait in the past few weeks. The carrier was traveling northwest along the center line dividing the strait, along with its battle group.
It came a few days after China flew another nuclear-capable H-6 bomber down to a set of contested islands in a show of force. The bomber flew around the Spratly Islands on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chavista Socialism Has Destroyed 570,000 Businesses in Venezuela
Only 230,000 companies remain of the 800,000 that opened in Venezuela during Hugo Chavez’s regime, meaning 570,000 have shut down.
Price controls, labor laws and threats are the main reasons that experts think caused Venezuela’s industrial collapse, and which left the business sector in ruins.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria’s Junior Coalition Party Calls for Halving Asylum Cap
The head of a party in Austria’s coalition government on Wednesday called for further limits on the number of people entitled to apply for asylum, citing among his reasons a need to cut down on sexual assaults and criminality.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU in Turmoil: Slovenia Revolts Against Brussels and Vows to Toughen Up Immigration Rules
BRUSSELS bureaucrats are facing yet another rebellion after Slovenia vowed to go against the crumbling bloc and toughen up its immigration stance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Presidential Candidate Fillon Promises Crackdown on Immigration
France’s presidential election frontrunner Francois Fillon vowed on Wednesday to take back control of immigration including by imposing quotas on non-European Union nationals as he looks to win votes from the far-right National Front party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany and North Africa Split Over Illegal Migrants
The deportation of illegal North African migrants has sparked a public debate in Germany. Maghreb countries, however, have not seen the movement of their citizens to Europe as a main concern.
Despite the bad weather and security measures taken by strict European countries to deter illegal immigration, economic migrants from all over North Africa are still reaching the shores of Italy and Spain. Many are stranded in the snow on the Balkan route to Germany.
As European countries such as Germany continue to debate deportation and the influx of migrants, North African countries have put the issue on the backburner while they address political and economic problems domestically.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Immigrants Should be Taught to Queue Properly, Says British Dame
Migrants to the UK must be taught to understand British things like queuing and being nice, according to the government’s integration adviser.
Dame Louise Casey told the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on Monday that too many migrants had not grasped the basic tenets of British life.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Judge: San Francisco Can’t be Sued Over Death by Immigrant
San Francisco’s so-called ‘sanctuary policy’ bars city employees from cooperating with federal deportation efforts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Reiterates There’s ‘No Way’ It Will Pay for Proposed Border Wall
Mexico is willing to negotiate over President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to build a border, but the country will not pay for it, the country’s new foreign relations secretary said Tuesday.
Luis Videgaray added that paying for the proposed wall was “unacceptable.”
Trump said last week that any money the U.S. spends to build the wall would be paid back by Mexico. The border wall was a big part of his immigration policy in the months before his election.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Investigation of Alleged Rape on Gotland Closed
The investigation into the alleged gang rape of a woman on the Swedish island of Gotland last October has been closed and the men who were accused are no longer suspected of any crime, the Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) has announced.
Five men were arrested in October over the alleged rape of a woman in the mediaeval town of Visby, Gotland, but they were later released after the then prosecutor judged there was not enough evidence to have them remanded in custody.
On Wednesday, the preliminary investigation into the alleged rape was closed, as it could not be proven that a crime took place.
“There could not be a conviction, I’m absolutely certain about that. And as a result I’ve ended the investigation. This was the only conclusion possible,” vice chief prosecutor Åke Olsson told The Local.
The case caused tension on Gotland, with Sweden’s national police sending backup to the island to help cope with unrest.
A number of protests took place, including one held by far-right groups following claims that the men are asylum seekers, and a rival demonstration by left-wing, pro-immigration parties.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Police Suspect Gothenburg Trash Explosion Was Attempted Murder
An explosion at a garbage container in Gothenburg on January 5th is now being investigated as attempted murder, SVT reports.
The incident took place at around 3.30pm last Thursday in the Frölunda area, when a lone man was injured after the bag of rubbish he was throwing into a container exploded.
The man, who works as a cleaner at the refugee centre the container serves, was injured seriously in his legs. Police believe that some kind of explosive charge was inside the bag he was attempting to empty into a container.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Has Died. Do Not Allow Your Country to be Next…
This video I found explains what mass muslim migration has done to Sweden and the bleak future Sweden has over the next few decades. The swedes far left liberal approach has destroyed their own country. Sweden is no longer the image you once had…Swedenstan has arrived.
We must all understand the serious concerns and threats we are under and learn from the mistakes of Sweden. Do not allow your country to be next, Sweden has fallen…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Homeland Security Pick Ready to Deport Illegals ASAP
Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security promised that he would work to “rapidly” deport illegal immigrants.
“The Congress has passed longstanding laws making foreign nationals without legal status removable from the United States, and it is proper for DHS, like any other law enforcement organization, to faithfully execute the laws on the books,” retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly said in a written answer to questions by the Senate Homeland Security Committee as his confirmation hearing started Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Unfair’ Burqa Posters Shake Up Swiss Naturalization Debate
A controversial poster launched by Swiss rightwing hardliners to campaign against the forthcoming referendum on facilitated naturalization for third generation immigrants has been lambasted by some as embarrassing and unfair.
The poster, unveiled in railway stations across Switzerland this week, shows a woman wearing a burqa with the strapline “Uncontrolled naturalization? No to facilitated naturalization”.
It was commissioned by a committee co-led by Swiss People’s Party (SVP) MP Andreas Glarner to oppose the facilitated naturalization bill, which goes to the polls on February 12th.
Launching the posters on Monday, the committee said in a statement that the bill could lead to mass naturalizations, which would have “damaging consequences for Swiss culture and identity”.
“The overpopulation of foreigners and the massive increase in the number of Muslims would change the very essence of Switzerland as well as our society and its values,” it said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Disgusting: Media Normalizing Pedophilia
The media has steadily rolled out articles showing sympathy for pedophiles
A breakdown of the phenomenon that is media normalization of pedophilia.
[Comment: Elite classs is infested with pedophiles, now they seek to get society to “normalize” it.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Develop Material Flimsier Than Plastic But Stronger Than Steel
Many scientists consider graphene to be one of the most potentially useful materials ever created.
The atom-thick chain of carbon atoms are strong, light, and promise many applications, from energy storage to pollution removal to waterproof coating.
While graphene has been studied since the 1940s, scientists have had considerable trouble constructing it into a structurally useful form on a three-dimensional level. But now, scientists at MIT have figured out how to build up graphene into useful, 3-D shapes with the potential to be lighter and stronger than steel.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
I agree with that editorial comment regarding the Canadian news media leftist slant. Here on the western Canadian prairie (where Trudeau is generally despised -and vice versa) the newspapers are nothing more than propaganda for the Liberal Party. Big puff pieces “explaining” or excusing Trudeau. The “local” newspapers are all owned by Toronto business concerns so what else can anyone expect ? Television is no better.
Eight more full days until the big day in Washington D.C. Then I can start counting the days when President Trump pays a visit to Ottawa and calls Trudeau a Fake Prime Minister !….;)
“Sweden saw a number of high profile cases of hand grenade blasts in 2016, including the tragic story of an eight-year-old boy from Birmingham, who was killed when a grenade was thrown into a Gothenburg apartment in August.”
An epidemic of grenade tossing in Sweden. Now, I wonder who would do that? Far right Viking nationalists or muzzy street gangs?
So we have fake news. Then we have click bait — items that are not news at all but have a heading that sounds like news. What would you call this species, then?
“Bye-Bye, Euro: France’s Macron Says European Currency May Vanish in 10 Years”
Mr. Macron has nothing to say while flapping his mouth. Finis. There ought to be a label. Merkel puts out nothing but. Noise and misdirection… As long as we pay attention to these [blowhards], they’ll keep on keeping on.
Here is my take on a more accurate header: France’s Macron makes vague noises with respect to Germany’s financial shenanigans, pretending he would do something about them in order to further his political career.
http://nevo.news/index.php/2016/11/01/a-female-doctor-working-in-germany-warns-the-world/
Cross posted from Pat Condell.
Go live in Africa for a while – and not in a tourist cocoon. You will likely find that you no longer have a need for the words “racist” or “racism”. You will simply understand . . . especially that not all cultures are the same.
A jehadi walked into a supermarket in Spain. He was beaten to a pulp. The police were called and he was taken away. ?